O'Neill was signed to a sporting scholarship with the
Brisbane Broncos at age fifteen and was selected for the
Australian Schoolboys side in 1989 and 1990. However, he was ruled ineligible to play for this representative side in 1990 due to having already been a non-playing bench player for the Brisbane Broncos in a match against St George while O’Neill was still in Year 12.
1990s O'Neill was graded by the Broncos in 1990. He showed greater form at and played there in Brisbane's inaugural Grand Final victory in
1992. In the weeks following the grand final O'Neill travelled with the Broncos to England, where he played at fullback in the
1992 World Club Challenge against British champions
Wigan, helping Brisbane become the first NSWRL club to win the match in Britain. O'Neill briefly signed for English club
Widnes, who were then coached by
Phil Larder and he appeared as a substitute in the
1993 Challenge Cup Final at
Wembley Stadium, only to suffer a 20–14 defeat by
Wigan. O'Neill first represented
Queensland, coming off the interchange bench, in Game II of the
1993 State of Origin series. He played at five-eighth in Game III. The Broncos reached the
1993 Winfield Cup Grand Final and O'Neill played at fullback as they again beat
St. George for a second consecutive premiership title. O'Neill then played at fullback in all three games of the
1994 State of Origin series under coach
Wally Lewis. During the
1994 NSWRL season, O'Neill played at lock forward for defending premiers Brisbane when they hosted British champions
Wigan for the
1994 World Club Challenge, but were defeated by the British club on this occasion. In
1994 and
1995, O'Neill was the
Brisbane Broncos' top point-scorer. As his fame and confidence grew at the Broncos, O'Neill found himself at the centre of a number of alcohol-fuelled incidents. At Southport Magistrates Court in 1995 he faced five charges, following an incident at
Conrad Jupiters Casino where he was reported to have urinated under a blackjack table, including indecent exposure and offensive behavior. He was found not guilty, three fraud charges were dropped and he was awarded costs. After being released by the
Brisbane Broncos, O'Neill signed with the
London Broncos but was released after just three games following a drink-driving incident. O'Neill returned to Australia with the
Western Reds in
1996 ARL season. Whilst playing for them he was selected to play for Queensland at in Game II of the
1996 State of Origin series. He was playing for the
Super League-aligned Western Reds during the 1997 split competition and made one state and one national representative appearance for the Super League representative teams: O'Neill was selected to play for Australia from the interchange bench in the
inaugural Anzac Test and at fullback for Queensland in Game 1 of the
Super League Tri-series. O'Neill set club records for most tries and goals in a match but was released by the Reds 9 rounds into 1997 after multiple off-field incidents including phoning teammates and asking for money during a late night gambling session. O'Neill then switched to play in the
1997 ARL season with the
South Sydney Rabbitohs. He gained selection for Queensland, playing from the interchange bench in Game II of the
1997 State of Origin series making him the only player in history to appear in both the Tri-Series and State of Origin in the same season. In 1998, however he suffered immense publicity and a $10,000 fine from the club over a 1999 pre-season tour incident where a drunken O'Neill defecated in the footwear of teammate
Jeremy Schloss. This incident became known as "the poo in the shoe" affair, and gained much media attention and public ridicule after O'Neill reportedly uttered the alliterative line, "I just shat in Schlossy's shoe," to his teammates. He made a total of ten career State of Origin appearances. In 2001, O'Neill's 13-month-old daughter, Piper, was killed when a television set fell onto her in his family's home. O'Neill returned to England the
2002 Super League season for the
Wigan Warriors, enjoying victory in the
Challenge Cup, until 2003 when he completed a mid-season move to the
Widnes Vikings. In 2004, while on a pre-season trip to Australia with the
Widnes Vikings, he was accused of drunkenly attempting to set fire to a 13-year-old boy who was wearing a foam-rubber dolphin mascot suit whilst on a river cruise in Port Macquarie. To avoid apprehension, O'Neill stripped to his underwear following the incident, dived into the Hastings River and swam to shore, before hitchhiking and being picked up by a passing car. In 2004, he had a season playing
rugby union in France. O'Neill returned to rugby league in England in 2005 and played half the season with the
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, then switching back to former club the
Widnes Vikings until their relegation from the
Super League that year. He then moved to also relegated
Leigh Centurions for the 2006 season. In 2015, O'Neill was involved in an ugly facebook saga with former player
Jack Elsegood. O'Neill had posted a comment congratulating his son Ethan on making the Queensland Under 16 team, Elsegood then forwarded the message onto O'Neill's ex-wife. O'Neill then took to facebook and messaged Elsegood saying "Cheers to Jack Elsegood for sending my Facebook status to my ex wife – a dog. Game over". ==Sources and footnotes==