NewsBite

Scot Palmer, legend of sports reporting, won over his city

Scot Palmer was not just a sports reporter – he understood his city like few others and was a lightning rod for its best stories.

Scot Palmer.
Scot Palmer.

Scot Palmer knew a good story when he heard it, and this was big. He called me from the MCG where he was reporting on a match in the winter of 1991.

The week before there had been a tense contest between AFL sides Melbourne and the West Coast Eagles. Two Brownlow Medal favourites, Melbourne’s Todd Viney and gifted but controversial West Coast forward Chris Lewis, had tussled and Viney accused Lewis of biting his hand, drawing blood. Lewis became the first AFL player suspended for biting.

Palmer heard from a Melbourne club contact that Viney was going to be tested for AIDS. Back then, the bloodborne virus was incurable and killed many who caught it. The idea of testing players for hepatitis and vaccinating them was already being discussed, but this was a shock.

In the office, Palmer wrote the story, sticking to the facts. He called West Coast’s chairman for a comment. The reply: “Scotty, if you write one word of that, we’ll sue you arse off.”

He wasn’t just chairman of a football club, Terry O’Conner was a QC, and commissioner of the West Australian Supreme Court.

The News Corp lawyer back then had a panic attack but Palmer knew how important the story was as part of the issue of player welfare. He stuck to his guns and we published every word of it on the front page. Soon after, the AFL reacted and the blood rule was introduced.

Scot Palmer. was famous for his catchcry “keep punching”. Picture: Tim Carrafa
Scot Palmer. was famous for his catchcry “keep punching”. Picture: Tim Carrafa

For more than 10 years, Scot and I had adjoining offices at the Sunday Herald Sun in Melbourne. He was the best reporter I worked with. His week would kick off on Tuesday morning after news conference.

Palmer was a small man but his voice boomed around the ­office. No one missed a word he said. It was old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting. “Hi, mate. It’s Scot Palmer. What’s happening?” was his opening line as he called every AFL club contact he had. And he had more than anyone. This went on all week. And that’s how he filled two pages each Sunday of Scot Palmer’s Punchlines, as well as his Saturday night appearances at halftime during the Seven network’s AFL broadcast from the newspaper office.

Palmer treated his audience as his friends. They trusted him, and he informed and amused them. Like me, he barracked for Collingwood but he was a member of more than a few clubs. If a Melbourne club found itself in financial strife, Palmer would sign up as a member. One evening, I walked back with him to our office after a game at Melbourne’s Docklands. It took more than an hour because Palmer was stopped every few metres. “Keep punching, Scotty!” people called out. One woman disrobed so that Palmer could sign her T-shirt.

Palmer was known by generations of newspaper readers and was a regular of television and radio. More importantly, he mentored several generations of sports reporters including some of the biggest names in Australian sports journalism.

He started on what was then The Sun-News Pictorial in 1954, following in the footsteps of his legendary father, Clyde.

He covered Olympics and Commonwealth Games but it was inner-suburban Melbourne footy warfare at which he excelled. He understood better than most that it was always much more than a game.

Yet he was known and loved by sports people across the globe. In the mid-1970s, on assignment in London, Palmer was waiting for a cab at Piccadilly Circus. A limousine drew up, its window lowered and the most famous man on the planet asked: “Scotty, do you need a lift?”

Palmer told Muhammad Ali that he was all right.

Alan Howe
Alan HoweHistory and Obituaries Editor

Alan Howe has been a senior journalist on London’s The Times and Sunday Times, and the New York Post. While editing the Sunday Herald Sun in Victoria it became the nation’s fastest growing title and achieved the greatest margin between competing newspapers in Australian publishing history. He has also edited The Sunday Herald and The Weekend Australian Magazine and for a decade was executive editor of, and columnist for, Melbourne’s Herald Sun. Alan was previously The Australian's Opinion Editor.

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/scot-palmer-legend-of-sports-reporting-won-over-his-city/news-story/f8dbae203e1f9fd48053093e6ea96c16