James Rahilly

James Rahilly (born 15 June 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Geelong Football Club.

James Rahilly
Personal information
Full name	James Rahilly
Date of birth	(1979-06-15) 15 June 1979 (age 46)
Original team(s)	Geelong Falcons
Draft	38th, 1997 AFL Draft
Height	187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1998–2005	Geelong	90 (11)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005.
Career highlights
AFL Rising Star nominee: 1998 Norm Goss Medal: 2002 VFL premiership player: 2002 AFLCA Assistant Coach of the Year: 2023
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life and junior football

Rahilly played his early football at South Warrnambool but was recruited from the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup.^[1]

Playing Career

A defender, he received a 1998 AFL Rising Star nomination in his sixth league game, against Carlton at the MCG, where he had 22 disposals. Although Geelong made it into the final in three of the seasons he was at the club, Rahilly was never selected for a finals game.^[2] Rahilly was, however, a member of the Geelong reserves team which won the 2002 Victorian Football League (VFL) premiership and was awarded the Norm Goss Memorial Medal for his efforts in the grand final. He also won Geelong's "Best Clubman" award, in 2003.

Coaching Career

He returned to the VFL in 2008 as an assistant coach and was then appointed to Chris Scott's senior coaching staff for the 2011 AFL season.^[3]

At the end of 2020 James was appointed as Adelaide's forward line coach, assistant coach to Matthew Nicks for season 2021.

At the end of 2023 Rahilly returned to Geelong as their forward line coach.^[4]