Australian Football

Don Scott made his league debut for West Perth as an 18-year-old in 1948, and his impact was immediate and pronounced. Later that year he was 20th man in Western Australia's 16.16 (112) to 10.14 (74) interstate match win over the VFL at Subiaco Oval, while three days later, when the sides met again, he lined up in a back pocket. The Sandgropers once more won convincingly, giving Scott the enviable record of a 100% success rate against the Big V during his interstate career, which ended there and then.

One presumes there were members of the visiting Victorian party in 1948 who took note of Scott's precocious talent, for two years later he was lining up for South Melbourne in the VFL. Between 1950 and 1954 he played a total of 83 senior games and booted 58 goals, impressing equally as a defender or ruckman.

Scott returned to West Perth as the club's captain-coach in 1955, taking his final tally of WANFL games with the Cardinals to 43 whilst steering them to fourth position on the ladder. In 1956 he crossed to Swan Districts, also as captain-coach, but the side managed just five wins from 19 matches to finish last. Midway through the following season, when another wooden spoon looked likely, Scott and the Swans parted company.

In 1961, he was appointed captain-coach of Waverley, which had just been admitted to the VFA's newly formed second division. Scott moulded the Panthers into a competitive combination right from the outset. They won eight out of 18 matches in their debut season, and in 1962 missed the finals only on percentage. Scott, who had finished third in both the Field Trophy and the second division goal-kicking list (with 57 goals) in 1961, stood down as coach in 1963, but continued to perform effectively as a player under his successor, Ian Thorogood.

Author - John Devaney