An Australian international and Queensland Maroons representative centre/five-eighth, he played his club football in Toowoomba and Rockhampton.
At the time of his death, he had been a recruitment scout for the Brisbane Broncos club of the NRL for several years.
He linked with Toowoomba's Newtown team in 1950 where, under the guidance of noted coach Duncan Thompson, he secured a Queensland jumper.
Connell found countless young players for the Broncos, notably including Shane Webcke, Tonie Carroll, Petero Civoniceva, Darren Lockyer, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri, Shaun Berrigan, Brent Tate and Karmichael Hunt, all of whom represented Queensland at State of Origin level.
In 2007, the main training facility for the Brisbane Broncos, the Cyril Connell High Performance Centre, was named after him due to his years of service to the club.