Michael O'Connor

Superb centre established a host of point-scoring records at international level. Originally from Canberra, Michael O’Connor toured with the Australian RU Schoolboys in 1977 (with Wally Lewis and the Ella brothers) and went on to play 13 Tests with the Wallabies. Playing for the Teachers-Norths RU club in Brisbane, O’Connor signed with St George in 1983 abut did not make his State of Origin debut until two years later. The week before his selection, O’Connor had his nose broken in a high tackle by Steve Mortimer in a club match (which contributed to his nickname ‘Snoz’) but then scored all 18 points (2t, 5g) in NSW’s win under Mortimer’s captaincy. O’Connor toured NZ with the Australian team in 1985 but did not make his Test debut until the following year. It is ironic that one of the game’s greatest centres played mostly winger during his Test career but O’Connor was such a brilliant individualist that the move proved a great success. Chosen for the Test series against NZ in 1986 he announced his decision to join Manly shortly before leaving with the Kangaroos. In the space of several weeks he scored record points totals against Papua New Guinea (22pts), Great Britain (22pts) and France (20pts). O’Connor dazzled English crowds with his pace, swerve and chip-kick; running in spectacular tries with effortless grace. He played in all Tests on the unbeaten tour and top-scored with 170pts (13t, 59g). In 1987 O’Connor scored 14pts (1t, 4g) in Manly’s 18-8 grand final win over Canberra, and in the Test match against Papua New Guinea in 1988 set an individual points record of 30pts (4t, 7g) in a Test (since bettered by Andrew Johns). In a busy Bicentennial year, he played in all three Tests against Great Britain and in the World Cup final in NZ. His last Test appearance was on the tour of NZ in 1989 (he ruled himself out of a second Kangaroo tour in 1990 because of a recurring hamstring injury). His last hurrah at State level was his magnificent sideline conversion to win the second match in Sydney in 1991. In the third match of the series he was involved in a ‘conflict of interest’ controversy after Mal Meninga broke O’Connor’s nose in a tackle. The NSWRL refused to cite the Australian Test captain (an Ashes series was coming up) and O’Connor had to settle with a personal apology from Meninga. At the end of the 1992 season, still producing his best as captain of the Sea Eagles, O’Connor announced his retirement. Forthright and articulate in his views on the game and the way that the ARL was running it, he acted as a recruitment officer for the proposed Super League competition in the early stages of 1995. In 1998 O’Connor was the Chief Executive of the Adelaide Rams when the club folded and after a brief period in administration with the Brisbane Broncos, he joined the ARU as a recruitment officer.