Terry O'Connor has been in the biggest and best games rugby league has to offer. The highest-pressure situations, and the matches where the most is at stake. With that in mind, you'd think the former Wigan and Great Britain great is somewhat immune to nerves.
But this Saturday, O'Connor admits he will be more nervous than he has ever been for any of his fixtures. Not because he is walking out at Old Trafford with the Super League trophy at the 25th Grand Final - though he laughs doing it in front of the St Helens supporters housed in the Stratford End will be an experience. But because he will be watching his son follow in his own footsteps and play in a major final.
It is only the second time in Super League history a father and son have played in the Grand Final, following on from Jason Robinson and Lewis Tierney.
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"When I played, at least I had a handle on my own destiny and what happened," O'Connor tells Rugby League Live. "But this is worse. 100 per cent. Miles worse. I was nervous watching Jarrod play junior rugby as a seven-year-old. You're constantly obsessed with hoping he does the right thing. Knowing he's walking out at Old Trafford, something I've done.. that is going to be emotional. And nerve-wracking."
Over 20 members of the O'Connor final will be in attendance to watch Jarrod play in his first final on Saturday, a game which will cap a whirlwind and meteoric rise for the 21-year-old, who struggled to command a regular place in the side at the start of the season. Fast forward a few months, and he will now almost certainly start at Old Trafford at hooker.
"When Richard Agar left, Jamie Jones-Buchanan threw a load of young kids in for a game and Jarrod pretty much got his nose through the door and hasn't looked back," O'Connor said. "To see him play with such a smile on his face, and to realise your son is happy and developing, it's fantastic to see. He's really taken to working with Rohan Smith, too.
"I know what he's gone through to get to this point. Years ago, he used to train every night of the week, three nights a week boxing and twice at rugby league. All the hard times, all the nights when it was raining and he wouldn't be bothered, he'd just go out and give 100 per cent in everything he did. To see him live out his dream and his passion, and follow on from what I did, it's very emotional."
O'Connor also admits it is difficult potentially missing Leeds games when his commitments with Sky Sports call for him to be elsewhere, saying: "That's the hardest thing. I don't want to miss Jarrod in big games, because you'll never get those moments back."
But there is no danger of O'Connor Sr missing this Saturday - not least because he himself is an integral part of the pre-match proceedings. O'Connor, who played in the first Grand Final in 1998, will walk onto the field with the Super League trophy just before his son plays in the 25th Old Trafford showdown.
"I was a bit apprehensive when they asked me," he admits. "But it's a real honour. I'm very lucky I played in some great Wigan sides, and that 1998 one was definitely one of those. I'm guessing Andy Farrell, Jason Robinson and the other lads weren't available so they came to me! But I'm very proud to be doing it, especially given what's happened with Leeds and Jarrod too."
And to be part of his son's night, sharing the same field as his son minutes before he walks out with his Leeds team-mates, is something the 50-year-old will never forget.
"I'm almost fed up of using the word humbled, but there's no other word to sum up how I feel," he says. "To get to walk the trophy out anyway would be very special, but to do it when Jarrod is playing. You can't write that. To think I could take the trophy on, and Jarrod could carry it off a couple of hours later. Imagine that."
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