CRACKER WORTHY OF HONOUR
SELECTING the first members to enter the Toowoomba Regional Sports Hall of Fame was always going to be a monumental task.
The scores of contenders worthy of the honour presented selectors with a virtual Melbourne Cup field from which to select just four inductees.
The case for the people finally chosen and those knocking on the door is open for healthy debate with all having indisputable claims of being amongst Toowoomba’s greatest sporting names.
But in the eyes of selectors one person stood out like a beacon.
His name is John McDonald AM.
McDonald’s life as a citizen of Toowoomba has transcended sport.
His achievements as an international sportsman and rugby league role model have been matched off field by his contribution as both a sport administrator and community leader.
Toowoomba-born McDonald is the son of Queensland rugby union Test winger John “Cracker” McDonald Snr.
He began his rugby league playing days in 1960 with the
Valleys club in Toowoomba.
McDonald became instantly recognisable as a blistering quick winger or centre and aptly carried his father’s nickname of “Cracker”.
McDonald went on to represent Queensland nine times and won Australian Test selection from the Toowoomba Rugby League competition.
In 1966 he partnered Graeme Langlands in the first Ashes Test against Great Britain.
In 1969 McDonald moved to Sydney where he played in the NSW rugby league competition with the Manly-Warringah club.
After playing for his adopted state NSW in the pre State of Origin era, McDonald toured New Zealand as Australian vice-captain.
He went on to play in all three Tests against Great Britain in 1970 and captained Manly in the club’s grand final loss to Souths in the same year.
McDonald returned to Queensland after three seasons with the Sea Eagles to captain-coach Toowoomba and was elected president of the club on his retirement.
McDonald retired from playing at the age of 27 before becoming one of Australian rugby league’s most influential coaches and administrators.
He coached Queensland in the late 1970s and led the Maroons into their first State of Origin battle with the Blues in 1980.
By the end of the decade, he had progressed to the position of chairman of the Queensland Rugby League.
In 1998 McDonald 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.
In 2008 McDonald was named at centre in the Toowoomba and South West Team of the Century.
McDonald’s feats on the football field were matched by his efforts on the athletics’ track .
He equalled the world record for 440 yards and won both Queensland and New South Wales titles ranging in distances from 75 yards to one mile.