Last Friday, 5 May, local identity, rugby and singing legend Gordon Alexander Kendall Scott passed away after a 14-year battle with cancer and other ailments.
Gordon was born in 1944 in Poona, India. His family came to Canberra in 1953, and settled in the then wilds of Yarralumla. Gordon attended Telopea Park primary and high school. He and his older brother Peter were both good rugby players: both represented the ACT, and Peter went on to be the ACT’s first local Wallaby. Gordon played one year of grade with Canberra Royals, where he played in centres with his brother and won a first-grade premiership. Otherwise, Gordon was an Easts man, and was associated with that club from 1966 until his death. He played 460 grade games with Easts, and still holds the record for 12 years straight as president.
Gordon was more than a rugby player, however. He had a great voice, and did a striking impersonation of Harry Belafonte. His best-known song was the ‘Banana Boat Song’, and he would sing it and others as a regular visitor to aged care homes and seniors’ charity events. He organised many charity events for good causes as varied as the Nepalese Earthquake Appeal, sporting charities, and most recently a fundraiser for Ukraine.
He was a great friend of mine from the 1970s onwards, and was a pallbearer at my younger son Joe’s funeral in 2018 and the soloist at my wife’s funeral last October. He stood unsuccessfully for the seat of Molonglo for the Liberal Party in 2004.
Many sporting clubs in Canberra have often struggled to make ends meet. Many amateur sports often only keep going because of the dedication of one or two individuals. This certainly applied to Easts: despite many bad times and the not infrequent likelihood of the club folding, Gordon almost singlehandedly kept that club going.
His most recent legacy was to form an under-18 boys’ side, largely from Narrabundah College, to play in the junior rugby comp. He had done this for the last six or so years. Some of his team joined him at an aged care facility in Red Hill to sing and chat to the elderly residents, much to their enjoyment. As a result of Gordon’s efforts, Easts now have a team of keen young men who can progress to grade football and help one of Canberra’s original grand old clubs survive. He was a mentor and friend to many, and he inspired countless individuals to follow in his footsteps and give back to their community.
My elder son, John, wrote a fitting Facebook tribute to Gordon, with which I will end: “We will never forget the impact he had on our lives and the Canberra community. His legacy will live on through the countless individuals he mentored and coached at Easts and the memories we hold dear. Rest in peace, dear friend. You will be deeply missed but never forgotten.”
