Career
Rankin was the son of Teddy Rankin, a former Geelong player who made 180 VFL appearances for the club Doug"s half brothers, Cliff and Bert, both also played over 100 games with Geelong. A Guild Scouts recruit, Rankin played nine games for Geelong as a forward, five in the 1938 VFL season and four in the 1939 season.
In April 1939 he suffered a serious knee injury, from which he strugged to recover.
