Rahilly's senior career began in Ballarat for
South Ballarat Football Club. He played in Broken Hill; and, from there, represented New South Wales in the
1908 Melbourne Carnival. In 1910 he moved to
Fitzroy in the
Victorian Football League where he played 33 matches before leaving in late 1912 to return to South Ballarat. In a match for Fitzroy in
1911 against
St Kilda Rahilly hit the goalposts four times in a match, which remains a record for VFL/AFL football (
Alby Pannam equalled this feat in 1936). Rahilly spent time at
Sturt in
South Australia during 1913 before moving to
Broken Hill. The 1914 season saw Rahilly return to the VFL, playing two matches for
Essendon before moving again to
Northcote. ==Military service==