 In 1966 he took up the coaching role at Manly and was responsible for promoting the young Illawarra junior and future Immortal Bob Fulton straight into first-grade at age 17.On Australia Day 2004 O'Connell was awarded the Order of Australia Medal "service to rugby league football, particularly as a player and coach".O'Connell was Australia's oldest living Test captain up until his death on 28 June 2017, at the age of 94.