Detective Jake Connor belongs in Baltimore

If you’d only ever seen Jake Connor play for Leeds against Wakefield on Saturday, you’d be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about. But if you’d watched him in the trial games during pre-season, like me, you’d have put the mortgage on him being Super League’s Man of Steel by October.

Of course, I’m only (half) joking. Jake Connor is without doubt a great rugby player, and he has proved this in the not-so-distant past. But he’s also proved that he can be his own worst enemy. 

Sky Sports tried to market him as Jake ‘The Snake’ Connor, a nod to famous Wigan shirt owner and professional wrestler Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. This was no more than a lazy link. Jake’s no snake. His interview with Jamie Jones-Buchanan after signing for Leeds Rhinos shows a character opposite to everything that everyone has ever thought about him. He's mild-mannered, eloquent yet quiet, introspective. As he says himself: “I’m just kind of a chilled guy outside of rugby and try to keep myself to myself and out of the media.”

In a sport where characters’ stories need to be told, Connor’s feels familiar to a story that’s already been told elsewhere. Jimmy McNulty is a former Baltimore Police Detective. At least he would be if he existed. McNulty isn’t the main character in HBO drama The Wire — no one is — but that doesn’t stop Jimmy from trying his hardest to make it all about him. A naturally talented know-it-all who only listens to orders from above to disobey them, Jimmy isn’t bothered what or who he steps on in the pursuit of proving to everyone that he is a genius. When Sergeant Jay Landsman toasts Jimmy in the final episode of the show, he addresses McNulty in front of the congregation of the Irish dive bar:

“Brother, when you were good, you were the best we had.”

While Jimmy may not be everyone’s cup of tea and a hindrance to hierarchy, there is an appreciation for him from his bosses. In a police department where top brass usually juke the stats, Jimmy’s methods are about some of the only things that work. After declaring himself the best the city has to offer, his colleague Lester Freamon sums up McNulty perfectly: “Natural po-lice.”

But when the chiefs become fed up with Jimmy’s behaviour and mood swings, they move him to a low-level patrol job. Though this may seem like it will not placate McNulty’s God complex, he finds zen. He gets his life in order. He sorts out his drinking problem. He finds love. He rekindles his relationship with his kids.Now, this is no triumphant story arc in which everything ends up perfect. McNulty soon falls into his old ways, but we’re given a glimpse of what he can do when he’s not constantly trying to prove himself to himself.

Personally, I don't feel a great sense of sympathy for McNulty. But it’s easy to buy into his charisma. Likewise, for a long time I watched Jake Connor from afar, and it was easy to get wound up by his antics, especially when he’d ripped my team apart. But deep down, I knew I only disliked him because he didn’t play for my team, and I wished he did.

When Connor and his Huddersfield side played St Helens last April, one of his classic tantrums cost his teammates the game. Huddersfield led 6-12 at half-time in a tight battle. St Helens managed to get themselves back into the arm wrestle but were unable to convert this into points as Huddersfield resisted — at least until shortly after the hour mark, when Connor got himself involved in a three-man effort to stop Saints’ Morgan Knowles, giving Knowles the slightest of pushes as they both got back to their feet after the tackle. As you’d expect from any self-respecting forward, Knowles returned the favour. Again, it the slightest of pushes to get Connor off him, but Connor took exception to this.

Looking like he’d taken one to his jaw from the heavyweight champion of the world, instead of getting himself back into position to defend, or even getting properly stuck into Knowles, Connor decided to do what he does best — he got distracted. He pleaded his case to referee Liam Moore even as the game continued around him, allowing Daryl Clark to score from ten metres out and drag St Helens back into the game. Not only did this give the opportunity for the Saints players to wind Connor up further, but it also gave his Huddersfield teammates a chance to get stuck into him. His captain Luke Yates looked on, hands on hips, stony-faced. Huddersfield went on to lose the game 13-12, Connor’s loss of head contributing to the Giants losing the game.

“When he plays well, Huddersfield play well,” Sky Sports pundit Terry O’Connor said at the time. “When he does things like that... I think he’s cost his side.” After the game, fellow pundit Jon Wilkin added: “He’s claiming Morgan Knowles has took a swing at him, whatever — get on with the game man, do your job! Jake Connor has got selfishly absorbed in a conflict that’s served him and his team no good whatsoever.”

None of the pundits doubted Jake Connor’s ability, but none of them doubted his ability to self-destruct either. And the players on the pitch are well aware of it too. “Jake’s quality is there for all to see,” said Saints half-back Jonny Lomax. “We know he’s going to try and get under your skin. We’ve played against Jake for a long time. As you get a bit older, you just don’t really get caught up in it.”

If Huddersfield had any fans, Connor would have been public enemy number one. The loss derailed the good form the Giants had been in at the start of the year. After underperforming the previous season under head coach Ian Watson, they’d won seven of ten games and qualified for the Challenge Cup semi-final. After the defeat at Saints, they won only five more games all season as Watson was sacked.

