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John McDonald is an Australian former rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. A tall three-quarter, he played club football in Queensland for Toowoomba, representing his home state 10 times and also gaining selection for the Australian test team. In 1969 McDonald moved south, playing in the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership with the Manly-Warringah club. After playing for his adopted state, he toured New Zealand as Australian vice-captain. He went on to captain Manly from the flank in the club's grand final loss to Souths in the 1970 NSWRFL season.
McDonald returned to Queensland after three seasons with the Sea Eagles to captain-coach Toowoomba and was elected president of the club after his retirement. He also coached Queensland in the late 1970s and was coach of the Maroons' first State of Origin team in 1980. By the end of the decade, he had progressed to the position of President of the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and in 1998, joined the National Rugby League Executive Committee and was named Chairman of the QRL and Australian Rugby League Board of Directors. That year he was also named "Sport Administrator of the Year" at the Queensland Sport Awards.
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