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James O'Connor's shock admission on time in Europe and warning about playing overseas
James O’Connor has admitted he wanted to walk away from the game in his twenties after years of injuries, partying and wrong decisions left him looking for the door.
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In a wide-ranging interview with Emma Greenwood in rugby.com.au, O’Connor also warns Australian players about going overseas on big contracts, and suggests staying in Australia is the way to go for young Aussie talent.
The 29-year-old is now back with the Queensland Reds, having made a Rugby World Cup comeback with the Wallabies last year.
The playmaker talks of his time abroad in the UK and France, and of how he had fallen out of love with the game. Getting arrested for cocaine possession in Paris was the straw that nearly broke the camel’s back.
“I thought after what happened in France I was done. So to be here (Queensland) now, it’s just, enjoy it.”
“I was close (to giving up rugby). I thought if I do my ankle one more time, I’m done.
“That was in 2017 – if I hurt it again, I was done. I thought it would (happen). I was like, I’ll just give up and I’ll find something, something good will come about.”
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O’Connor’s injuries while in Europe got so bad at one stage that he was barely fit for one hour of training a day and was unable to sidestep or run properly. O’Connor blames the lure of alcohol and a party lifestyle for his inability to get back to full fitness. Pain had become a daily issue for the playmaker.
“It (pain) riddled me for so long. But my choices didn’t help,” he said. “I remember after I got my first ankle surgery, I was with the boys on the weekend and we went to one of the boys’ houses and got some drinks.
An "at peace" James O'Connor ready to write a new chapter with @Reds_Rugby.https://t.co/Seusk2xaHn
— RUGBYcomau (@rugbycomau) January 10, 2020
“Obviously alcohol is so bad on not only your body and your guts but it thins your blood and it’s not the way to (recover).
“But back then, I was like, I’ll heal, I’m young, I’ve always healed in the past.
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“But you get to a certain age where you don’t heal the same and if you don’t look after yourself, you can’t play rugby – if you don’t make the right decisions, if you don’t put rugby first, it will be taken away from you.
“I spent three years overseas where I was in pain every session. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t sidestep and that was my main game, so I had to develop other areas.
Out TODAY 🤩#Baabaas #rugby #rugbyunited 🏉 pic.twitter.com/hFvWhsM4Dx
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) January 12, 2020
“But it was frustrating. That put me more into a hole because if you can’t express yourself, you’re just whacking against a wall.
“I was like, I just can’t catch a break. But I was the one causing it, with my life choices and where I was putting my energy.”
“I’d fallen into some horrible habits,” O’Connor said. “I was broken. I was broken physically, I couldn’t get on the field, I could train only an hour a day, maximum.
Rugby should learn from Major League Baseball instead of following its path as it tries to capture the next generation, writes @bensmithrugby https://t.co/Erpp0egY7E
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 12, 2020
“Sometimes, I could only train once or twice a week, my body was just weak, I’d had so many surgeries.”
O’Connor says he has found peace and is back concentrating on rugby and staying fit.
The utility back who can cover every position in the backline other than 9, also warns of the pull of lucrative contracts overseas.
“You want to be here, you want to be hustling, you want to be grinding with your mates in Australia,” he said.
“We have an amazing country – this is genuinely where you want to be. You speak to anyone who goes and lives overseas, they love the experience – but they can’t wait to get home.”
You can read the full interview HERE.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments