Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook (born 14 January 1986) is a former

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 as a or for St Helens in the

Betfred 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 has played for both

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

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 ...

at international level. He came through the London Broncos academy, but only played for the first team when it was named Harlequins RL 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 ...

. LMS was contracted to play for St. Helens until 2020, which would be his testimonial season. In close to twelve years, he won four League Leader's Shields in 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2022 plus five Super League championships. He also won the 2021 Challenge Cup with St Helens.

Background

McCarthy-Scarsbrook was born on 14 January 1986 in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. He grew up on the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England. It includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Haml ...

, and was educated at

St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath St Josephs Academy was an all-boys Roman Catholic Academy (English school), academy located in Blackheath, London, England. Saint Joseph's Academy began life in 1860 as an extension of the work of the De La Salle Brothers in Saint Joseph's Colle ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

during his youth, but was persuaded by one of his schoolteachers to try

. He played for

Greenwich Admirals Greenwich Admirals is a rugby league team based in Greenwich, London. They play in the South Premier of the Rugby League Conference. History The ''Greenwich Admirals'' side was founded in 2001 as the brainchild of Chief Executive of the London Br ...

before joining

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

Academy ranks in 2004.

Playing career

Early career

McCarthy-Scarsbrook was a product of the Harlequins RL Junior Academy squad. He toured Australia with

British Amateur Rugby League Association The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) is an association for social and recreational rugby league. It works jointly with the Rugby Football League through the RFL Community Board. History BARLA was created on 3 March 1973 at t ...

U18s in 2004. He spent the 2005 season on loan at

Hull FC 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 t ...

's Senior Academy, and played a prominent role in Hull's reserve grade Grand Final winning season. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook

Harlequins RL

McCarthy-Scarsbrook returned to London and in 2006 made his

début. By 2008 Harlequins coach Brian McDermott was tipping McCarthy-Scarsbrook for a place in

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

squad. McCarthy-Scarsbrook was named in the England 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 ...

. McCarthy-Scarsbrook was named in the

team to face

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at the

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that it ...

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

prior to England's departure for the

. McCarthy-Scarsbrook announced on 1 September 2010 that he was to leave Quins at the end of the season after turning down a new contract.

St Helens

On 3 September 2010, St Helens confirmed the capture of Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook on a four-year deal starting in 2011, where he'll join up with St. Helens' other new signings

Josh Perry Josh Perry (born 4 February 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australian international and New South Wales state rugby league team, New South Wales State of Origin representative , he played in the National ...

and

Michael Shenton Michael Shenton (born 22 July 1986) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is currently the assistant coach for Wakefield Trinity in the RFL Championship. An England national rugby league team, Eng ...

. Upon Signing the deal Louie said, '"St Helens are entering an exciting time in their history and to be a part of that was a great pull." He continued: "Not only will they have a new stadium in 2012 but the quality of the players already in the squad means they will be challenging on all fronts. "I am looking forward to linking up with my new teammates and continuing to learn under Royce Simmons. "I would like to thank Quins for giving me the chance to play rugby league and I have enjoyed my time there. The fans and players have been excellent with me and I wish them all well in the future." He played in the

2011 Super League Grand Final The 2011 Super League Grand Final was the 14th official Grand Final and the championship-deciding game of the Super League XVI season. It was held on Saturday, 8 October at Manchester, England's Old Trafford stadium. The match was contested by ...

defeat by the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. In 2014, McCarthy-Scarsbrook made his 100th appearance for St Helens in their

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 ...

fixture against

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. St Helens reached the

2014 Super League Grand Final The 2014 Super League Grand Final was the 17th official Grand Final and conclusive and deciding match of Super League XIX. It was held on Saturday 11 October 2014, at Old Trafford, Manchester with a 6pm kick-off time. The game was played between ...

, and McCarthy-Scarsbrook was selected to play at in their 14-6 victory over the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

. He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the

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 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. He played in the

2019 Super League Grand Final The 2019 Super League Grand Final was the 22nd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIV. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 12 October 2019. The final was contested by St. Helens and Salford Red Devils ( ...

victory over the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

. He played in St Helens

2020 Super League Grand Final The 2020 Super League Grand Final was the 23rd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXV. The game was won 8–4 by St Helens over their local rivals Wigan Warriors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the first S ...

victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. He played for St. Helens in their

2021 Challenge Cup Final The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was the 120th final of the Rugby Football League's Challenge Cup knock-out competition. It took place on 17 July 2021 at Wembley Stadium between Castleford Tigers and St Helens. Background The 2021 Challenge Cup ...

victory over Castleford. On 9 October 2021, he played for St. Helens in their

2021 Super League Grand Final The 2021 Super League Grand Final was the 24th official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXVI. The game was contested between Catalans Dragons and St Helens R.F.C., St Helens at Old Trafford. Background The two finalis ...

victory over

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

. In round 23 of the 2022 Super League season, McCarthy-Scarsbrook scored a rare double in St Helens 60-6 victory over Hull F.C. On 24 September 2022, McCarthy-Scarsbrook played off the interchange bench in St Helens 24-12 victory over

in the 2022 Super League Grand Final. On 18 February 2023, McCarthy-Scarsbrook played in St Helens 13-12 upset victory over Penrith in the

2023 World Club Challenge The 2023 World Club Challenge (known as the 2023 Betfred World Club Challenge for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th staging of the World Club Challenge. The match was contested by the NRL winners Penrith Panthers, and Super League champions S ...

. On 20 September 2023, McCarthy-Scarsbrook announced he would be retiring from rugby league. He played 26 games for St Helens in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished third on the table. He played in St Helens narrow loss against the Catalans Dragons in the semi-final which stopped them reaching a fifth successive grand final. This would also be McCarthy-Scarsbrook's final game as a player.

International career

McCarthy-Scarsbrook made his

début in the victory over

on 10 October 2008. His second game for England was also against Wales, a 48-12 victory in the 2009 Four Nations tournament in which he scored a try. He later switched allegiance to

, and was named in their

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

squad.

References

External links

St Helens profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Quins RL profileSL profileStatistics at rlwc2017.comSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Louie 1986 births Living people British firefighters English people of Irish descent English rugby league players England national rugby league team players Ireland national rugby league team players London Broncos players People from Lewisham Sportspeople from the London Borough of Lewisham Rugby league players from London Rugby league props Rugby league locks St Helens R.F.C. players