James O'Connor: 'I haven’t been coached like this in a long time'

It’s the beginning of a new era for the Reds, as Brad Thorn departs after five years and Les Kiss looks to take the team to the next level.

James O’Connor is central to that evolution, although he’s perhaps not the preferred playmaker at this point in his career, the 33-year-old’s experience is a goldmine for the team’s young talent to learn from.

O’Connor says the flavour the new coach is brining to camp is distinctly different from anything he’s experienced since playing as a youngster.

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“I haven’t been coached like this in a long time,” O’Connor told The Roar.

“What Brad did was embed a deep winning feeling, not an underdog culture but we would fight. He instilled a lot of good values into the guys in terms of work rate and started the model that we’re working on.

“But it’s like everything, to grow you must evolve. We’ve nutted that physical element down with Brad and now we’ve moved to a more mental realm. We’re working bloody hard, but it’s a more detailed approach to rugby.

“Rugby’s a simple game but you’ve got to add layers and know when to pull back to the blindside, when to play on top of teams, when to kick and when to pull the trigger, and one thing I’m enjoying here is we can get the ball to space and as a ball player, it’s very enjoyable.”

Having played across the backline in 2023, O’Connor acknowledges his role in the team has evolved.

In 2024 he has three playmakers to compete with, as Lawson Creighton, Tom Lynagh and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips all mature and show promise at Super Rugby level.

“Part of being here now is to develop the young guys and bring them through,” he said.

“As long as I feel I’m the best and compete I’ll keep putting my name in the ring.

“All four of us bring different elements to the game; some are better at kicking, some are better at controlling the game and some have better running games, so depending on what combination we want to go, it might change weekly. I might be wearing the 10 or 12 jersey or the 22 jersey coming off the bench to close the game out or I’m just helping the team prepare. Obviously, I want to start but I won’t be distraught if I’m not.

“Lawson’s probably our best communicator, he’s a big body, he’s physical; Harry takes the ball to the line, he’s got great instincts and he’s quick; then you’ve got Tom who is also very quick, but he’s got a masterful kicking game and he really feels and sees space well, so there’s good competition.”

Being the only team to beat the Chiefs during the regular season last year, O’Connor says the Reds grew in confidence and form well throughout the 2023 campaign and are eager not to lose that progress under new management.

“It was tough playing 10 at the start of the year because we had no structure.

“Towards the end of the year, I feel we built some good combinations and put some good games together and got to the pointy end of the season and it was a reflection of where we’re at. We knocked the Chiefs off and we got pretty close in that final, but we weren’t a top-four team last year.

“We weren’t quite there last year but that’s what we’re building on now.”