Michael McIlorum (born 10 January 1988) is a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

. He is both an

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international. He had played his entire professional career with the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, prior to his move to the South of France. He won the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and 2013 Super League Championships with

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

Background

McIlorum was born 10 January 1988 in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England, and attended Farnley Park High School. He was a Leeds amateur at Stanningley and Queens. He had been selected for England U16s in 2004 and joined Wigan's under-18s Academy in 2005.

Playing career

Wigan

McIlorum signed a two-year full-time contract with Wigan in July 2005, keeping him at the club until the end of 2007. McIlorum was selected for Yorkshire U17s after joining Wigan in August 2005. He was also included in the England U17s squad to take on the touring Australian Institute of Sport in 2005. He capped the 2005 season by winning the Wigan Supporters' Association Under 18s Player of the Season award. McIlorum made his senior début for Wigan on 8 June 2007 in a

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

quarter final tie against

Harlequins RL The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

at the

JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

after an injury ruled out first team regular

Shane Millard Shane Millard (born 30 July 1975) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward in the 1990s and 2000s. During his career he played for the London Broncos, Widnes Vikings, Leeds Rhinos and the Wig ...

. In 2010 Wigan made the

2010 Super League Grand Final The 2010 Super League Grand Final was the 13th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding game of Super League XV. Held on Saturday 2 October 2010, at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium, the match was contested by English club ...

, and McIlorum was selected to play as a hooker in the victory over St. Helens at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. The following year McIlorum played for Wigan from the substitutes' bench in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final victory over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He played in the

2013 Challenge Cup Final The 2013 Challenge Cup Final was the 112th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2013 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 24 August 2013, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Hull F.C. and Wigan Warriors. The ...

victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

. Wigan reached the

2013 Super League Grand Final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warrio ...

, and McIlorum was selected to play at hooker, scoring a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

in their victory against the

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

club at

. He played in the

2015 Super League Grand Final The 2015 Super League Grand Final was the 18th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XX season. It was held on Saturday 10 October 2015, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. The ...

defeat by the

side at

. In the

2016 World Club Series The 2016 World Club Series (also known as the 2016 Dacia World Club Series due to sponsorship by Dacia) was the second edition of the World Club Series and saw three Super League teams and three National Rugby League (NRL) teams participate. T ...

against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, McIlorum suffered a serious ankle injury, and did not play again for the rest of the 2016 season. He played in the

2017 Challenge Cup Final The 2017 Challenge Cup Final was the 116th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2017 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 26 August 2017, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Hull F.C. and Wigan Warriors. The ...

defeat by

Catalans Dragons

In January 2018, McIlorum signed a two-year deal with the

. He played in the

2018 Challenge Cup Final The 2018 Challenge Cup Final was the 117th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2018 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2018, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Catalans Dragons and Warrington W ...

victory over the

club at

. In the 2020 season, he played in the club's elimination final victory over Leeds but was placed on report during the game. He was later suspended for six matches after pleading guilty to two charges of a dangerous high tackle and other contrary conduct. On 9 October 2021, he played for Catalans 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 at Old Trafford. Background The two finalists finished first ...

defeat against St. Helens.

International career

Ireland

Being from Irish heritage, McIlorum was named in the

squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

. After not being selected to play for England again after the 2013 World Cup, McIlorum changed his international allegiance back to Ireland in 2017 and was named in their 2017 World Cup squad.

England

In 2012 McIlorum changed his international allegiance to England and made his England début in the 2012 Autumn International Series against Wales playing at hooker. The following year he was selected as part of

's squad for their 2013 World Cup campaign. Nine years after his last Test cap for England, he was named in the team's 24-man squad for the

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

Career stats

Honours

(2): 2010, 2013 *

(3): 2011, 2013, 2018

References

External links

Catalans Dragons profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at catalansdragons.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at wiganwarriors.comStatistics at wigan.rlfans.com
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at superleague.co.uk
* ĎŔ�
Profile at rli.ieSL profile2017 Statistics at rlwc2017.comEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIlorum, Michael 1988 births Living people Catalans Dragons players England national rugby league team players English people of Irish descent English rugby league players Ireland national rugby league team players People from Farnley, Leeds Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Leeds Wigan Warriors players