Nicho Hynes’ “sliding doors” moment occurred in the AAMI Park locker room when he was forced to pause and consider his goals after hearing Josh Addo-Carr’s five straightforward words.
He declared, “If you’re black, you’re black.”
The 27-year-old Wiradjuri man, Hynes, feels he might never have found his voice if it weren’t for his former teammate. Hynes has become one of rugby league’s most prominent Indigenous leaders.
“Josh kind of changed the way I looked at myself when I went down to the Melbourne Storm,” Hynes said to NRL.com.
“That may sound corny, but I was sitting next to him in my first locker room of the top 30 and I was loud and proud and kind of shy about who I was.
He simply remarked, ‘Nicho, it doesn’t matter if your skin is white or black. If you identify as black, you must always represent yourself.
Josh was someone I already looked up to, but after that day he really started to stand in for me as a role model.
“I felt so comfortable and like I could talk to him and be able to speak up about what I went through to become a proud Indigenous man because of the way he explained that to me and how he’s such a proud man.”
Realising that his skin tone need not limit how he expressed his culture, the Dally M winner went on to become a significant figure for fair-skinned Indigenous people in the years that followed.
Hynes wishes he had heard Addo-Carr’s wise words when he was a teenager learning about his Indigenous background.
Hynes remarked, “I really can’t thank Josh enough for that conversation because ever since then, I’ve been proud and have become a voice for the kids and people like me who, you know, got questioned a lot.”
“I use that line now, that no matter how black you are, you’re still black. I say that to everyone.
“The stolen generation has left a huge number of children and teenagers without a sense of their cultural heritage, either because they have moved away from home or because they have a black parent and a white parent.”
“I was one of those kids who sometimes lost it and didn’t grow up to learn or to be part of their culture.
There are many of us out there, and I just want to be a voice and demonstrate that your identity and culture are who you are and will always be, regardless of what happens or the path you take in life.
Thus, “go forth and seek the help you need to find more and learn more, and be confident in who you are.”
There are plenty of storylines for Hynes ahead of Saturday’s match between the “Kurranulla” Sharks and “Darug” Panthers, as Cronulla gets ready to take on the three-time defending premiers and try to extend their winning streak to seven games.
Julie, the mother of the Blues-bound playmaker, is painting an Aboriginal artwork to give to their opponents as a part of the customary Indigenous gift-giving ceremony.
Hynes stated, “It’s been really nice to see her out the back working hard on a project. She’s a good artist in the Aboriginal space and she’s been working out the back of my house every day doing it.”
She has been practicing for some time, and she is improving steadily and performing well. I hope we can open a small store for her eventually; that would be awesome.
“Every year, my mum gets excited about All Stars and Indigenous Round. We talk a lot about our culture every week, but this week especially. It’s wonderful to see how it unites families and communities.”
Within the rugby league community, Hynes is well-known for his Indigenous discovery story, which began when his mother came home from prison bearing information about their family history.
Hynes added that he will continue to be forthright and honest in the media if there’s a chance that someone out there might be able to relate to any part of his journey, even though it can be difficult to revisit the past.
“You just have to think about your younger self and what you went through,” Hynes said, reflecting on her concerns that people hear her voice and story too much.
There are a tonne of people in the world who could be experiencing something comparable to what I went through.
“I would have loved to have someone be a voice for people like me and help me along the way when I was 14 years old and people started questioning me about being Indigenous.
“As a proud Indigenous man, I’m always working to better myself. Every year, I learn more, become more at ease, and try to be that voice.
So that’s the precise reason behind my actions.
