Paul is our pick

Paul O'Connor: our player of the year

PAUL O’CONNOR virtually flawless at full-back throughout the campaign, is the Chronicle’s player of the year for the 2008 season.

Small in stature but more than making up for it with huge enthusiasm, a cool head under pressure and bags of skill, the 24-year-old former Widnes player has become a firm favourite of Roughyeds fans.

He picked up four awards on the club’s presentation night and followed that up by nailing the number one spot in the National League Two dream team.

O’Connor was pushed close by Danny Halliwell in this roller coaster ride of a season for Oldham, with French star Said Tamghart also thoroughly deserving of recognition.




1. PAUL O’CONNOR: Before the season started, few doubted the full-back’s ability to handle National League Two with little fuss.



With the club bringing in the vastly experienced Marcus St Hilaire in pre-season, though, most expected O’Connor to be cast as understudy to the former Leeds and Bradford star — described at the time as the biggest signing in the new club’s history.

But after a try-scoring appearance in a Challenge Cup tie at Swinton in April, O’Connor has been an ever-present, undroppable figure at full-back. He has joined up with the attack with effectiveness this season too, and credits the work behind the scenes with St Hilaire as being of great value to his development as a player.




2. DANNY HALLIWELL: What a turnaround. In the opening half of the season, the ex-Leigh man didn’t appear to be quite the high-class centre everyone had hoped he would be.



Then came the masterstroke of regularly installing the 27-year-old in the second row — and how it paid off. Superb technique in defence often takes the opposition by surprise, given his rangy frame, while he is canny and powerful enough to fend off the tackles and run incisive lines to break through defences. Scored a total of 20 tries this year, 17 of them in the league, including four in one match against Workington on the last day of the regular NL2 season.




3. SAID TAMGHART: Yes, he can fly out of the line and completely miss his intended target.



Yes, he does have a tendency to give away silly penalties, or to try an offload in the most difficult of circumstances (though much less so than last year). But what an impact the former France international has made from the bench this year.

The 28-year-old sock-less wonder gives opposition coaches the willies, such is his uncompromising power and lack of fear when running the ball in down the middle.

Often described by Steve Deakin as “the best impact player outside of Super League”, Tamghart has refined his game to great effect and everyone at the club will hope he comes back for a third season with the Roughyeds in 2009.