Leadership a key development in Gordon Chan Kum Tong

Manly NRL Skills Coach Steven Hales knew Gordon Chan Kum Tong was a natural born leader from a very young age.

As a former teacher and rugby league coach at Westfield Sports High in Western Sydney, Hales recalls the time of how the school couldn’t find a relief teacher to cover a Year 7 rugby league class due to an Schoolboys Open Cup Carnival

“Gordie was 12. After realising there was no teacher coming, he went up to the athletics coach on a nearby field and asked him for a key to open up our storeroom,’’ Hales reflected.

“The athletics coach, who is the longest serving teacher at our school, told him he was not giving the keys to a student as he knew how it would end up.

“Gordie told him he needed the key to run the rugby league training session and that if he didn’t run the session properly, he could take the key off him. He told the coach he didn’t want to miss out on the training session.

“So, Gordie goes out and gets the footy cones. He called the players in…