 During 1987, O'Connor played both in the centres and on the wing for New South Wales in their 2-1 State of Origin series loss to Queensland where he scored 2 tries and kicked 5 goals for the series.He was then selected to play on the wing in Australia's 13–6 loss to New Zealand in the one-off test at Lang Park.In 1987, there was a 4th 'Exhibition' State of Origin game played in August.