St Helens legend Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook will call time on his illustrious 18-year career at the end of the 2023 season, the club have confirmed.
McCarthy-Scarsbrook, known as LMS to the St Helens faithful, has spent 13 years with the Saints, and during his time has won four League Leaders’ Shields, a Challenge Cup, a World Club Challenge trophy, and five Super League titles to date.
He initially broke through the ranks at Harlequins, where he spent the first five seasons of his career before heading to St Helens in 2011. He has since gone on to make 369 appearances for the club so far, scoring 63 tries in the process. During his career he also notched two caps for England and also won three caps for Ireland in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
Speaking on his retirement, LMS said: “It’s been in the pipeline for a long time, my body is screaming at me saying ‘time to retire’ I think. I’ve told the boys and people outside of the sport like my friends that I was going to retire this year and announcing it now. It’s a big step forward into the real world, I’m looking forward to it.”
He also explained his next steps after sport, saying: “Luckily enough I got accepted onto the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, I’m going to be a fireman. That starts in June next year, so I will go on a fifteen-week course and do that. I can’t see myself in an office, I don’t think anyone wants me in an office. So I’m going to try and be a fireman.”
Whilst he has already amassed a healthy collection of winners medals during his time at St Helens, Saints are still in the hunt for more silverware. They have already cemented their place in the playoffs for this season, and are firmly in the hunt for the League Leaders Shield.
Commenting on potentially ending his career with more trophies, LMS said: “That would be class, obviously, you want to win as many trophies as you can and be up there knowing you’ve done your best.”
St Helens Head Coach Paul Wellens paid tribute to the departing forward, saying: “Louie is someone who brings so much to the environment, both on and off the field and he is going to be really missed. He has a real ability to lighten the mood and keep the fun element in training, even when it’s serious – it’s not easy to do, but Louie’s mastered it.”
