[10] He played just three games for Melbourne, in the 1903 VFL season and at the end of the year crossed to Carlton.
Playing as a defender, Gourlay made three appearances with Carlton and experienced all possible results, a win, draw and a loss.
In 1917 he signed up to serve his adopted country in the war and, in August 1917, travelled on the MMNZT 92 Ruahine,[12] to the United Kingdom with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Gourlay fought with the 29th Reinforcements of the Wellington Infantry Regiment, B Company, on the front and suffered serious wounds when fighting in some of the final offensives of the war.
[13] He died of the wounds he had sustained in action at a military hospital in England just ten days before the ceasefire.