Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon says star halfback Nicho Hynes has grown from his "brutal" State of Origin axing and would be ready if NSW called upon him for game three.
Hynes appeared to be the Blues' back-up halves option after being picked at No.14 for the series opener, only for NSW coach Brad Fittler to look past the reigning Dally M Medallist after Nathan Cleary's hamstring injury, dumping him altogether for Parramatta's Mitch Moses.
The speculation around his Blues selection for game two looked to get the better of Hynes in an uncharacteristically poor performance against Melbourne in round 15, and four errors marred an improved showing against Canterbury last time out.
Ahead of Thursday night's derby clash with St George Illawarra, Fitzgibbon wouldn't overtly criticise Fittler's selections but admitted it was a tough situation for Hynes to deal with.
"It's obviously brutal, (but) State of Origin is brutal, right?" he said.
"The pressure on all those Blues players in particular now and what's coming for the third game, it's really really hard to deal with.
"It's a challenge that you wouldn't want anyone to go through but it can also shape him, the adversity, and I think he's grown from it (which) is great."
The Sharks boss admitted last weekend's bye had come at a good time for the club but particularly for Hynes, saying he'd presented differently since returning to training this week.
"He walked back in ready to go and he loves the challenge, he's in good physical health, good mental health and he's ready to roll for the back end," Fitzgibbon said.
"It wasn't through a lack of effort, he threw himself out there (against the Storm) and did his best ... it's not only Nicho's responsibility, we need the team to perform so he can perform strongly.
"I've said it all along, he's capable of (playing for NSW).
"The sample size over a long period of time has been remarkably consistent and of course I'd back him to play well if he got selected."
Cronulla jumped inside the top four with their third and final bye last weekend, and would be eyeing off another top-two finish with favourable matches against the Dragons (17th), Wests Tigers (16th) and Manly (13th) in the next month.
But Fitzgibbon warned his side to be ready for St George Illawarra, particularly after their tumultuous recent period where star half Ben Hunt has tried to leave the club.
"They've got some stability now they know what Ben is doing," he said.
"That can probably sometimes galvanise a team so we need to be ready for the best version of Ben Hunt and the Dragons.
"I want to start a run of consistency and we've had a few inconsistent performances in the previous block."
Impact forward Toby Rudolf won't return from the foot injury that's kept him out since round five, Fitzgibbon suggesting he's likely to blow the cobwebs out in NSW Cup.
