Futtocks Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 No great surprise to anyone, but confirmation that 2020 is his last season as a player. Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughsehhh Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Legend Iconic figure Great career Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleEyePie Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 For as long as I've been obsessed with rugby league he's been in the Wigan side. A fantastic player. One of the last of the old school ball playing loose forwards. It's going to be very weird next year seeing someone else wearing the number 13. He's had a career to be proud of. I think the timing is definitely right though. I'm sure in the back of his mind he was probably tempted to go for 20 years but I don't think he'd be able to offer enough to go around again. Two of the biggest questions at Wigan over the last few years have been who will replace O'Loughlin at 13 and who will replace him as captain. For a long time there haven't been convincing answers to either of those questions but now there is. I do hope he gets back in the side and can get to one last Grand Final though. It won't be the same as winning at Old Trafford but I'd love for his final game at Wigan to be lifting the Super League trophy. Undoubtedly on the other side of the hill there will be Saints fans thinking the same thing about James Graham. Part of me really wants the Grand Final to be a showdown between Lockers and Graham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbruce Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Is he back dating it to 2018. Joking aside been a great player for both Wigan and England the sort of player you know will never let you down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo5 Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Great player & a wonderful clubman,but I can’t help feeling he should have retired 12 months ago. Hopefully a place on the coaching staff awaits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeF Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 One of those players that you would hate but would love to have in your own side. A great career Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17 stone giant Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Great player. I wish him well for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Prince Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 53 minutes ago, Futtocks said: No great surprise to anyone, but confirmation that 2020 is his last season as a player. Yes. Injuries have forced his career to stutter to an end. For me it was a great loss that he was not fit in the World Cup. Follow that up with Sam Burgess' injury in a later series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidingPie Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 What a great career he’s had and I wish him all the best for the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Prince Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 31 minutes ago, Davo5 said: Great player & a wonderful clubman,but I can’t help feeling he should have retired 12 months ago. Hopefully a place on the coaching staff awaits. One good thing is that Wigan have been forced to manage without him, with Bateman returning next season. And no matter how well Tommy has done ... and how useful he is ... and how much we would miss him, at 35 he too should make way. Being harsh, the club needs the Cap space. Clubs need to renew. I think Wigan have done a good job in the last 2 or 3 years. French and Hastings after next season are the issue... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubby Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 When you think he was already an international back in 2004, that is some time to stay at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeF Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 5 minutes ago, Scubby said: When you think he was already an international back in 2004, that is some time to stay at the top. And only the very best players stay at that level for as long as he has done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunbar Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 A great player and a great career. At his best, he made Wigan tick. He was a massive physical presence in the middle of the park in both attack and defence but also a quality ball handling forward. "The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby. "If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 A great player who had it all and from a young age he was technically very good at everything he did. A fantastic leader and captain too who all the Wigan players look up to. Its just a pity his last few years have been hampered by injury and I still think the World Cup Final would have been a different result with a fit O'Loughlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moorside roughyed Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Typifies the word "legend". A great player, professional and a great example setter for the younger generation to look up to. Hope he enjoys his retirement and enjoys the rest(he deserves it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Kevin Sinfield Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 A good player but not a great player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidingPie Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Just now, Sir Kevin Sinfield said: A good player but not a great player. We’ll agree to disagree on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo5 Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 3 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said: A good player but not a great player. Who your namesake? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futtocks Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 I'm pretty sure he's not leaving the game; straight into the backroom staff, I reckon. Nearly all the squad have grown up looking to him as a leader, and he's smart enough to coach. Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. Ralph Waldo Emerson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damien Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 13 minutes ago, Davo5 said: Who your namesake? Going by that standard, an average player but not a good player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Prendle Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 51 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said: A good player but not a great player. And this from a supporter of a club that nominates every player who makes more than 10 appearances a "Legend" Grow up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hela Wigmen Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Looking forward to him emerging from his death bed again to single handedly beat Saints one last time The fact that I’ve seen a load of Saints fans saying that they can’t wait for him to retire shows the respect we have, secretly, for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niels Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Futtocks said: I'm pretty sure he's not leaving the game; straight into the backroom staff, I reckon. Nearly all the squad have grown up looking to him as a leader, and he's smart enough to coach. He is a Wigan player I have heard of I think he will make an excellent coach as you say. He read the game superbly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex Evans Thigh Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Fantastic player and career. Shame he got so many injuries towards the end but that’s to be expected. Carried a team like Wigan at times which is some feat. His injury (along with Hodgson) cost us the wc in 2017 Formerly Alistair Boyd-Meaney fifty thousand Poouunds from Keighley...weve had im gid." MIPM Project Management and Business Solutions " Discounts available for forum members contact me for details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadera78 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 A great player to watch, he did everything you could ask of a LF. Lovely hands, ran the ball in hard, tackled even harder, and always came across as both a model professional and a man respected throughout the game. What a fantastic career. "Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart." Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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