Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook still plays with a smile on his face after 350 games for St Helens

The 37-year old played his 350th game in a Saints’ shirt at Huddersfield on Thursday night.
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook played his 350th game for St Helens on Thursday, against Huddersfield. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesLouie McCarthy-Scarsbrook played his 350th game for St Helens on Thursday, against Huddersfield. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook played his 350th game for St Helens on Thursday, against Huddersfield. Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Happy-go-lucky Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is the joker in the Saints’ pack, both on and off the field.

He still plays with a smile on his face and looks as if he is enjoying his chosen sport as much as he did when he moved into the northern heartlands from Harlequins in February 2011. Since then has collected a plethora of silverware.

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The 37-year old played his 350th game in a Saints’ shirt at Huddersfield on Thursday night - and he was just as enthusiastic and committed as he was in his debut against deadly rivals Wigan Warriors in the Millennium Magic Weekend in Cardiff.

Few players have left the capital city and launched a successful Rugby League career but the boy from the Isle of Dogs is one of the exceptions - and his record speaks for itself. The former Quins/London Broncos forward is a World Club Challenge and a Wembley Challenge Cup winner, as well as a serial Grand Final victor and also claiming a hat-trick of League Leaders’ Shield triumphs.

But had anyone told McCarthy-Scarsbrook when chairman Eamonn McManus persuaded him to sign for Saints that he would still be there more than a decade later, he would have taken it with a pinch of salt.

He often recalls the day he and his future wife moved to St Helens on a wet Saturday night and her first thoughts were ‘what kind of place have you brought me to?’

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But fast forward to today and you’ll find a contented family, including four youngsters, who have been made part and parcel of the St Helens community and insist that they will still be around in years to come.

One thing is certain that when the Cockney kid hangs up his boots the home team dressing room will be a quieter place to be. Or is there another joker in the pack to take over McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s mantle?