Jake McLoughlin is again combining two of his great loves - footy and his stunning English girlfriend - after relocating to England for a fourth time.
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McLoughlin returned to England in September after playing first grade for Kootingal-Moonbi. He is living in Louth, a market town and civil parish in Lincolnshire.
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McLoughlin has signed with Doncaster in the semi-professional, third-tier League 1, and has reunited with his longtime girlfriend, Francesca Hague-Blundy, whom the Leader revealed he had fallen for in a June 2018 article.
The young couple met when McLoughlin played for English rugby league club St Albans. He moved to St Albans after playing in West Lions' grand final loss to North Tamworth in 2015.
The new League 1 season just started, with the second-rower coming off the bench in Doncaster's 22-12 round-one loss to a Workington Town side featuring former Parramatta and New Zealand star Fuifui Moimoi.
The Doncaster lineup includes former NRL player and England international Rangi Chase, and Papua New Guinea international Watson Boas. McLoughlin was offered a one-year contract after trialling with the side.
Playing for Doncaster involves him making a some 200-kilometre round between the destination and Louth. He does that up to four times a week.
It's a big commitment. But McLoughlin has shown through his relationship with Hague-Blundy that he is not deterred by a big commitment.
And he expects his longtime pursuit of love on the other side of the world to end in marriage. "It's 100 per cent on the cards for the future. When you know, you know," he said in a Messenger exchange with the Leader this week.
"I've relocated here for the moment," he added. "I've started my own brick-laying business ... I moved over because of the girlfriend. I'm enjoying it but it's also hard being away from your family."
When the Leader spoke to McLoughlin in 2018, he said his family ran a cattle farm located between Manilla and Somerton. He attended Calrossy Anglican School, and on Facebook he lists Tamworth as his home.
Boggabri coach Shane Rampling was instrumental in McLoughlin's transformative first trip to England, having organised the player's initial stint with St Albans. At the time, Rampling was coaching Wests, and had been a player-coach at St Albans.
"It's tough but worthwhile," McLoughlin said of his time in England. "[It's] always good travelling and experiencing new cultures."
