O'Neill the ultimate Warrior seeks triumph after so much tragedy

For any Australian stand-off at Wigan the level of expectation can be daunting, and particularly so in a Challenge Cup final, such is the shadow cast by Brett Kenny's sublime performance against Hull at Wembley in 1985. After what Julian O'Neill has been through in the past 12 months, however, it must be easier to keep that sort of thing in perspective.

O'Neill, who became better known for his off-field behaviour than his undeniable talent in stormy spells with the Broncos of Brisbane and London, then Perth's Western Reds and South Sydney, was enjoying his longest trouble-free run with the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville when Piper, his 13-month-old baby girl, was killed by a falling television set.

Rather than pull out of a move to Wigan, the 29-year-old, his wife Nicole and their surviving son Ethan decided it might be easier to rebuild their lives away from Australia, which is why O'Neill will be wearing that famous No6 shirt at Murrayfield today.

"After the tragedy, I really just wanted to get away," O'Neill explained from his new base in the Lancashire countryside, where he has even been observed cooking monkfish for a local radio reporter - a world away from the Brisbane bars and Gold Coast casinos he frequented in his wild youth.

"You just come full circle and want to bring everything back to basics. That's what's good about being over here. I get to concentrate on my footy and try to put the other stuff behind me."

Signing O'Neill was always a risk for Wigan's chairman Maurice Lindsay, even before that unimaginable personal tragedy, as he has to battle so hard to stay on the straight and narrow.

That is perhaps understandable given his troubled background - at six, Julian lost his mother in a car accident and his father, a prominent gynaecologist, died of a heart attack a few months later. O'Neill was sent to boarding school, where a level of natural talent described as "obscene" started to emerge, and he earned a place on the Brisbane Broncos' scholarship scheme.

Originally a full-back, he really should have blazed a trail for Darren Lockyer, the current Broncos No1, who is acknowledged as the best in the world and tipped to be the next Kangaroo captain. Instead he has only won two Australia caps, surely a cause for regret - although he insists: "No, mate, no."

His grandmother, Wilhelmina Barlow, told an ABC documentary: "I think fame and fortune came to him a bit young. He was happy go lucky and I think he got in with the wrong people. I think that they should have kept a much firmer and stricter hand on him because he was a good boy previous to it."

Still, his career has had its share of high spots. There were three grand final victories with Brisbane, including their first in 1992, which was quickly followed by a World Club Championship win at Wigan. O'Neill has also represented Queensland in 12 State of Origin matches, and has especially fond memories of a recent series in which he relished the extra responsibility of his favourite stand-off position.

He has also had a taste of the Challenge Cup final, in 1993 when after a short stint with Widnes - living with Bobbie Goulding, the enfant terrible of the British game, in a pilot for "Flat-mates from hell" - the Chemics' coach Phil Larder flew him back from Brisbane to face Wigan at Wembley. "In the end I was only a sub and came on as a second-row, but I'm still glad I came," O'Neill reflects. "Playing in front of that crowd was an amazing experience, even though we lost. I can't wait to see how Murrayfield compares."

He has started slowly at Wigan, which his coach Stuart Raper says is understandable given the training he missed in the aftermath of his family tragedy. In the semi-final victory over Castleford it was his half-back partner Adrian Lam who took the attacking burden from Andy Farrell, with O'Neill left to top the tackle count.

"He's been tackling himself fit," says Raper, who will be hoping that the big stage will bring out the best in O'Neill's fragile talent today - especially with Kris Radlinski still in doubt following his blood disorder. The Great Britain full-back was wearing carpet slippers as the Wigan team had their traditional walkabout at Murrayfield yesterday, but said his foot was "10 times better than it was" and rated himself a 70-30 chance.

Wigan, who won the cup in eight consecutive years from 1988 to 1995, including two victories over St Helens, go into this game as rank outsiders, an unfamiliar situation that has seen them return almost 5,000 of their allocation of 12,800 tickets.

Saints, in contrast, expect to have more than 20,000 sup porters in Edinburgh today, and judging from the relaxed mood of their coach Ian Millward and his players yester day, it would be a huge surprise even to them if they failed to retain the cup they won at Twickenham last year.

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