'We'll have good times going forward': Leeds Rhinos' Jarrod O'Connor confident of bright future

The 21-year-old was Leeds’ starting hooker for the 24-12 loss to St Helens and reckons, once the initial disappointment wears off, Rhinos will be a better team for the week’s build-up and game itself.

“It was a good experience,” O’Connor said of his first taste of a showpiece occasion.

“I think we’ll take that into next year, with the young squad we’ve got going forward.

“It was a pretty disappointing way to end the year, but I think just to get there was a pretty good achievement in itself.”

Rhinos were second from bottom of the table as late as April and didn’t seal a place in the play-offs until the final moments of their last game in the regular campaign.

O’Connor admitted they would have accepted losing in the Grand Final as a positive end to the season just two months ago, but stressed: “I don’t think, after the recent form we’ve been in, we’d have taken any other result than winning, but one team has to lose and Saints were the better team on the night.

“If anyone had told me at the start of the year I was going to play in a Grand Final, I wouldn’t have believed them - never mind starting in a Grand Final.

“I wanted to get the win and we’re all disappointed, but we are going to move on from it and use it as fire going into next year.”

The title decider was O’Connor’s 25th appearance of the season and his 22nd in succession.

He played in every game under coach Rohan Smith, who joined the club in May, kept captain Kruise Leeming out of the starting side towards the end and was man of the match in the semi-final win at Wigan Warriors.

Other rookies including Morgan Gannon, Liam Tindall and Sam Walters also gained valuable game time and O’Connor noted: “We have got a pretty young squad and the fact we’ve all had to play our role getting here is only going to benefit us. I think in the next few years we’re going to have some good times, going forward.”

On a personal note, O’Connor felt he handled last Saturday’s occasion, in front of a 60,000 crowd “quite well”, but accepted: “I think I could have done a few bits better, but that’s rugby, it’s not all going to go the way you planned,

“There’s little bits to work on next year, but there’s nothing like playing in front of a crowd like that; the goosebumps it gives you are unbelievable. Hopefully we get to do it again next year and lift the trophy.”

Rhinos have one more game, against New Zealand at Headingley on Saturday, October 8, before their off-season break and O’Connor is already feeling optimistic about 2023.

He said: “I think the stuff Rohan will probably bring in in pre-season is just going to benefit us even more.

“We’ve seen what he has done in a few months without any pre-season so I reckon starting to mould us into his type of team will be good for us and we’ve got some good additions coming in.”