Sean Long

Infobox rugby league biography
playername = Sean Long
fullname = Sean Albert Long
nickname = Longy, Stig of the dump


image_size= 200px
caption =
country =
position = Scrum-half
currentclub = leagueicon|St Helens|size=16 St Helens
clubnumber = 7
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1976|9|24
flagicon|England Wigan, England
placeofbirth =
countryofbirth =
height = height|ft=5|in=9
weight = 13 st 5 lbs (85 kg)
club1 = Leagueicon|Wigan|size=16 Wigan Warriors
year1start = 1997
year1end =
appearances1 = 4
tries1 =
goals1 =
fieldgoals1 =
points1 = 0
club2 = Leagueicon|Widnes|size=16 Widnes Vikings
year2start = 1997
year2end =
appearances2 =
tries2 =
goals2 =
fieldgoals2 =
points2 =
club3 = leagueicon|St Helens|size=16 St Helens
year3start = 1997
year3end = present
appearances3 = 294
tries3 =
goals3 =
fieldgoals3 =
points3 = 2367
teamA = Flagicon|England England
yearAstart =
yearAend =
appearancesA =
triesA =
goalsA =
fieldgoalsA =
pointsA =
teamB = Flagicon|Great Britain Great Britain
yearBstart = 1997
yearBend = 2006
appearancesB = 10
triesB =
goalsB =
fieldgoalsB =
pointsB = 17
updated =
source =
new = yes

Sean Long (born September 24 1976 in Wigan) is an English professional rugby league footballer. He currently plays for St Helens as scrum-half. Long has played international rugby league both for England and Great Britain.

Long started his career at his hometown club Wigan Warriors before swiftly moving to Widnes Vikings. His performances for the Vikings caught the eye of several of the Super League's top clubs, and he was eventually signed by St Helens when they needed a replacement for the departing Bobbie Goulding. Long twice set the St Helens club record for most points in a Super League season, kicking 284 points in 1999 (beating Goulding's old record of 257 from 1996) and then with 352 points in 2000 [ [http://www.superleague.co.uk/records Super League all time Records] , from superleague.co.uk]

Long has won all the major honours in the game at club level and is the only player in the history of the Challenge Cup to win three Lance Todd Trophies for man-of-the-match performances in the Challenge Cup final after winning the trophy in the 2001, 2004 and 2006 finals.

He remains at St Helens RFC and in 2005 passed the two thousand point mark while playing against Huddersfield Giants at Knowsley Road. Unfortunately that season he was badly injured in a very late challenge by Wigan's Terry Newton and suffered a broken cheek bone. In the same game Terry Newton, who was later banned for several matches, also injured two other key St Helens players which may have caused them to miss out on the Super League title that year.

During 2006, St Helens won both the Challenge Cup and Engage Rugby Super League and Long was regarded as an integral part of the team. He again assisted with St Helens dominance in 2007 as they took all the honours apart from the Super League title when they were beaten by Leeds at Old Trafford in the Grand Final showpiece.

In 2006, Long was selected for Great Britain in the tri nations. He has stated that it is a "big possibility" that he will play football in the NRL in the future if anyone will have him. [http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20650795-5006066,00.html] . Cronulla Sharks and Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart expressed some interest in seeing him in the Shire in 2008 but the deal has fallen through.

In the fourth match of the tri-nations, and the first match between Great Britain and Australia, Long played a role in allowing Great Britain their first victory in Sydney in 18 years. The Lions won the game 23-12 with Long setting up two tries and kicking three goals and a field goal.

On November 13th 2006, Long returned home from the Tri-Nations tour, with 'personal reasons' being cited as the reason by Great Britain coach Brian Noble.

2007 was Long's testimonial year for St. Helens. The year started with St. Helens playing against Leigh R.L.F.C. Some old St. Helens players came back from retirement to play, this included Chris Joynt, Tommy Martyn and Paul Newlove. St. Helens won the game 40-10.

Long officially retired from International football on 16th April 2007, wishing to concentrate on his club career, although it was felt throughout the rugby league community that he would have never been selected to play international rugby again due to his age.

Longs dad, Bernard, owns the shop "Longys" Sports Nutrition in Wigan and his brother, Karl, runs K2 Nutrition

He played in the 2008 Super League Grand Final defeat to the Leeds Rhinos.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7642170.stm|title=2008 Grand Final|publisher=BBC|date=2008-10-04|accessdate=2008-10-05]

References