Cronulla Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes has capped off a superb season by taking out the 2022 Dally M Medal for the NRL Player of the Year.
Hynes' 38 points are the highest tally by an individual player in NRL Premiership history, with the halfback finishing ahead of Roosters fullback James Tedesco (33 points), Dragons halfback Ben Hunt (32 points), Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater (23 points) and Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards (23 points).
After shifting from the Melbourne Storm ahead of the 2022 campaign, Hynes excelled in his first season at his new club — playing 25 of a possible 26 matches to help the Sharks to a top four finish in the regular season for the first time since 2018.
Named as the Dally M Halfback of the Year in addition to the main award, Hynes ended the season with 21 try assists, 29 linebreak assists and six tries, while also adding 83 goals to finish with 194 points for the season. Hynes also recorded career high totals in kick metres (9,347 metres), offloads, tackle breaks and running metres, averaging 117 metres per game with the ball in hand.
No player landed more field goals during the season than Hynes, who also topped the count among all players in the competition for linebreak assists.
He is the first Sharks player to win the award since Preston Campbell in 2001.