Retirement
The following season, O'Neill was overlooked for selection in all five Tests against the touring England team. Returning to New South Wales, he scored 473 runs at 39.42, including two centuries.
O'Neill was omitted from the squad that toured South Africa in 1966–67, ending his Test career. He continued his Shield career while his former teammates were on the other side of the Indian Ocean, compiling 741 runs at 74.10 in a strong season. He started the season with 117 against Western Australia, before scoring a pair of 78s in the return match, helping his team to a tense 13-run win. He then scored 128 and 22 not out against Victoria and finished his season with 160 and 80 against South Australia, scoring a majority of his team's first innings score.
As a result, he was selected for an Australian Second XI to tour New Zealand. He scored 69 runs at 17.25 in two international matches and made his last first-class century, scoring 101 and 58 not out against Auckland.
O'Neill retired upon his return to Australia due to a knee injury. He left a reputation as a highly entertaining batsman who did not manage to fulfil his early promise. "A disappointment he was, perhaps, but his cricket will be recalled when those of lesser gifts are forgotten", opined the writer EW Swanton.
In 61 matches for New South Wales, he scored 5419 runs at 52.61. He compiled 3879 runs at 61.57 for St George in grade competition before transferring to Sutherland in the 1965–66 club. He scored 168 on his new club's first day in the competition.
A cigarette salesman by trade, he became a commentator in retirement. He married Gwen Wallace, a track and field athlete who won relay gold for Australia at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. They had two sons and a daughter. Their eldest child Mark O'Neill represented New South Wales and Western Australia in the 1980s. O'Neill also co-owned a racehorse named Pall Mallan, and it won a race in 1961. with Richie Benaud, Barry Jarman and Ray Steele O'Neill died at the age of 71 after a long battle with throat cancer.
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