Golden mullet: How Carter stopped a freight train and became a Wallaby-in-waiting

If Carter Gordon’s trajectory continues as expected, Tim Sampson will, in time, recount it as the day he knew the young No.10 was ready for Test rugby.

The Melbourne Rebels attack coach knew Gordon had the skill, the boot, the smarts and a mildly obsessive work ethic to underpin it all.

But international rugby ruthlessly exposes the bit you can’t coach – courage under fire – and Gordon ticked that box, for Sampson, when the Rebels met the Chiefs on a March afternoon in Hamilton. The Kiwi competition-leaders sent a freight train down Gordon’s track.

“That game sticks out for me. They had big [110kg All Blacks forward] Pita Gus [Sowakula], and they aimed him directly at Carter all day, it was a clear tactic,” Sampson said.

“And he made every tackle in that game. He was 13 from 13. What’s impressive, on top of that, you can target a fly-half like that, who defends in the front line and try and wear him down, so he’s not as effective in attack. But that’s not Carter.

“He kept delivering on both sides of the ball for us, and that’s super impressive.”

Carter Gordon bringing Pita Gus Sowakula to the ground in Hamilton.Credit: Getty

Impressive is a good word for Gordon in 2023.

Sporting a flying blond mullet, Gordon has caught the eye of all the right people with an outstanding breakout Super Rugby season for the Rebels. If he is not Australia’s top form player, then the 22-year-old is easily on the podium.

After not being mentioned at all by Eddie Jones – or any pundits – six months ago as a potential No.10 for the Wallabies for the Rugby World Cup, Gordon has risen so far and so fast in Jones’ estimation that he’s already pencilled in for a spot in the squad.

But like many overnight success stories, Gordon’s rise has been several years in the making, and covered more than its share of bumpy ground.

Wallabies contender: Carter Gordon scores in the second half in Melbourne.Credit: Getty

Gordon joined Queensland in 2019 after emerging as a star for Brisbane Boys’ College in 2018 and progressing to the Australian Schoolboys and under-18 side.

His time at the Reds ended in 2020 when he was caught up in the organisation’s feud with his manager Anthony Picone (the Reds don’t deal with him), and Gordon accepted an offer to join the Rebels, where he was pitched the role of starting No.10, inside Wallabies veteran Matt Toomua.

It was a launchpad but the next two seasons ended up in the “hard lessons” file. After making his debut in Super Rugby AU against NSW, Gordon played his next five games against New Zealand foes, in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, and all in bubble environments.

When 2022 came around, Gordon was the club’s starting No.10 but after a poor first loss against the Reds, Toomua was shifted into the driver’s seat and the rookie was benched. Gordon played snatched minutes for the next 10 rounds, mostly from the pine, before finally returning to start at five-eighth for the last five games.

‘We have to work a lot with Carter. He is going to be given the keys next year.’

Melbourne attack coach Tim Sampson

Two wins in that stretch presented a glimmer of what lay around the corner, and when Sampson arrived from the Force in the off-season, the new attack coach began the task of polishing the Rebels’ rough diamond. Toomua left the club, and Gordon would be the man in 2023.

“I thought he was playing a bit deep in attack last year, and when I first sat down with him I threw the question at Carter: ‘How do you like to play?’,” Sampson said.

“He said, ‘I like to take the ball to the line and play a lot flatter’. I said, ‘Mate, well that’s exactly how I see you’. Big frame, very quick, especially over the first 10 metres. And he’s got a lovely short passing game, and long passing game. So we were aligned straight away with how Carter should adjust his game, and he was excited about that.

“From day one, I said to Footey [coach Kevin Foote] we have to work a lot with Carter. He is going to be given the keys next year. I threw a lot at Carter.”

Carter Gordon at Wallabies camp in April.Credit: Getty

Gordon was already regarded as one of the Rebels’ hardest workers, and a diligent student of the game, often seen crouched over a laptop or talking rugby with coaches in the kitchen.

But Sampson set about helping Gordon mature into a chest-out, leading man at No.10 – sometimes without his knowledge. Along with setting Gordon homework to study hours of tape of world-class No.10s like Richie Mo’unga, Sampson began using subtle tactics to strengthen the youngster’s voice and authority in the team.

“He didn’t know I was doing it but I deliberately set him up in team meetings or backs meetings – I would throw lots of questions at Carter, so he would grow in confidence and have the ability to speak up in meetings, in front of everyone,” Sampson said.

”I would ask Carter, for example, ‘What would we do here, in this situation in the game?’. And he is just very impressive with his knowledge, in game management and how he should steer the team, or what he should do individually in certain situations.“

Gordon began the year strongly and, in a few weeks, had put himself on the radar of Jones; who was touring the country and searching for “tough and coachable” project players. He was called up to his first Wallabies squad in April.

“I love his competitiveness ... he’s got that feel of the game of when to flatten up and when to be a little bit deeper, which is a bit of a lost art,” Jones said.

“He’s instinctively got that, he’s courageous ... they’re the sort of players we like to see, they’re never beaten. He never thought his side was beaten [against the Drua], he just kept going and going.

”And ultimately, that’s the side we want to produce for Australia, that’s the side people want to see, that they’re always fighting, always in the fight, always never get beat, and to do that we need players who want to do that, and he’s certainly got loads of that.”

Gordon’s numbers in 2023 leap off the page, in both attacking metrics and from his strong boot. And defending in the front line, Gordon has made 105 tackles at 89 per cent effectiveness; 30 more than the next No.10 in the competition.

Sampson believes Gordon can play Test rugby this year, and cited last weekend’s absorbing battle with Noah Lolesio and the Brumbies as evidence of his unflappable character.

Along with a fired-up Lolesio yelling out his name after scoring, the Brumbies put a target on Gordon’s chest and didn’t miss – on more than one rib-rattling occasion. But Gordon swung back, laying on two tries and scoring one himself.

“He doesn’t get flustered, and I think we saw that in the game last weekend, where his opposing No.10 was obviously riding high with emotions in that game,” Sampson said.

Carter Gordon racing away to score against the Brumbies.Credit: Getty

“I don’t even think, to this day, Carter would even know what happened. It just doesn’t bother him, that stuff. It was a credit to Carter because he responded to that whole challenge.

“He has a bit to go Carts, and he is aware of that. But he has a very good kicking game; ball in hand, very good; decision-making, very good, and then there is his tackling and defensive capabilities, and how robust he is. They are all signs of an international player, for me. It’s impressive.”

Having gone to war with Lolesio last weekend, Gordon will face his Wallabies camp colleague Ben Donaldson on Saturday night. With both clubs’ finals hopes in limbo, and with Jones leaning towards taking only one Australia-based No.10 to the World Cup along with Quade Cooper and Bernard Foley, the game is another high-stakes audition.

Gordon can be sure of one thing: the Waratahs’ gameplan will be another re-run of the old favourite, “Get Carter”.

And that’s fine, Sampson says.

“Eddie presented to us not long ago, and one of the things he stressed to us was about being ‘Wallaby tough’,” he said. “He’s got that in Carter. No doubt.”

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