Leeds Rhinos news: Jarrod O'Connor reveals injury return target, eyes remarkable milestone

Hooker Jarrod O’Connor has played in a remarkable 78 consecutive matches for Leeds during a near-three-year run. The last time he missed a game was a 20-20 home draw with Huddersfield Giants on April 14, 2022, during Jamie Jones-Buchanan’s stint as caretaker-coach.

Since then, he has been ever-present under Rohan Smith, interim-bosses Chev Walker and Scott Grix and current coach Brad Arthur, but the 23-year-old will have to watch Leeds’ opening games of 2025 from the sidelines. Knee damage suffered during the Boxing Day clash with Wakefield Trinity has ruled him out, but it is set to be a short-term layoff.

“I think round three or four is what we’re aiming for,” O’Connor said of his return. “It’s [pre-season] probably the best time to do it - I’d rather miss three games than eight or 10. I am looking forward to getting back, but I’ll get some upper body weights done and keep moving through it.”

O’Connor’s damaged knee is in a brace and he said: “This is my first injury. I snapped my ATFL (anterior talofibular ligament - in an ankle) last year, but you don’t actually need that, so I just strapped it and played the next week.

“I did it in the London game when we won by one point down there. We tried to strap it up, but it hurt more so I took it off and had to play the rest without it. This is the first time I’ve actually missed a game since Rohan became our coach.

“I have been quite fortunate so far. This is just a random, unlucky one and hopefully I’ll get back from it and I’ll be fine. I don’t think anyone’s got through a career without being injured, so it’s just part of it.”

Andy Ackers is the only other specialist hooker in Rhinos’ full-time squad, but O’Connor reckons there is more depth this year, particularly up front. “The main thing everybody was saying was about our forwards and I definitely think we’ve got a lot of competition,” he said.

“I think in the first few rounds one or two might miss out because we’ve got that many top-class forwards. Tom Holroyd has come back, he is bigger than ever and he’s still one of the fittest in the team.

“Hopefully he can get back to his form in 2023 when he was one of the best props in Super League, so I am looking forward to playing with him again. It’s really exciting, especially as a nine - you want to be playing with a big pack that’s going to get you fast play-the-balls, so I am looking forward to getting a competitive game with everyone.”

O’Connor made his first team debut in 2020 and has a milestone in sight when he gets back on the field. “In 2020 and 2021 I remember thinking ‘when am I going to start playing?’, but I think that 2023 season was crazy how it panned out.

“I am only three games away from my 100th Leeds game. To play 100 games for probably the biggest club in the country, I never thought I would be doing that - it is a big privilege.”