Reds flyhalf James O'Connor has opened up about overworking himself in 2021 as he looks to prevent a similar 'burnout' ahead of Super Rugby Pacific.
O'Connor guided the Reds to the Super Rugby AU title as captain, announced as Super Rugby Player of the Year on Wednesday as part of the Rugby Australia Awards.
However, the 31-year-old concedes the increased workload and responsibilities left him drained, giving up the role to Tate McDermott for Super Rugby Pacific, who serves as co-captain alongside Liam Wright.
“It started after the season, there were conversations about performances, where we want to get to as a group and for me,” he explained to reporters. “I sat down with Bo Hanson, our high performance and mental side of the game, we picked apart strengths and where I thought I could improve and get the best out of my performances and it fell back to probably taking on too much.
“I just wanted to strip it back this year to focus on the gameplay and running the game, playing the best I could because I felt I probably burnt out after Super Rugby AU.
“Having those two guys at the front with youth on their side, the same age as the group and guys who consistently improve (is best for the group).
“Tate in particularly, always has a consistent game, is free to speak his mind and very driven and I think for a younger guy he knows what he wants…he’s disciplined but he has his life in order and he’s going to be huge for us.”
Along with this, 59-capped veteran struggled with injuries towards the end of the season which contributed to the 'burnout', stranded on 99 Super Rugby games after suffering a nerve injury midway through Trans-Tasman.
Further injuries in Wallabies camp saw the playmaker restricted to just four Tests in 2021, three from the bench.
With this in mind, O'Connor sought a more 'balanced' approach ahead of 2022.
“I think they all played hand-in-hand,” he admitted about injuries contributing to the burnout.
“I just took on a little too much. It wasn’t like I was fatigued, I just felt off and getting up for training just felt difficult.
“I missed the last two games of Super with a nerve issue which was frustrating. I then got that right and came into Wallaby camp and tore my groin the second day in.
“I’ve decided that I need to balance things out better.”
Consistency was a major talking point for O'Connor, who believes the side 'peaked' in May with the Super Rugby AU title.
This left them below-standard by the time Trans-Tasman rolled around, with the club winning just one of five games.
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O'Connor believes the combined competition and a further focus on physicality have them primed for a strong showing.
“Our goal was spoken quite openly which was the AU title and that was our mindset and then what will happen after that,” he believes.
“This year it’s just one competition and we’ve recognised parts of our game that needed improvement and I also felt like we probably didn’t play as well as I felt we were at as a group. We want to beat them consistently whilst playing our style of football and show exactly where we are.
“In my opinion, I think we peaked for the AU title. Obviously, it was going to be tough for us to make the (Trans-Tasman) Final where you have to beat all five of the Kiwi teams which is always a difficult task in that short period of time.
“I do feel like we’re in a better place than where we at last year, especially in the periods of the game where I felt we lost in the last 20 minutes, those close games and falling off physically.
“A lot of those crucial areas I thought we were up there…we were right there in the moment where the game could be won or lost, it’s just those little moments, individual errors or our body composition physically that let us down and that’s where we put a big focus on in the pre-season.”
