Michael O'Loughlin

He is a descendant (the great great great grandson) of Kudnarto (c.1832–1855), the Kaurna woman who made history by being the first Aboriginal woman to Marry a British settler in the colony of South Australia in 1848.

He grew up in Adelaide, South Australia, and first played junior football with Central District in the SANFL.

He played his 300th game in round 19 at the MCG against the Richmond Tigers.

*10 games required to be eligible.

Michael Kevin O'Loughlin (born 20 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played his entire Australian Football League career with the Sydney Swans.

O'Loughlin was named a member of the Indigenous Team of the Century.

He was the third player with Indigenous heritage to play 300 AFL games.

He twice achieved All-Australian selection, played for Australia twice in the International Rules Series, and was a Fos Williams Medallist as best player for South Australia in State of Origin.

O'Loughlin was the first Sydney Swans player to play more than 300 career games.

In 303 games he kicked 521 career goals.

Michael Kevin O'Loughlin was born on 20 February 1977.

His parents never married, so he was given his mother's maiden name of O'Loughlin, which came from her Irish great-great-great-grandfather.

O'Loughlin's ancestors were Czech Jews, Aboriginal Australian (Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri), Irish and English.

Selected in the third round of the 1994 National Draft, O'Loughlin played 12 senior games for the Swans in 1995 and earned an AFL Rising Star award nomination.

The following year, he was a key player in the team that won the minor premiership and then lost to North Melbourne in the grand final.

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1995

O'Loughlin, the only player remaining in the team from the 1996 loss, played strongly during the 2005 grand final, including a number of exceptional marks.

However, and uncharacteristically, his kicking for goal during the game was inaccurate.

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1996

He was selected in the All Australian Team in 1997 and 2000.

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1997

He was club best and fairest in 1998 and runner-up in 2000.

When State of Origin matches were still being played, he represented his state on several occasions, receiving the Fos Williams Medal for best South Australian player in 1998.

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1998

In 2000 and 2001, he was the club's leading goalkicker.

In 2005, he was selected alongside Sydney Swans teammate and cousin Adam Goodes in the Indigenous Team of the Century.

O'Loughlin was chosen in the full-forward position.

He described this honour as the highlight of his career, alongside the 2005 premiership.

In 2006, O'Loughlin continued to be a key part of the Swans' line-up, including playing a decisive role in the qualifying and preliminary finals that put the Swans into the grand final for the second consecutive year.

In the close qualifying Final against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval, O'Loughlin ran into an open goal, then carried on to the fence and roared into the faces of some rather stunned-looking Eagles' fans from a few inches away.

In the 2006 Grand Final, O'Loughlin played well, kicking 3.1 (19).

He continued to play consistently well for Sydney through the balance of his career.

He was the games record holder for the Swans, passing John Rantall's VFL/AFL record in Round 14 of the 2007 season and Bill Windley's 102-year-old overall club record in the Elimination Final of that year, until he was overtaken by his cousin Adam Goodes.

The moment is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.

He became the first Sydney Swans/South Melbourne player to break the 300 games milestone in Round 19, 2009.

O'Loughlin played the majority of his early football in a half-forward flanker role, where his combination of speed, strength and agility made him a difficult player for opposing teams to match up against.

He was known by the nickname "Magic" throughout his career, in recognition of his capacity to play football so skillfully that it could sometimes seem he had "cast a spell" on his opponents.

He was also known by the nickname, "Micky O".

In the latter part of his career, he was primarily used as Sydney's full-forward.

On 23 June 2009, O'Loughlin announced that at the end of the 2009 season he would retire.