Former Wallaby James O’Connor set to sign two-year deal with Queensland Reds

ENIGMATIC former Wallaby James O’Connor has agreed to a two-year deal to play for the Reds which will be announced after he flies home from Europe.

Bledisloe Cup

ENIGMATIC former Wallaby James O’Connor has agreed to a two-year deal to play for the Reds which will be announced after he flies home from a Greek and Spanish islands holiday.

Sources have confirmed what the Queensland Rugby Union will not.

A Reds contract with O’Connor is officially a done deal and his return to Australia for next year’s Super Rugby season will put him on the radar as a valuable wing option for the Wallabies in their backline position of poorest depth.

Signing one of the few Test-toughened backs on the open market, with pace, footwork and handling prowess, outweighed the risk over whether he can rise from the disciplinary train wreck that is his divisive track record off the field.

SHOULD THE REDS SIGN JAMES O’CONNOR? SEE WHAT TIM HORAN HAD TO SAY WHEN HE ANSWERED YOUR QUESTIONS IN OUR LIVE CHAT

QRU boss Jim Carmichael is unshakably confident the strong team culture of a well-established club, with four 100-game stalwarts in the ranks, can deliver the supportive environment to get the best out of O’Connor that the fledgling clubs in Perth and Melbourne could not.

Not since the Reds gambled on Andrew Walker and he proved a model citizen in 2007-08 have the Reds signed a player with so many black marks on his disciplinary record.

It’s impossible to gauge what O’Connor has learnt from being banished from Australian rugby because his nine-month estrangement has been more like the fun-filled sabbatical abroad that Israel Folau and Will Genia crave down the track.

During his so-called banishment, O’Connor has lived the dream.

He has played a season with London Irish, signed a short-term six-month deal with European kings Toulon to play in France, represented the World XV in Cape Town and has been partying in the off-season sun on the beaches of Santorini, Mykonos and Ibiza.

REDS’ RECRUITMENT MISSING THE MARK: JONES

The biggest sign that O’Connor, who turns 24 on Saturday, is growing up will be if he accepts that his healthy Toulon contract is covering the shortfall of playing Super Rugby next year without a contract top-off from the Australian Rugby Union.

It would be a powerful show of intent that he wants a Test jersey back and is prepared to make a sacrifice to do so.

That the Reds desperately need someone of O’Connor’s finishing speed in their squad for next season is acute because they are losing the sprinter’s pace of Biarritz-bound Rod Davies.

Davies would still be on the books if had produced more form like last Friday night’s exhilarating showing in the 36-20 trouncing of the Rebels.

At his best, he is like the metal ball skipping unpredictably on a roulette wheel that lands on a jackpot. He scored one super try, threw the last pass for two more and was whistled back on two other try-bound moments of brilliance.

Fijian outside centre Samu Kerevi is certain to start against the Western Force in Perth on Saturday night with former Wallaby Anthony Faingaa (calf muscle tear) out for the final two games of the season.

Winger Dom Shipperley underwent surgery on Sunday on the fracture dislocation of the left ankle that will sideline him until the February kick-off to next season with the Rebels, his new club.

Originally published as Former Wallaby James O’Connor set to sign two-year deal with Queensland Reds