Super Rugby 2015: James O’Connor not planning late nights out in Brisbane

AT another time of James O’Connor’s life, having 20 pubs, bars and nightclubs within walking distance of his front door would have spelt trouble.

CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 30: James O'Connor looks on during a Queensland Reds Super Rugby training session on January 30, 2015 in Cairns, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

AT another time of James O’Connor’s life, having 20 pubs, bars and nightclubs within walking distance of his front door would have spelt trouble.

The new Reds flyhalf is acutely aware that winning over his home state at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night is only half the job done.

His rap sheet of after-dark misdemeanours and disrespect for team values has so turned-off one snowy-haired Reds fanatic he has snubbed buying a season ticket. There may be others.

The rebuild of James O’Connor is about creating a new, responsible image and no amount of talk or “changed man” endorsements will achieve that.

“It’s going to be my actions that speak louder than any words,” O’Connor said yesterday.

He’s right.

It applies equally to showing his growth as a more team-orientated playmaker in the tricky wet conditions expected against the Western Force.

What about the magnetic dance beat of the Family nightclub or The Met which are both just a few blocks from his apartment in Fortitude Valley?

“Don’t know. I haven’t been out late since I arrived in Brisbane,” O’Connor said of six settled weeks with girlfriend Bridget Bauman.

“That was one of the changes I had to make.

“I can tell you about the coffee at the Chowhouse…or the bacon and eggs.”

He’s always had that engaging, energetic, almost impish way about him.

It’s failing to front for the Wallabies’ 2011 World Cup team photo when sleeping off a late night, the 4am burger bar snap or missing the bus to training during the epic 2013 series against the British and Irish Lions which has been the crazy trampling of his own brand.

There is a neat symmetry to playing the Force tomorrow night.

He dreamt of playing for the Reds when a socks-down schoolboy at Nudgee College but it was the Force who wooed him for a debut against the Reds at 17 as Super Rugby’s youngest debutant in 2008.

“Growing up it was always a goal and a dream as a Queensland boy,” O’Connor, 24, said.

O’Connor wants to show what he has learned about flyhalf play since a rough ride there when thrown in as a first-time Test No.10 against the Lions two years ago.

It’s funny but playing flyhalf for French champions Toulon forced him to feel the vibe around him better, be less the go-for-it guy he’d been since schoolboys rugby.

“The language barrier can really show you up there so I did work hard on my game as a No.10,” O’Connor said.

“The best No.10s feel what’s around them and gauge what their team-mates are doing to make the pressure plays.

“I have learnt to be more controlled, sit back and be more team-orientated in the role because you are not the ball-runner with the gainline mindset all the time that you are as an outside back.”

His punch is still a big weapon. He took on the line and his short-ball to Adam Ashley-Cooper set up the try for the Wallabies’ sole victory over the Lions in Melbourne.

“I have a lot of memories but most aren’t as positive,” O’Connor said of that series.

Kicking well, shrewdly alternating at first receiver with fullback Karmichael Hunt, organising his backline, some sidestep sizzle of his own…he has plenty to do to get the Reds rolling.

“It’s a whole team performance. I looked at all the stats and it wasn’t one player or one incident responsible for Canberra,” O’Connor said of the 47-3 dive to the Brumbies a week ago.

“We got beaten in every facet but we’re going to turn that around.”

Tomorrow is an exciting day one for the new James O’Connor…again. Let’s see where his actions and his address lead him as the season unfolds.

Originally published as Super Rugby 2015: James O’Connor not planning late nights out in Brisbane