Nicho Hynes insists Cronulla's season will not be derailed by Braydon Trindall's driving charges, as the Sharks prepare for time without their in-form five-eighth.
Trindall remained absent from Cronulla training on Wednesday, after he allegedly failed drug and alcohol tests while driving on an expired licence on Monday.
The 24-year-old continues to await the results of a secondary sample of his drug test, after cocaine is believed to have been found in his system.
Cronulla players have reached out to Trindall, who allegedly returned a breath-analysis reading of more than double the legal limit at 0.124.
Trindall is due to face court on May 17, but at this stage there is no timeline set on his NRL return.
Sitting first on the ladder, the drama has hit the Sharks when they need it least.
Daniel Atkinson will start in an NRL match for the first time against Canberra, with the 23-year-old only having previously played as a bench utility.
But Hynes, who also spent time training with Atkinson at their former club in Melbourne, was adamant it would not stunt the Sharks' surge.
"We work so hard to get our club culture to where it is. You want to build a next-man-up mentality at every club, and certainly at this club," Hynes said.
"It takes a whole squad to win a premiership or be up there with the top teams in the competition, and to do that you have to create a good culture.
"You have to have a whole 30-man squad buying in. I feel like we've got that squad. We're buying into what Fitzy (coach Craig Fitzgibbon) believes in.
"It's transitioning down to our leaders and into the team. We've worked really hard to get to this position, and it's just going to build character."
Hynes said he would take on more leadership on the field without Trindall, and try to free up Atkinson to play his own game as much as possible.
But he said his thoughts remained with Trindall, who Hynes believed had given up alcohol at the start of his first season as a first-choice starting half.
"He's worked extremely hard this off-season, and the first seven rounds we played in," Hynes said.
"I think he stayed off the alcohol and stopped partying and doing those young things for a good while there.
"Tricky is a really good guy. He knows how to have a good time but when to rein it in as well.
"He's usually looking after himself in that capacity. He's hurting at the moment, and we all are for him too."
Cronulla captain Cameron McInnes said the club would fight through the adversity, but claimed everyone had to wear Trindall's charges.
"All of our actions reflect on each other," McInnes said.
"That's our mindset as a team. If one of us slips up, there's always something big or small we could have done.
"Unfortunately that wasn't the case the other night. Sometimes it's out of your control."
Australian Associated Press
