Rising Leeds Rhinos star Jarrod O’Connor excelled at hooker in Thursday’s demolition of Wigan Warriors – but says he still sees loose forward as his favourite position. O’Connor celebrated turning 21 on Wednesday by producing an outstanding display at nine against Matty Peet’s Challenge Cup winners, who left Headingley having been thumped 42-12.
The former Widnes Vikings prospect’s performance again underlined his rich potential but he insists he remains focused on nailing down a regular spot at thirteen. O’Connor’s speed of thought and movement around the ruck, with captain Kruise Leeming out injured, was too much for Wigan to handle and with Brad Dwyer set to leave at the end of the season, he could be deployed there more regularly next year.
“But I still see loose forward as my favourite position,” O’Connor told Rugby League Live. “Obviously I can fill in there if Kruise is ever injured, so you could have me and Corey Johnson in there.
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“I could start at hooker and it’s something I can add to my game. I really enjoying playing there too, but I’d still probably say my main position is loose forward. Right now, I’m just filling in and doing whatever I can for the team.
“Defensively, both positions are similar and hooker is about trying to service the players around me and when I’m not it’s about organising the middles and taking a few more carries. But either way, this is helping me get in the team a bit more and I’m just enjoying playing at the moment.”
The son of Sky Sports rugby league pundit Terry O’Connor has made 14 Super League appearances this season and has thrived since Rohan Smith’s arrival as head coach in May. The visit of Wigan marked the Rhinos’ first home game for two months and a crowd of 13,368 witnessed their best performance of the season.
O’Connor, who provided assists for two of Leeds’ seven tries, said: “The atmosphere was amazing. It had been two long months since we played at Headingley, so I think all the fans were just as excited as we were.
“That showed during the game and the noise they created was outstanding. We feed off that and it really does help. Having just turned 21, to get a win like that over Wigan was not a bad birthday present! I just think everyone just dug in for each other – it was about team spirit.”
A third win in four games – and a fifth in nine since Smith took over – encouraged hopes that Leeds can maintain their momentum and make the play-offs.
O’Connor added: “I think we can finish in the top six. We were missing a lot of key players but we showed what we can do against a Wigan team sitting second in the table.
“That just shows what our young lads coming through can actually do. I know we had an off week last week in Toulouse, but we showed what we are capable of against Wigan. Rohan’s brand of rugby is really expansive and he just allows people to express themselves. That’s showing in our performances.”
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