Sean O'Loughlin

O'Loughlin's father, Keiron, and uncle, Kevin, both played more than 250 games for Wigan in the 1970s.

Sean O'Loughlin (born 24 November 1982) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer.

He is currently the assistant coach of Wigan Warriors where he spent his entire playing career, playing as a loose forward for the Super League club, which he captained.

Has also played for Great Britain and England at the international level, the latter of which he has also captained.

Sean O'Loughlin was born 24 November 1982 in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.

His father Keiron O'Loughlin also featured in the 1983–84 Challenge Cup Final for the Widnes side which achieved victory over Wigan.

It was the Wigan-based amateur club Wigan St Patricks which gave Sean his first experience of competitive rugby league.

He had already gained international experience as part of the 2001 Great Britain Academy of Australia, a product of the Wigan Academy, for whom he started playing in under-19s matches in 2001, and continued to do so in 2002.

During his time at the academy, O'Loughlin played in a variety of positions, including a game against Wakefield Trinity in the senior academy championships where he played at scoring two tries, and another against Hull Kingston Rovers where he scored a try playing at.

Because of this, O'Loughlin remains one of only a small number of rugby league players to play at Twickenham, the home of English rugby union, along with those in the St. Helens, Bradford Bulls and Huddersfield teams who competed in the 2001 and 2006 Challenge Cup finals and the England and Australia teams which played at Twickenham in the opening match of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

He is the uncle of current England rugby union player Owen Farrell, and the brother-in-law of current Ireland national rugby union coach Andy Farrell.

O'Loughlin made his senior debut for Wigan in 2002 and has captained the side since 2006.

He has played his entire club career with Wigan, making over 450 appearances, and winning four Grand Finals, two Challenge Cups and one World Club Challenge with the club.

In 2002, he also featured in two matches during the cross-code Middlesex Sevens tournament, playing as in a team composed of both Wigan and Orrell R.U.F.C. players.

O'Loughlin made his breakthrough into the Wigan first team under head coach Stuart Raper during 2002's Super League VII.

His first experience in the first team came as a substitute wearing jersey No. 22 during Wigan's 18–20 home defeat by Hull F.C. Two weeks later, O'Loughlin scored his first tries for the club as a substitute against Warrington, and subsequently made six consecutive appearances from the bench.

He made his first starting appearance for Wigan during a 16–41 away victory against Warrington, when he was called upon to replace his injured brother-in-law, Andy Farrell.

On that night, O'Loughlin played at, which eventually became his usual position, but during his first season he played in no less than three positions.

After returning from the Middlesex Sevens event where he played, he made another starting appearance against Warrington, this time at.

He also started, and scored a try, at against Leeds.

O'Loughlin's first season mostly saw him come into the match as an interchange, starting in only five of the twenty-one appearances he made throughout the league season.

Also in 2002 he was named as captain of the England A squad that faced New Zealand in November and later toured Fiji and Tonga.

He made 3 appearances on the tour and was sent off and sin-binned in the same match against Fiji.

He was named captain of the 2003 England A squad to face Australia and in the European Nations Cup.

He also gained his first senior representative honour when he represented Lancashire in the 2003 Origin match.

O'Loughlin played for the Wigan Warriors as a stand-off halfback in the 2003 Super League Grand Final which was lost to Bradford Bulls.

O'Loughlin made his international debut in 2004 and went on to earn 11 caps for Great Britain, and an additional 25 caps for England.

O'Loughlin played for most of 2004 with Andy Farrell moving to as cover for injuries.

During the season he earned a new contract and a call up to the Great Britain squad for the first time for the 2004 Tri-Nations series.

He made his début off the bench against Australia, and his first starting appearance in the following match against New Zealand.

After making an impressive start to the 2005 season, he suffered a serious knee injury in the Good Friday derby against St Helens, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

He returned to the first team in 2006 and was announced as captain by coach Ian Millward.

The poor start to the season left Wigan bottom of the Super League and led to the sacking of Ian Millward who was replaced by Brian Noble.

O'Loughlin showed a dramatic improvement under Noble.

His performance in 2006 earned him a recall into the Great Britain squad for the mid season international with New Zealand at Knowsley Road, St. Helens which Great Britain won.

Also at the end of season he was selected in the squad for the 2006 Tri-Nations in Australia, playing in Great Britain's opening defeat by New Zealand but playing an important role in Great Britain's victory over Australia.

He missed Great Britain's 34–4 defeat by New Zealand with a muscle strain.

With O'Loughlin's contract expiring at the end of 2006 he was linked with a move to new Australian NRL side Gold Coast Titans for most of the season but in November 2006 he signed a new two deal with Wigan keeping him at the club until 2008.

He has been named in the Super League Dream Team on seven occasions, including five consecutive seasons between 2010 and 2014.

He was named as England captain in 2014, and has appeared for the team in two World Cups (2013 and 2017).