 O'Connor scored two tries and kicking five goals to finish with all 18 of the Blue's points.A week before he was selected for NSW for the first time, O'Connor was hit in an accidental high tackle from Canterbury-Bankstown's Steve Mortimer in a club match at Belmore, leaving him with a broken nose (and contributing to his nickname of "Snoz").The Bulldogs half-back was cited over the incident but received support from O'Connor at the league judiciary when he concurred with Mortimer's explanation that his arm had come up from off the ball when he made the tackle and that there was no intent of a high shot.