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PAUL O'CONNOR PAUL O'Connor, a fans' favourite, is back with the Roughyeds for 2008 and 2009 after returning from a round-the-world trip which restricted him to only the first half of the 2007 campaign. A small man with a big heart and courage galore, the Widnes-born full-back starred for the Roughyeds in the early part of last season when he scored four tries in 14 games before he headed off on a pre-arranged three-month sabbatical to the other side of the world, taking in Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia. He returned three or four weeks before the end of the season and immediately resumed training with Steve Deakin's squad. He did not re-appear in a side that won three play-off games to reach the NL2 Grand Final, but the club later revealed that O'Connor was desperately close to making what would have been a shock return to the team in the final at Headingley against Featherstone Rovers. It was touch-and-go until shortly before kick-off whether winger Byron Ford would play because of a hamstring injury sustained the week before in a magnificent win at Barrow. In the event he did play, only to pull up with a recurrence of the injury midway through the first half. Unknown to fans or to Featherstone -- because Deaks and the club felt it advisable to keep it under wraps --- O'Connor was tuned and waiting in the wings to play in the event of Ford being ruled out. Chief executive Chris Hamilton said: "While he was away on his long trip, Paul kept himself in such good shape, and looked after himself so much, that he would have played at full-back, with Gareth Langley on the wing, if the decision had been taken not to play Byron. "That's the sort of lad he is. We know what he brings. He has already shown his quality and we are delighted to have him back on board." Mr Hamilton pointed out that the former Widnes player and ex-Great Britain Students international had planned to take a year out in 2007 and all arrangements for his trip of a lifetime to Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia had been made before he signed for the Roughyeds. He added: "We were fully aware of the situation when Paul signed for us. In fact, he wasn't going to play at all in 2007 and it was us who persuaded him to at least give us part of the season. He did everything we expected of him in the first half of the season when he and Richard Mervill were our most consistent performers. "They were the stand-out players week in and week out. We were sorry to lose Paul when we did, but we always knew it was going to happen. Now we are delighted that he has signed on again for us for the next two years." |