Can this all be blamed on Connor, though? Definitely not. Huddersfield had spent big in the previous few years and had only been able to idle to mid-table mediocrity. Watson was never sure on his best spine of players. In 2023, Connor was constantly swapped with Tui Lolohea, Theo Fages, Olly Russell and Will Pryce as Watson tried to get the team firing. The lack of a settled set of playmakers led them to a ninth-place finish in 2023, the position they also ended the 2024 season. Watson, famed for a structured style of play that got Salford overperforming before he took the Huddersfield job, probably wasn’t the right coach for Connor, nor Connor the right player for Watson.

When Connor feels wanted, however, he really does work. Hull FC decided that he’d be their main man in 2022. Brett Hodgson took over as coach of the club in 2021 and was tasked with getting an under-delivering side firing. Hodgson was a fine full-back in his day but, unfortunately, is best remembered as ‘Raging Bull’ Gorden Tallis’ ragdoll. With a squad also boasting Josh Reynolds and Luke Gale, Connor didn’t have to worry about setting up play or bossing the huge pack they had around the park. He just had to get the ball in his hands and see what happened, ending the season with 32 try assists in twenty games. 

But Hull only managed to finish ninth in the league. In a review of his campaign, the Hull Daily Mail wrote: ‘Of course, Connor hasn’t been perfect this year. There have been a couple of below par displays, particularly post-injury and there are areas to improve in the defensive side of his game.’ Tough crowd. If it was up to me, I’d have written: ‘Brother, when you were good, you were the best they had.’ But the Hull Daily Mail did a job of perfectly summing up Jake Connor, just maybe not how they’d hoped. He’s the kind of player to throw in a couple of below-par performances, spend some time on the sidelines injured, and still get a bucket load of try assists.

One of the main criticisms of Connor is that he’s never been able to nail a position in the team down, that he’s too much of a luxury player. He has excelled at full-back but doesn’t have the metre-making muscle for the role in the modern game, as shown by his lethargic efforts returning the ball for Leeds against Wakefield. He was picked for England as a centre, but his defence has always let him down. He’s played well in the halves, but he doesn’t have the leadership to guide a team around the park.

When asked about his favourite position in the aforementioned interview with Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Connor begins by saying: “Honestly, I enjoy them all, but I’m just one of them that likes my hands on the ball.” He then laments his time as a centre, saying that's what he was deprived of. Connor is fascinating in the sense that he needs the attention and pressure to be on him, yet everyone talks about how if you put pressure on him, he’ll crack. Playing at full-back seems the perfect middle ground; he doesn’t have to control a team, but chances are he’ll be the one making the most of any opportunities. What he adds to a team can’t be coached. It can’t be improved by putting a structured attacking system in place. It can’t be perfected by rehearsing the plays over and over. And most importantly, it often can’t be defended against.

While Connor has played for some big clubs, he has always been the biggest fish in the pond. And now he’s at Leeds, I’m not sure the same can be said. Maybe I’m looking at this through blue and amber lenses, but Leeds Rugby League Football Club is the biggest Connor will play for. Maybe like McNulty dropping to the lowly ranks of beat officer, he’ll flourish knowing that the pressure isn’t solely on him to perform and provide all the answers. Coach Brad Arthur has repeatedly let the press know that he’s keeping Connor in check. “In week one, I told him I don’t think you’re fit enough, and I don’t think you’re going to be in the team [at the start of the season],” Arthur said during pre-season. “At Christmas time I said, ‘You’ve improved but I still don’t think you’re there yet,’ and to his credit, he’s worked hard.” When talking about what position Connor will play, Arthur has never been comfortable with Connor playing as his full-back, suggesting he’ll be used as a utility player at centre and in the halves. Arthur’s brand of tough love extended to the not-so-significant squad number that Leeds gave Connor. Offering no insight into his long-term position, this season he’s wearing the number 18.

Like McNulty, Connor doesn’t always play how his higher-ups want him to, but they cannot complain when it works. And like McNulty, his performance at work can’t wholly be assessed by statistics. At a time when nerds are trying to turn sports into the most boring maths homework you could ever imagine, Jake’s not a player whose post-contact metres or marker tackles should be recorded. The impact he has on a team can only be measured in tries, assists, and opposition fans' tears.

In another interview published on Leeds’ YouTube channel before the opening game of the season, Connor was asked about whether he builds confidence with each successful kick, or whether the kicks are all individual, one-off actions. “Erm…” he stuttered, buying time while trying to come up with an answer. “I’m not too sure. I don’t really think about that. I just line it up and kick it.” Jake can’t tell anyone how or why he’s good at rugby. He’s a natural, just like McNulty. Natural rug-by league. ⬧