O'Loughlin was named a member of the Indigenous Team of the Century. He was the third player with Indigenous heritage to play 300 AFL games. He twice achieved All-Australian selection, played for Australia twice in the International Rules Series, and was a Fos Williams Medallist as best player for South Australia in State of Origin. O'Loughlin was the first Sydney Swans player to play more than 300 career games. In 303 games he kicked 521 career goals.
Early life
Michael Kevin O'Loughlin[citation needed] was born on 20 February 1977.[1] His parents never married, so he was given his mother's maiden name of O'Loughlin, which came from her Irish great-great-great-grandfather. He supported Carlton Blues growing up. O'Loughlin's ancestors were Czech Jews, Aboriginal Australian (Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri), Irish and English.[2] He is a descendant (the great great great grandson) of Kudnarto (c.1832–1855), the Kaurna woman who made history by being the first Aboriginal woman to marry a British settler in the colony of South Australia in 1848.[3][4][5]
Selected in the third round of the 1994 National Draft, O'Loughlin played 12 senior games for the Swans in 1995 and earned an AFL Rising Star award nomination. The following year, he was a key player in the team that won the minor premiership and then lost to North Melbourne in the grand final. He was the games record holder for the Swans, passing John Rantall's VFL/AFL record in Round 14 of the 2007 season and Bill Windley's 102-year-old overall club record in the Elimination Final of that year, until he was overtaken[citation needed] by his cousin Adam Goodes.[7] He became the first Sydney Swans/South Melbourne player to break the 300 games milestone in Round 19, 2009.[citation needed]
O'Loughlin played the majority of his early football in a half-forward flanker role, where his combination of speed, strength and agility made him a difficult player for opposing teams to match up against. He was known by the nickname "Magic" throughout his career, in recognition of his capacity to play football so skillfully that it could sometimes seem he had "cast a spell" on his opponents.[citation needed] He was also known by the nickname, "Micky O".[8] In the latter part of his career, he was primarily used as Sydney's full-forward. In 2000 and 2001, he was the club's leading goalkicker. He was club best and fairest in 1998 and runner-up in 2000. He was selected in the All Australian Team in 1997 and 2000. When State of Origin matches were still being played, he represented his state on several occasions, receiving the Fos Williams Medal for best South Australian player in 1998.[citation needed]
In 2005, he was selected alongside Sydney Swans teammate and cousin Adam Goodes in the Indigenous Team of the Century. O'Loughlin was chosen for the full-forward position. He described this honour as the highlight of his career, alongside the 2005 premiership.[citation needed]
O'Loughlin, the only player remaining in the team from the 1996 loss, played strongly during the 2005 grand final, including a number of exceptional marks. However, and uncharacteristically, his kicking for goal during the game was inaccurate.[citation needed]
In 2006, O'Loughlin continued to be a key part of the Swans' line-up, including playing a decisive role in the qualifying and preliminary finals that put the Swans into the grand final for the second consecutive year. In the close qualifying Final against the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco Oval, O'Loughlin ran into an open goal, then carried on to the fence and roared into the faces of some rather stunned-looking Eagles' fans from a few inches away. The moment is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.[9]
In the 2006 Grand Final, O'Loughlin played well, kicking 3.1 (19). He continued to play consistently well for Sydney through the balance of his career.[citation needed]
On 23 June 2009, O'Loughlin announced that at the end of the 2009 season, he would retire. He played his 300th game in round 19 at the MCG against the Richmond Tigers.[citation needed]
O'Loughlin was awarded the 2009 AFL Players' Association Madden[clarification needed] for his on and off-field contributions to the game.[citation needed]
In September 2009 he launched the Goodes O'Loughlin Foundation, or GO Foundation, along with his cousin and co-chairman Adam Goodes[14] and their friend James Gallichan, in Dareton, NSW, where it was involved in various community programmes for the local Aboriginal population. In 2014, it started focusing on education for Indigenous Australians and established a board of directors. Founding partners include the Sydney Swans, Allens Linklaters, QBE Insurance and KPMG Australia.[15] After starting with a few scholarships to independent schools, by 2021 GO had expanded into 26 mostly public schools, as well as five universities.[16]
Off-field controversy
In 2000, it was alleged that O'Loughlin had been present during the rape of a woman in a park in Adelaide by two other AFL players, Adam Heuskes and Peter Burgoyne. O'Loughlin was said to have been "present before or during the incident, but not directly involved in it.[17] O'Loughlin was neither charged nor questioned by police but Burgoyne and Heuskes were both charged with rape. The case, however, did not go to court as the Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Rofe, said there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction on any criminal charge" due to a lack of witnesses.[18] Despite this, the three players made a $200,000 cash payment to the alleged victim.[17] The incident came to public light when it was examined on the ABC investigative program Four Corners in 2004.[18]
^"Program Guide: Week 10: Sunday, 5 March to Saturday, 11 March, 2017"(PDF). TV Tonight. Aboriginal footballer Michael O'Loughlin returns to Adelaide to trace his family bloodlines. His mother's maternal line stretches back before white settlement to his great, great, great grandmother, Kudnarto, a Kaurna woman.
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