Because he's a great player and has carried a dire Wigan team through this season playing nearly every position from 6-13 when needed.

He's a workhorse and a good player. But when he retires I doubt SKY will be looking at 2017 for clips for the highlights reel. As someone else has already said I think he's there because he's England captain and it looks good for the PR.

Workhorse

Doesn't mean he wasn't good. I can't think of a better player at 13 in this country. I know this will come across as biased but it really isn't. I think there's only perhaps Gildart worthy of a place apart from him but he really is underrated by opposition fans. His influence on Wigan speaks for itself and he has a really rounded skillset. He can pass/kick/organise better than our halves/hooker and tackle better than our front row.

The one skill set he has is the knack of conning referees into giving Wigan penalties. He earns lots of penalties and seems to have a calming influence at Wigan. While not being a great player he has probably been a great club man for Wigan.

The reaction to him getting this proves my point. Massively underrated by opposing fans. Juston Holbrook (who coaches our main rivals) thinks hes one of the best in SL. He's respected by players and coaches in the UK and in Aus and I assume some of them know what they're on about.

O'Loughlin always seems to really divide opinion for some reason, so I often find he is a good barometer of someone's rugby league knowledge. If anyone says they don't rate him I just assume they don't know very much about the sport. One of the very best of his era.

Oh there's no doubt he's a great player, but very questionable he should be in a 2017 team of the year. Think he also got in one year when he missed around/over half the season.

Wigan have lost every game O'Loughlin missed this season & performances noticeably dropped when he was on the bench. 27 appearances this year out of 35, so one of his better seasons for appearances too.

I wasn't aiming that at you at all, just in general. Who has been better at loose this year? I don't think this has necessarily been his best year, although the stats with and without him say alot, but I am struggling to come up with anyone better.

And being able to make every tackle around the neck, whilst avoiding censure himself - he's like a Jedi.

That said - he's a great player - he can do pretty much everything the game requires, to a very high level of skill - for at least part of the season.

In other news Widdop was just named the best stand off in the NRL this year by a panel made up of mainly Australian (some kiwi) ex-players, even though he played in a team that didnt make the playoffs.

Sounds like lauding to me!