Eamon O'Carroll (born 13 June 1987 in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

) is an assistant coach of St Helens who play in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. He is also a former

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who last played for the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

. Eamon progressed through the Wigan Warriors Academy after signing in 2002 from Waterhead A.R.L.F.C. (in

Waterhead, Greater Manchester Waterhead (or archaically, Waterhead Mill), is an area of Oldham, and an electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, an upland area in the Pennines, the ward of Waterhead ha ...

) to eventually find himself playing during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

Playing Career

Wigan Warriors

He was called up into the first-team squad for the first time before Wigan Warriors'

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

match with

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

in April 2006. He was an immediate hit with the Wigan Warriors fans for his enthusiasm and work rate. He went on to make four more appearances that season. After numerous impressive performances he went on to make 13

appearances for Wigan Warriors in the 2007 season which was probably best remembered for the opening day of the season when Wigan Warriors played

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

where Adrian Morley came off second best in a collision with Eamon. In 2008 Eamon O'Carroll really started making a name for himself as a tough, stocky who could really stand his ground with the big lads. Many fans were at first sceptical about the success O'Carroll would have in the

due to his size. However Eamon proved his critics wrong with numerous impressive performances making 21 appearances and scoring two tries. He was rewarded with a three-year contract. He started the 2009 season as a substitute in a home defeat by

. Despite being on the losing side, O'Carroll earned himself a starting spot for the next three weeks in favour of the out of form Andy Coley. He then made 2 more appearances for Wigan Warriors before he was ruled out for the season with a broken bone in his foot.

Hull FC

In September 2011, O'Carroll signed a 3-year contract with

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the ...

for 2012.

Widnes Vikings

In June 2012, O'Carroll signed a contract with

till end of 2014 season. In April 2014, Eamon signed a new two-year deal to stay with

International

He played international rugby for

. He was named in the Ireland training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. He made numerous impressive performances for Ireland in the

where he stood up well to some of the best players in the world.

Coaching

Bradford Bulls

On 19 Jul 2023 he was announced as the new head-coach for the 2024 season on a 3-year deal, with

Lee Greenwood Melvin Lee Greenwood (born October 27, 1942) is an American country music singer. Active since 1962, he won a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award and he has charted 33 singles on the Hot Country Songs with seven singles reaching the number one. He has ...

filling in as interim coach for the remainder of the 2023 season. On 17 October 2024, O'Carroll announced his departure from the Bradford Bulls to take on a new role at a

club.

St Helens RFC

On 7 Nov 2024 it was reported that he had joined St Helens as assistant coach, following the recent departure of Matty Smith

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Wigan Warriors profile
*
Eamon O'Carroll Wigan Career Page
on the Wigan RL Fansite''. *(archived by web.archive.org
Ireland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OCarroll, Eamon 1987 births Living people Bradford Bulls coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English people of Irish descent Newcastle Thunder coaches Ireland national rugby league team players Rugby league players from Oldham Rugby league props Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players