Madimack 'Power Players' - Round 9

The Sharks took care the Cowboys in a 44-6 masterclass at PointsBet Stadium last Thursday night with a number of players putting in strong performances.

Let’s take a look at the Madimack ‘Power Players’ from the clash.

NICHO HYNES

Fast becoming a mainstay in this weekly feature since his return, not only did Nicho Hynes steer his side to their fifth win of the season (and third in a row), the Sharks halfback took home the inaugural Paul Green Medal as the player of the match.

It didn't take long for Hynes to have an impact, setting up a try for his centre Sifa Talakai off the back of a scrum play in the second minute of the match. He'd go on to score one of his own on his way to a personal tally of 20 points in the match.

Hynes finished the game with a nice set of stats. A try, a try assist, a line break assist, five tackle busts, an offload, all while making 19 tackles with zero misses.

Scarily, it wasn’t even his most dominant performance this season.

Despite missing the opening three games of the season, Hynes now sits on top of the competition for try assists (10).

Braden Hamlin-Uele

In some of the best form of his career, Braden Hamlin-Uele made plenty of impact in his 44-minute stint against the Cowboys.

Playing with plenty of aggression and heart, the barnstorming prop ran for 159 metres from his 15 carries, 58 of those run metres post contact, with two tackle breaks and 9 tackles to top things off.

Such was the performance from the big man that Head Coach Craig Fitzgibbon almost awarded him the Paul green medal.

"Braden Uele was another one we thought was close. He has been really strong for us."

Unfortunately the performance was soured by a grade two medial ligament strain for Hamlin-Uele, the injury occurring as a result of an awkward tackle from Cowboy forward Jeramiah Nanai.

Expected to be out of action for around four weeks, the Sharks to now explore the options in replacing the talented front rower.

Sifa Talakai

Another regular in the 'Power Players' feature, Sifa Talakai was at his best again against the Cowboys on Thursday night.

Crossing the stripe for a try in the second minute of the match, Talakai was hard to handle on the Sharks left edge.

Running for a team-high 201 metres, 65 of those post-contact, Talaki's most impressive play coming when batted a Hynes ball onto Mulitalo without even looking to send his winger over for a try.

Talakai finished the night with one try, 201 run metres, two try assists and six tackle breaks.

Teig Wilton

The Sharks edge forwards have been consistent to start the season, with Teig Wilton's performance this week earning him a spot amongst the Madimack 'Power Players'.

Wilton was back to his hard running best against the Cowboys, busy in attack and hard to handle, breaking their defensive line to score his third try of the season.

On the other side of the ball Teig was bruising in defence, finishing the night with 38 tackles and zero misses.

Wilton finished the night with an impressive stat line across both attack and defence, with 143 run metres to his name, 50 of those post-contact, a line break, a try and 38 tackles.