James O’Connor is back where it all began nearly two decades later. The 36-year-old playmaker has signed a one-year contract at the Western Force, returning to the club that announced him to the rugby world as a 17-year-old prodigy.
Like fellow veteran Bernard Foley at the Waratahs, O’Connor returns to his former club not just to mentor the next generation but also to compete for a spot in the Wallabies squad for next year’s World Cup.
O’Connor left Perth due to a contract dispute with the Force in 2011, moving to Melbourne to play for the Rebels. The move proved ill-fated, and he found the high expectations on him too much to handle.
As part of his return to the Force, O’Connor will also work as an attack coach for the club’s Super AUS team. If he were mentoring his younger self, what would he say?
“There’s nothing I could have stopped,” O’Connor said.
“But what I would say to that young man is just know there’s someone there, if things go badly wrong or if something doesn’t go right or if you are in trouble, you come talk to me. I’m here. I’m not going to judge you.
“No matter how dark it gets or whatever happens, You’ve got someone you can come to and talk to and we’ll figure it out together.”
O’Connor had his first official coaches meeting on Tuesday in Perth after arriving in the city last Saturday. He is expecting his first baby with his partner Bridget and has moved to Cottesloe Beach.
Despite being away from Perth for 15 years, it still feels like home.
“It was the happiest time of my career (at the Force), it really was. It was because it was all new as well; I’d just started my career, but it was a magical time,” O’Connor said.
“There’s been incredible times in my career, but I think that at the Force it was the most joyful I’ve been …
“If I look back chronologically, it was the worst move I’ve made for my happiness, my rugby, for everything, but I needed to make that move for me to be able to be the man I am today.”
At the Rebels, O’Connor was forced to take on game management roles he wasn’t equipped to handle. As a young player, he was blessed with speed and agility, but controlling a team was too much.
“No one would know that I was managing that stress; you might think watching me on the field I didn’t have a care in the world,” he said.
“But I could never fully be present during the week because I was worried about things like, ‘Have I done the work?’ Because maybe I hadn’t done the work and I knew my body wasn’t in the place where it needed to be.”
After a season in Melbourne, O’Connor wanted to return to the Force. But an incident at Perth airport in September 2013 saw him stood down by the Wallabies. Australian Federal Police alleged he was intoxicated and not allowed to board a flight from Perth to Indonesia. O’Connor denied being drunk but admitted to engaging in a heated argument over seating arrangements.
O’Connor left Australia for London Irish in 2013 to play under the late Brian Smith, before stints with Toulon in France and Sale in England.
“I felt like everyone was out to get me. Was I treated unfairly? It wasn’t unfair, but I definitely think that I had a target on my back,” O’Connor said.
“When that door was finally shut on me after the airport (incident), it was time to go explore Europe.
“It was the best thing I ever did because I got out of the fishbowl. I got out of my own way and had to figure out who I was as a man, and that started my journey back to where I am now.”
Last year, O’Connor made a shock Wallabies return and helped Australia beat South Africa for the first time at Ellis Park in 62 years. He is determined to grow as a coach in Perth, but also remains driven by the lure of the home World Cup.
“I’m preparing myself for next season (at the Force). One, my first child’s on the way and number two, I’ve just moved halfway around the world three times now,” O’Connor said.
“I’m going to be honest, I want to play in that World Cup. I’ve seen myself playing in it and I know I can add value.
“If I stick to my guns and I make sure I’m disciplined and I put the work in and everything goes as planned, then great. I can see myself playing in there and adding a lot of value … but after next year, after the World Cup, I think that’ll be me (as a player).”
On Tuesday morning, O’Connor went for a swim with an old teammate and close friend Kurtley Beale.
After playing last season in Leicester, O’Connor fielded offers from France, Japan and South Africa, but with a baby on the way, O’Connor knew it was time to come home.
“It’s time to plant some roots,” he said.
“As soon as I found out that my wife was pregnant, it was like, okay, this all makes sense now … everything just became irrelevant. This is where I want to be. I want to be close to family. I want to be in Australia. This feels right for us.”