Tonegato's secret weapon to master tricks of playmaking trade

Emma Tonegato faces a big challenge in 2023 as she prepares to find a new home in the halves but a secret weapon behind her positional switch will have the NRLW on high alert. 

Lured to Cronulla with the prospect of playing five-eighth, Tonegato revealed she's been working with reigning Dally M Medallist Nicho Hynes, who has also made a stunning switch from fullback to halfback since joining the Sharks last year.

"He's come off his own back to a few sessions now, so I’ve just tried to pick his brain as a lot of the shapes and things are similar across both the men's and women's programs," Tonegato told NRL.com. 

"It's nice to be able to talk to someone who understands how we want to play and try to pick his brain and you can see that he's so passionate about it as well.

After Origin he gave me feedback and you could tell that he'd genuinely watched the game and knew what was going on, which I thought was really special.

Sharks five-eighth Emma Tonegato

"It's definitely on the cards to do some kicking together and some more video and utilise that connection as much as we can. He actually sent me a message earlier saying ‘I've got clips for you'." 

While Hynes held previous experience as a ballplayer before signing with Cronulla, having played in the halves for the Mackay Cutters in the Hostplus Cup, the former Dragons fullback Tonegato will step into unknown territory as a five-eighth in 2023. 

"He was saying he did grow up originally playing halves so the transition was a little bit different for him because he did have that background," she said.

"But I think once I kind of get to sit down with him a little bit more and talk through things and potentially review our trial game, we can tweak anything we need to moving into Round 1.

"You can see that he's so passionate about it as well and the girls team as a whole."

For the Jillaroos fullback, it was the confidence Sharks inaugural NRLW coach Tony Herman showed in her as a five-eighth which was the ultimate drawcard to join Cronulla for the club's inaugural season.

And after a quieter 2022 NRLW season following a breakout 2021 campaign which included being crowned Dally M player of the year best alongside Millie Boyle, a change of clubs and positional switch was the 'challenge' Tonegato was chasing to take her game to new heights in 2023.

"Tony showed a lot of confidence in me and said from the start ‘I think you're going to be a great six' and backed me all the way so that was definitely a part of the decision to go there," she said.

"I knew that they’d signed Jada (Taylor) at fullback and they said ‘Jada's our fullback, you're our six, we're not changing, we'll stick with it no matter what and we’ll back you in.’ So that gave me a real vote of confidence.

"I found myself at Dragons kind of wanting myself to be in that position anyway. 

"I’m just really excited to get my hands on the ball a little bit more and be more of a playmaker and decision -maker rather than just finding myself on the end of all the plays.

"It's a new challenge. If you'd asked me a few years ago I would have been really nervous and stressed about it whereas I'm probably at that age now where I feel pretty calm and just excited more than anything."

Having recently represented New South Wales at fullback, Tonegato was at her scheming best in Sky Blue with a try assist, 13 tackle breaks and averaging 177 run metres over the two-game 2023 State of Origin series. 

But sitting in the dressing sheds of Queensland Country Bank Stadium, the 28-year-old rugby sevens convert knew she had just farewelled her time in the No.1 jersey.

"After the game I said to a few of the girls, 'that was my last game at fullback' and they said 'oh, don't say that you'll probably be back'," Tonegato joked. 

"But it's been really exciting and I've got two experienced sevens that are helping me out there in Taylor Preston and Maddie Studdon.

"Having them both in the squad has been super helpful and they’ve been really supportive and shown me the ropes."