There is a beautiful symbolism to James O'Connor's remarkable last-lap as a Bledisloe Cup competitor with bows in Auckland and Perth.
In a few poignant years, he has so completely re-written the narrative of his career that a Hollywood scriptwriter would stand, applaud and almost award him an honorary Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
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There is something much deeper to the smile that was so readily on his face through the good and the wobbly at Eden Park last weekend.
Almost every judge said it was impossible yet there he was in the gold jersey proving everyone wrong as a Wallaby No.10 again. At 35.
He was doing it in New Zealand where his family heritage has such strong roots. His late grandfather Maurice served with NZ’s 7th Anti-Tank Regiment in the Middle East during World War II.
They were close until his death at 93 and this Australia-NZ thing that is so magnetic at Bledisloe Cup time is part of who O'Connor is.
Playing in front of a packed Optus Stadium against the All Blacks on Saturday night has a poignancy too because Perth is where so much of his early rugby story unfolded.
O'Connor is getting to do what so few sportsmen and women get to do. Over the past few seasons, he's been signing off at significant ports on his rugby journey with big positives on and off the field. Forgot that some early impressions in the same cities might be judged a mixed bag.
O’Connor’s evolution has been so dramatic that his youngest fans don't even remember the early "Brand O'Connor" days.
The self-centred version of his youth has become the sharing, giving creator of play for all those around him at flyhalf.
“All I knew as a young fella was to create for myself and beat players one-on-one,” he reflected.
“You lose a bit of speed and ability to beat defenders. The evolution was to open up play for others because the 10’s job is to get the best out of the strengths around him to win more often. If you study the game, you are using your mind to manipulate situations on the field.”
He's been around the Wallabies forever but was a giving teammate to make sure scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan had the best possible experience before, during and after his debut Test.
It seems like a lifetime ago that O'Connor had to ride his pushbike to be on time for his first trip away with the Western Force in 2008.
He was just 17 and the kid who had no driver’s license. Force teammates drove by him, smiled and let him pedal. They could have lent a hand but his precocious manner made them do otherwise.
“I was 17, living in a house in Perth with best mates and we all had little motorised scooters to cruise around on,” O’Connor recalled with a smile.
“So, I’m off to final training on the scooter with two big bags on my shoulders before the flight to Brisbane after the session.
“The scooter breaks down so I had to get a pushbike, still with the two big bags, to cycle several kilometres to training. I had teammates drive by me having a good laugh."
The kid judged "too small" to make it by some Super Rugby recruiters produced some stunning moments in his four seasons with the Force as well as some turbulence.
Perth is also where Part One of his Test career abruptly ended in 2013.
Post-Test, Perth International Airport, refused entry to a flight to Bali, Federal Police, misunderstandings...the exact details of the drama don't matter. It was messy.
The talented star every Super Rugby team wanted was suddenly the "enfant terrible" no Australian club wanted to touch.
He spent six years in the Test wilderness, including a 2015 return to Australia that fizzled.
The tough mirrors he peered into, the self-discovery and maturity he worked so hard on were like a mental gym. Day after day, month on month, he put in the work.
The rich achievements of the past six years have only been possible because he healed himself first. The new state of awareness made it possible to give to others. Long gone are the look-at-me blond hairstyles or new cuts because he's not craving to create an image of a man he is not.
When he did return to Australia in 2019 to sign for the Queensland Reds, O'Connor virtually wrote the behaviour clauses into his own contract. If I mess up, get rid of me...that was the thrust of it.
That up-front honesty struck a chord with then-Reds coach Brad Thorn. O'Connor was signed and the remaking of his career in Australia was underway.
"Reformed" is a word you try to avoid in journalism because it can backfire so quickly. NRL ace Reece Walsh is kissing a baby's head and pledging to turn over a new leaf one minute. The next, he has his head in a toilet bowl.
O'Connor has completely and authentically recast his career. Yes. Reformed.
The career highlights of this past six years have been many and enormous vindication of his path. Just making it back to the 2019 World Cup in Japan was huge.
Try captaincy at 30 in Super Rugby, a thrilling Super Rugby AU title with the winning try for the Reds in 2021, a first-time club premiership with Brothers in 2024 with the winning penalty goal, a Super Rugby Pacific title with the Crusaders and the recent history at Johannesburg's Ellis Park with victory over the Springboks.
It has been a golden twilight.
Rewind to Ellis Park. It was O'Connor going to the line, absorbing contact and slipping a neat little offload to a looping Len Ikitau which set up the first strike-back try for Dylan Pietsch. Later, it was a confident long ball to give Max Jorgensen a dash to the tryline.
He was doing a flyhalf's job and bringing others into the game.
"Part of my role since I came back to Australian rugby has been to share my knowledge. I've had some great mentors and asked a lot of questions over the years. Passing that on is something I take a lot of pride in," O'Connor said.
When someone has been on the Test scene for a staggering 17 years, you can sometimes forget their reach with fans.
So it was in Nuku'alofa last year when the Reds played Tonga. A Tongan fan in a white dress in the crowd let her feelings be known by waving a sign, “Marry Me O’Connor.”
His teammates thought it hilarious and ushered the female fan onto the team bus after the game for a brief meeting with her idol who happily joined the fun.
When O'Connor was playing his final season for the Reds in 2024, he was frequently asked about his ambitions.
Many journalists would have been content with a firm date for his return from a hamstring injury or competing hard for playing time off the bench.
Someone would invariably slip in a kite-flying question about whether O'Connor had dreams of playing again for the Wallabies.
O'Connor always had a positivity that his final chapter had not yet been written and he had something to still offer the Wallabies.
The best thing of all is O'Connor now writing his own ending, not leaving that to others. They are finishing touches we can all celebrate.
