After defeat by Tonga last weekend, it is safe to assume that every member of the Great Britain side that faces New Zealand on Saturday has some wrongs to right. Yet for Jake Connor, who will make his first Lions appearance, there will be wider reasons to ensure everything goes to plan after a season he will be keen to forget thus far.
“It was a nerve-wracking wait for the call-up given everything that’s happened this year,” admits the 25-year-old Connor, who will start in the centres this weekend in place of the injured Oliver Gildart. In Super League, his Hull side looked well-placed for a run at the play-offs midway through this year, before a remarkable end-of-season collapse saw them miss out. The nadir was an embarrassing defeat by Castleford, in which Connor exchanged words with some of his own teammates after being sin-binned for dissent.
It left his own coach at Hull, Lee Radford, admitting he needs to calm his on-field temperament, and the player himself fearing he would miss out on a dream trip with Great Britain. “Personally I didn’t have a great season and given how things finished with Hull, I genuinely didn’t know what to expect,” he admits. “It was a nervous wait, but to get the call and try and finish this year on a high is something I’m relishing. It’s an honour to be involved and, after missing out last week, I’m keen to grab this chance with both hands.”
While Connor has established a reputation in Super League for a player who can get under his opponents’ skin, it should not overshadow his mercurial talent. Capable of playing in several positions across the backline has been identified as a major strength in Connor’s game since he was a teenager at Huddersfield: but the player himself admits the utility role is something he is growing tired of.
“It’s getting to the time where I need to work on one position,” he says. He will play centre this week, but the Great Britain coach, Wayne Bennett, believes he has the tools to play half-back at international level, making this a pivotal period in Connor’s fledgling career. “We’ll have to have a chat when I go back to Hull and see what the plan is there. I’m 25 now, and I need to playing regularly in one role for the good of my own game.”
Yet despite such a mixed year – and constant speculation linking him with a move away from Hull – Connor will get the chance to end his season on a high: starting this weekend in the first of two Tests against the Kiwis, before a trip to Papua New Guinea. “The experience has been great and exactly what I needed,” he admits.
“I know there’s a lot of history surrounding Great Britain. To play for England last year was great but this will be doubly special because you don’t know when Great Britain will come around again as a concept. I really want to make the most of it all, and try and help the guys win all three of the games we’ve got left.”
The Lions were underwhelming, albeit against an impressive Tongan side, last weekend. With the squad’s senior players vocal about their target to win every game on tour, many are expecting a strong response from Bennett’s side on Saturday against a New Zealand side themselves well beaten by Australia last weekend.
“It wasn’t great, that defeat, and the mood was a bit sour after but we’ve got over it very quickly,” Connor says. “You don’t come on tours like this expecting to walk into the side, but now the chance is here, it’s up to me. They’re a very strong side, the Kiwis, but we think we’ve got a pretty strong group ourselves here. Just to be still playing after how the season ended in Super League is great for me, though.”
