Young Waratahs halfback Jake Gordon’s musician brother sings his praises

JAKE Gordon has followed a different path to his musician brother, Reece, but NSW are hoping the talented halfback can strike the right chords against the Crusaders.

JAKE Gordon has become the Waratahs’ starting halfback, displacing Wallaby Nick Phipps.

He is playing this afternoon against the best team in Super Rugby, the Crusaders, in a season-defining game for NSW in front of their home fans at Allianz Stadium.

But Gordon’s older brother Reece probably won’t be there in the stands.

“I will have to get down to a game, I have seen him on TV but yeah, I will have to get down for a game soon,” Reece said.

They’re siblings, but the Gordon brothers are walking very different paths and playing to different crowds.

Jake (left) and Reece Gordon in Newtown. Picture: Stephen Cooper

While Jake, 23, is trying to bring Tahs fans to their feet in Moore Park, Reece will have patrons of bars along Newtown’s King Street jumping to the sounds of his Indie-punk band Hearsechasers.

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“I didn’t play much rugby growing up, we surfed together for a while but around the age of 13 I figured out I wanted to go down a different path,” said 25-year-old guitarist Reece, who studies philosophy at university while working on his music.

“I wasn’t as adept at sport as Jake. I went to the Performing Arts school up the road, that opened things up a bit for me.

“I always knew Jake would do well, he is a lot more ambitious than me so I never really questioned it.

“But we still have a lot of jokes at each others’ expense.”

The pair still live at the Newtown home of parents Drew Gordon and mother Dale Tarilton, but their paths don’t cross often.

“It is very rare that we catch up because of our schedules, I’m in rugby fulltime and that takes up a lot of my time, and Reece has got his music and uni.

“But when we do he is refreshing. Occasionally he’ll ask me about rugby, but he’s got no idea what’s going on so it’s a very different type of conversation to that with mates who are in the game.

“He talks to me a lot about band and at the same time I don’t understand too much of that.

“Not coming from each others’ fields, it’s good to hear someone talk and explain that side.

“As kids we didn’t get along two well, being two boys, he is older but I didn’t want to let him have it over me.

“Now when we do catch up it’s great because I’m a person who needs to get my mind off rugby when I’m out of it, I have a lot of friends outside of rugby too, and most of my conversations with Reece will have nothing to do with rugby.”

Gordon, who grew up playing for the Canterbury club alongside Tolu Latu, features in just his third Super Rugby game, partnering debutant Mack Mason in the halves. It will be the second-least experienced starting halves combination in NSW history, and they’re tasked with orchestrating the first defeat upon the Crusaders in 2017.

Gordon breaks free against the Rebels.

“I never see myself as an underdog,” Jake said.

“If [coach Daryl Gibson] picks you at that level, if he picks you to do a job, you have to be confident in doing it.

“Mack has trained well throughout the pre-season and is very capable.

“We need to perform and get the job done for the team. Lack of experience will not be used an excuse.”

The Tahs have fluffed their lines this season. They won their first match but lost the next three, before staging a remarkable comeback from 6-25 down to beat Melbourne 32-25 last weekend.

The Crusaders are 5-0 and have staged three epic comeback victories themselves.

It’s time for Gordon and his teammates to finally hit the right notes and give Tahs fans something to crow about.

Originally published as Young Waratahs halfback Jake Gordon’s musician brother sings his praises