John Kevin Dorahy (born 28 August 1954), also known by the nickname of "Joe Cool", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played in the Australian New South Wales Rugby League premiership and also represented for NSW Country, New South Wales Origin and Australia. Dorahy later played and coached in the English Championship, and coached in the Super League. He began his playing career at fullback and in later years moved into the centres. As coach of Wigan, he is one of a select few to have a guided his club to the league championship and Challenge Cup 'double'.
Playing career
Australian Club Career
Starting out as a fullback for Wests Wollongong in 1971, Dorahy won the Illawarra competition in '71 and '72 and was selected to represent for NSW Country in '72 and '73 before moving to England. With his cousin, Tony, Dorahy had a year playing league in England with the Leigh club before returning to Australia and a contract with Western Suburbs Magpies in 1974. In 102 games with Wests from 1974 to 1979, Dorahy earned a reputation for his kick and chase and solid defence. He obtained his nickname Joe Cool due to his calm attitude under pressure.
In 1980, Dorahy moved to Manly but was only able to play 26 matches over the two seasons due to knee and neck injuries.
In 1982, a combined team from the South Coast was admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League premiership competition. Dorahy returned to Wollongong to captain the new team, the Illawarra Steelers, in its début year.[5] Over his four seasons with the club, Dorahy scored 463 points (taking the club record for most goals in a season with 76 1983), but despite a promising season for the club in 1984 under young coach Brian Smith, off the field financial realities of the times hit hard, with players seeking employment outside the Steel city and the Steelers finished with the wooden spoon in the 1985 competition.
Dorahy headed back to England at the end of the 1983 NSWRL season and played during the northern winter for Hull Kingston Rovers, he was a member of the fine Rovers side of the mid-80s competing for all of the major honours in the British game, although he was unable to play in UK in the 1984–85 season .
Leaving Illawarra at the conclusion of their disappointing 1985 season, Dorahy spent a further two seasons with Hull Kingston Rovers.
In 1987, at an age when most players would be considering retirement, he returned to Australia and took up the fullback position at Norths, playing his first game with them in round 10.
In 1989, Dorahy was on the move again, taking up a position as captain-coach of Halifax during the 1989–1990 season. It was his last season as a professional player and the beginning of his career in coaching.
In 1978 Dorahy was selected for the Australian national side for a two-test series against New Zealand but injury kept him out of the 1978 Kangaroo tour later in the year.
In 1979, Dorahy was selected as a centre for two New South Wales matches, one against the touring Great Britain team. Dorahy landed four goals on that occasion but the Blues lost by 19–17 after leading 12–1 at half-time.[9]
When Country Origin fullback, Garry Jack, was suspended and pulled from the team in 1988, John Dorahy was called up to replace him. Dorahy's original Country selection had been in 1972, a span of sixteen years between games. Dorahy (along with Ricky Walford, 1990, and Chris Hicks, 2001) holds the record for points scored in a City vs Country Origin match, with fourteen points scored in the 1988 game.[10]
Coaching career
Dorahy has had two appointments as head coach at first-grade level, both in England and both ending after a relatively short term.
In June 1993, Dorahy took on his first head coach role after accepting the position at Wigan, succeeding John Monie.
Despite supervising Wigan through to the Challenge Cup, Championship and the Premiership, Dorahy was dismissed in May 1994, only days after the club's return from Wembley. In a statement by the club, Dorahy was said to have been sacked for "gross misconduct".[11] While describing his sacking as "diabolical", Dorahy admitted there were signs of unrest with rumours of his lack of popularity amongst the players and the appointment of Dean Bell, the club captain, to a coaching assistant's role the previous month.[11]
Dorahy's stint at Warrington in 1996–1997 was less successful, as far as match results were concerned, than at Wigan, with Warrington sitting on the bottom of the Super League ladder. Dorahy resigned in March 1997, before the end of the season.[12]
In 2004, Dorahy was nominated for the Wests Magpies Team of the Century, finishing with a position on the bench next to Tom Raudonikis.[13] The Illawarra Steelers announced the Team of Steel as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations in 2006 with Dorahy as captain and fullback.[14] While he didn't make the final team, Dorahy was nominated for a position at centre in the Wests Tigers (combined Western Suburbs Magpies and Balmain Tigers teams) Team of the Century in 2007.[15]
Dorahy is the father of Dane Dorahy who is also a former professional rugby league footballer.
Business career
Dorahy has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Wests Illawarra Leagues Club since 2001.[16] Dorahy has also been a director of Leagues Clubs Australia.
Dorahy has been significantly involved in the poker machine and hotels industry. He has held positions from Sales Manager at Stargames to Business Development Director at Nanoptix and Aristocrat. He is currently Business Development Director at CashCode, a poker machine parts manufacturer.
Political career
On 31 October 2010, the NSW Liberal Party confirmed that Dorahy would be the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Keira at the March 2011 NSW State Election. He was unsuccessful.
However, despite changing Keira from a safe ALP seat to a marginal ALP seat, Dorahy did not contest the seat again at the 2015 election. He also contested the September 2011 Wollongong City Council election, where he was elected to represent Wollongong's Ward 2, and was elected to be Deputy Lord Mayor for two terms (2012–13 and 2015–17).[17] Dorahy was re-elected for a three-year term as a councillor for Ward 2 at the council election held on 9 September 2017.[18]
In August 2024 Dorahy was not renominated by the NSW branch of the Liberal Party for the upcoming state-wide local government elections.[19]
