{"id":320654,"date":"2023-08-02T00:15:17","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T00:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=320654"},"modified":"2023-08-02T01:59:44","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T01:59:44","slug":"unwanted-wallabies-star-signs-unique-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=320654","title":{"rendered":"Unwanted Wallabies star signs unique contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>James O&#x27;Connor will start a career transition into coaching after signing a unique <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/rugby\/queensland-reds\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Queensland Reds\">Queensland Reds<\/a> contract \ufefffor the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season.<\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old has played 64 Tests for the Wallabies but has been surplus to requirements under Eddie Jones and appears unlikely to feature at the <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/rugby\/rugby-world-cup\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"Rugby World Cup\">Rugby World Cup<\/a> in France.<\/p>\n<p>He represented Australia A against Tonga earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Watch the 2023 Bledisloe Cup and Rugby World Cup on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/9.nine.com.au\/KRnrlm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" title=\"\"><em><strong>All matches streaming ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"25a1af6d-ee7a-455a-98b4-c1d09ebe7b68\" src=\"https:\/\/prod.static9.net.au\/fs\/25a1af6d-ee7a-455a-98b4-c1d09ebe7b68\" alt=\"\" data-width=\"3381\" data-height=\"2254\" \/><\/p>\n<p>O&#x27;Connor will be available to play for the Reds next season but has also been tasked with mentoring Queensland&#x27;s \ufeffnext generation of playmakers, including Tom Lynagh, Lawson Creighton and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.<\/p>\n<p>One of Australian rugby&#x27;s best redemption stories, O&#x27;Connor will also help coach Queensland&#x27;s \ufeffelite pathway players as he eyes his next career step.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This contract also allows me to deliver on one of the main reasons I came back to Australia &#8211; to help develop the next generation of rugby talent here at the Reds and also through coaching the junior pathways, which has been a passion of mine for some time,&quot; O&#x27;Connor said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/cricket\/the-ashes-2023-ian-chappell-downplays-ball-change-fiasco-usman-khawaja-comments\/e3e670b2-dc74-4eee-a6f1-96b7b9a0d2e2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Chappell whacks down burning Ashes conspiracy<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/football\/fifa-womens-world-cup-2023-australia-matildas-to-play-denmark-in-round-of-16-quarter-finals-semi-finals-opponents-france-brazil-germany\/a3ef0930-e88a-47cc-960c-ec44ab38c3e8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Matildas&#x27; round of 16 opponent revealed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au\/nrl\/news-2023-the-mole-concussion-expert-warns-cameron-mcinnes-valentine-holmes-manager-slams-judiciary-tino-faasuamaleaui-david-fifita-to-stay-titans\/c6fedfe7-f02a-4127-aeb5-2379a0b45b86\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Doctor issues grim warning to record-breaking NRL star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-id=\"4ad96a65-c11f-4290-8cd8-453187c46c57\" src=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/4ad96a65-c11f-4290-8cd8-453187c46c57-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-width=\"3000\" data-height=\"2032\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&quot;I feel very privileged to be staying in Queensland.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;This is my home, my team and an opportunity to continue playing with a group of men I have a lot of love and respect for.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Since returning home in 2019, there&#x27;s been many highs with the club and also a lot of learnings. I feel there is so much this group can achieve and I believe with our new world class facility and under a coaching staff headed by Les (Kiss), we can really find our next gear.&quot;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Stephen Hoiles and Justin Harrison unpack a heavy Bledisloe Cup defeat and search for hope ahead of the return clash in Dunedin<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/bledisloe-cup-blow-silver-linings\/embed?style=Cover\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"embed-social embed-omnypodcast\" data-show-caption=\"false\">https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/bledisloe-cup-blow-silver-linings\/embed?style=Cover<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When fit and in form, O&#x27;Connor remains one of Queensland&#x27;s better players and could well feature heavily at inside centre outside Wallaby-in-waiting Lynagh under new coach Kiss.\ufeff<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It&#x27;s been great to watch James&#x27; return to the Reds from afar over the last few years,&quot; Kiss said.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;His leadership and experience are obviously an important aspect of the current squad, and the lessons he can pass on to our up-and-coming playmakers will be pivotal in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;We&#x27;d also like to acknowledge Rugby Australia for their support of this unique contract arrangement which will allow James to develop himself as a coach within our elite pathways. I&#x27;m looking forward to working with him.&quot;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/login.nine.com.au\/edm?client_id=wwos&amp;redirect_uri=https:\/\/wwos.nine.com.au&amp;newsletter=true\"><em><strong>clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>James O&#x27;Connor will start a career transition into coaching after signing a unique Queensland Reds contract \ufefffor the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season. The 32-year-old <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=320654\" title=\"Unwanted Wallabies star signs unique contract\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":320657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=320654"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320662,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320654\/revisions\/320662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/320657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=320654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=320654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=320654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}