 Despite the riot act being read to both teams after a fiery Game 2, the NSWRL failed to cite Meninga for the incident and O'Connor was forced to accept an apology from him (at the time Meninga was the reigning Australian captain and there was the Trans-Tasman series against New Zealand starting a month later).O'Connor and Manly captain Paul Vautin travelled to England to play for the Alex Murphy coached St. Helens for a short spell during 1988–89, but his performances were largely disappointing, culminating in the side's 27–0 1989 Challenge Cup Final defeat at Wembley Stadium against Wigan.It was the first time in Cup Final history that a team had been held scoreless.