Danny Orr - In conversation
Harlequins half-back Danny Orr talks to inthenews.co.uk
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Thursday, 25, Jun 2009 04:17
Harlequins half-back Danny Orr is enjoying life in London these days.
The Castleford-born star, now in his early 30s, has been in the capital for a couple of years since leaving Wigan in late 2006 and he admits the switch to the south has been an interesting one to deal with.
"It is very different to being up north, but at the same time you make it as good as you can, and I'm enjoying it now," he revealed to inthenews.co.uk.
"The first month was pretty tough but you make it your own. I'm settled with my wife and my two kids and I've no complaints at all about moving down here.
"It's a great place to live and this is a great club moving in the right direction."
Orr is right - Quins certainly are moving in the right direction, and that is up the Super League table. Bar last week's disappointing defeat to a rejuvenated Leeds Rhinos side, the Londoners have enjoyed a run of five wins in six matches.
The club have historically been something of an outsider in rugby league terms. Like French club Catalans Dragons, just with a bit more pedigree.
While the Dragons are a very recent addition to the competition, making their debut in 2006 after only five years in existence, Quins - in their various forms - have more of a history to them.
Originally the London Broncos when the Super League was formed in 1996, there has always been a club based in the capital in the sport's top echelon. But the chairmen of some of the more established names in the sport do frown upon clubs that are, in their opinion, artificial regional representatives rather than agriculturally grown from a groundswell of support.
Before the Broncos, London had the Crusaders and, even earlier during the 1980s, a team affiliated to Fulham Football Club.
However, this is the first time London's team has mounted a realistic challenge to the sport's big boys in the north since a second-place finish in 1997 - currently they sit fifth, only eight points off the top spot and with a game in hand.
The form of Orr has been a big part in that, although he admits himself that the creative side of his play has been lacking somewhat this season.
"We've been scoring a few points but we've not been playing that well with the ball," he lamented.
"But we're defending well and that's our main priority.
"I personally think if you look at teams that have won competitions then it's always the very good defensive teams."
Orr says he is not looking too far ahead this season, despite the realistic spectre of the post-season playoffs looming ever larger as the campaign continues.
He even admits the more relaxed lifestyle of London - which is possibly a contradiction in terms - helps him to focus on other things besides rugby, especially as it is outside the rugby league bubble of the M62 corridor.
"It is weird [playing rugby league in London] but in a nice way as well," he said.
"I'm from Castleford which is rugby crazy, then I went to Wigan which is possibly even more so. Everywhere you go it's always rugby, rugby, rugby and it's in your face all the time.
"But when I came down here I could come to work, do my thing and go away and that's it. You don't have to think about it too much and you can relax, away from the game, whereas in those areas you can't - it's 100 per cent all the time."
Orr came to London under something of a cloud when he left one of Super League's biggest names, Wigan Warriors.
Some said a bust-up with coach Brian Noble led to the end of Orr's career at the JJB Stadium. Some said the arrival of major competition for the stand-off position in Australian international Trent Barrett and New Zealand's Tommy Leuluai caused Orr to throw his toys out of the pram and demand a move.
The truth, the 31-year-old says, is far from either of the headline-grabbing versions above.
"I wouldn't say I was pushed," said Orr, when asked it he had been forced to move.
"I still had a year's contract at Wigan and I could have stayed if I'd wanted - but to be honest I don't think it would have been any good for me to stay.
"The way I looked at it was that you don't sign international half-backs like that and not play them.
"I enjoyed my time at Wigan - I really did - and the fans were absolutely fantastic to me and they always give me a good reception when I go back. I can't really say anything bad about the club because I loved every minute of it."
The move came about, Orr says, because Noble dropped a pretty heft hint that there was not likely to be a first-team place for him with the arrival of Barrett and Leuluai.
"Brian Noble took me into his office the day before the last game of the season against Hull and told me the club had signed these two half-backs," he explained.
"I would've gladly stayed and fought for my position but after that conversation I knew I wasn't going to be playing.
"I've been in the game a long time and I don't want to be sat on the bench – I want to be out there in the thick of it."
So was London his destination of choice? Did he pick it, or was it a financial decision driven by his agent?
"Quins were great with me," Orr enthused.
"They looked after me, flying me up and down to London for talks and that kind of thing.
"I had a half hour chat with Mac [head coach Brian McDermott] and what he had to say, what he wanted from me, really suited me and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me, a bit of a challenge.
"I thought I could test myself a bit down here and get out of my comfort zone. I'm glad I came here."
London is hardly a hotbed of rugby league diehards, though the club is growing - albeit slowly.
The average attendance for Super League matches at the Stoop is quite low at around 3,200. Contrast this with the Quins rugby union side, who week after week played in front of sell-out crowds of more than 12,000.
And Orr admits the half-empty stadiums his team frequently plays in are somewhat underwhelming at times.
"The only thing I do miss about playing in the north is playing in front of the big, big crowds," he confessed.
"When you play in a Cas versus Leeds or Wigan against Saints derby, the stadium's absolutely packed.
"At the moment we don't fill our stadium, unfortunately, so playing within the M62 corridor in front of the big crowds against the really big teams is something I do miss."
Despite affirming that he is enjoying life in London, Orr admitted he could be tempted back up north too - if the right deal came along. However, he is quick to point out that any such decision would be made with one eye on his role as a family man and father of two.
"I've still got my house up there and my children don't get to see their grandparents as much as they'd like so I probably would go back in that respect.
"But at the same time I'm settled here so I could stay.
"You never know - in 12 months, two years, three years time, however long it is until I retire, somebody might offer me a job down here and I might be here for the next 20 years.
"You never know what's going to happen in your life, I've never been one for worrying about that kind of thing."
Whatever does happen in Orr's future, he is sure Quins have the setup and the backing to be a success long after he has finished wearing the famous quarters.
"We've got a lot of good young lads coming through our youth system - Tony Clubb, Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Will Sharp on the wing. They're all young lads, and all London lads as well, so that's very pleasing," he concluded.
London may not be quite the centre of the rugby league universe at the moment, but it is certainly growing as a spectator sport down south.
And Danny Orr, a man born and raised in Castleford whose sporting education comes from the game's traditional heartland, is at the very epicentre of that development.
Alistair Potter
Danny is an 'engage with your health' ambassador. To receive money back on dental, optical and other healthcare treatments and for more information please visit www.engagemutual.com.