Jerry Dolan

Who was Jerry Dolan?

John "Jerry" Dolan was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the West Australian Football League before becoming a politician. He played for as well as coached East Fremantle and was also a coach at East Perth. After leaving football, Dolan served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Dolan originally played in the Goldfields Football Association with Kalgoorlie City and was recruited to East Fremantle after two seasons. He was used mostly as a centre half forward in his time at East Fremantle and participated in their 1925, 1928, 1929 and 1931 premiership teams. Dolan also played in their 1930 and 1933 premiership sides, as captain-coach.

He represented Western Australia at the 1924 Hobart Carnival and captain-coached his state in the 1933 Sydney Carnival. Once his playing career ended, Dolan coached Western Australia at interstate football, from 1946 to 1949.

As non playing coach, Dolan steered East Fremantle to a premiership in the 1943 under-age competition and to back to back flags in 1945 and 1946. He also coached East Perth to a premiership in 1936.