1925 Auckland Rugby League season


The 1925 season of Auckland Rugby League was its 16th. On 30 March Auckland Rugby League held its fifteenth annual meeting with 200 in attendance. The strong financial position of the league was commented on. It was also decided that if possible the Senior Grade would be split into A and B divisions owing to the increasing number of teams who wished to enter but also the gap in standard between the best teams and the worst.

Trophy Winners

won the First Grade Championship for the 7th time in just 15 seasons. Ponsonby won the Roope Rooster Knockout competition for the 4th time in the 11 seasons it had been competed for. Ponsonby also won the Stormont Shield after defeating City in the final in its inaugural season.
While in the B division Ellerslie won the inaugural title and were awarded the Norton Cup. At the end of the season these teams competed for their own knockout trophy which was named the Stallard Cup. It was won by Otahuhu who defeated Northcote in the final.
In the lower grades Richmond Rovers dominated like they were to come to do for many seasons. They won the 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and both sections of the 6th grade. They were a very powerful club at the junior level and this would ultimately lead to great success at the senior grade level.

Representative Season

The Auckland team played in 5 matches with a number of other Auckland B and Auckland C team matches. They played against the New Zealand team twice and the touring Queensland side who they drew with 18 all. The Auckland side claimed the Northern Union Challenege Cup off the holders, South Auckland and they retained it against the same opponents in a later match. In addition the Auckland Provincial team played Queensland but were soundly beaten 54-14.

Death of Bill Stormont and inauguration of the Stormont Shield

On June 4 William Stormont died, succumbing to rheumatic heart disease. Stormont had played for the Marist Old Boys senior team from 1920 to 1924 scoring 24 tries and kicking 31 goals. He had also represented Auckland on 16 occasions, scoring 4 tries and kicking 2 goals as well as playing 3 matches for New Zealand in 1920. He had been ill for quite some time and had not played for Marist since the end of the 1924 season. The funeral was on the Sunday leaving his parents residence in Epsom and progressing to Purewa Cemetery where he was buried. The match between Marist and Richmond Rovers on Saturday was originally postponed but was never played. The matches at Carlaw Park saw one minutes silence before kickoff. On July 9 at the New Zealand Council meeting John Stormont presented a shield to be played for among the senior clubs. It was to be known as the “William Stormont Memorial Shield”.
On July 22 at an Auckland Management Committee meeting it was decided that the shield would be played for by the “winners of the senior grade club competition and the winners of the Roope Rooster”. A request came in for the trophy to be played for among champion teams from around the country but it was eventually settled that it would be for Auckland teams. The championship winning City Rovers team, the Roope Rooster winning Ponsonby United, and Stormont's Marist side were the three teams chosen to compete for it. City drew the bye so Ponsonby were to come up against Marist in the ‘semi-final’ match. Ponsonby defeated Marist 23-22 to progress to the Stormont Shield final. Ponsonby then trounced City Rovers 35-3 in the final to become the first team with their name on the trophy. The Stormont Shield is still played for today though it is played for in round 1 of the regular season with the Fox Memorial grand finalists from the previous year competing for it.

Monteith Shield (First Grade Championship)

Final A Division Standings

First Grade A Division Fixtures

Prior to the kickoff in the Round 7 games at Carlaw Park on 6 June, the teams stood in silence for one minute as a mark of respect for the late William Stormont who had died two days earlier. He was a World War I veteran and had played for Marist from 1920 to 1924.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

was ordered off in the match between Ponsonby and Devonport.

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

The match between Marist and Richmond scheduled to be played at Victoria Park was cancelled due to the death of recent Marist player Bill Stormont two days earlier.

Round 8

Round 9

for Marist and Tom Haddon for Devonport were ordered off for fighting in their match at Carlaw Park.
In one of the more amazing team efforts in early Auckland rugby league history the City team saw all 13 of its players score points in a 57-10 victory over Athletic. There were nine different try scorers and the four who didn't cross the line all kicked at least one conversion.

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Roope Rooster Knockout Competition

Round 1

Semi Finals

Final

Stormont Memorial Shield

Semi Final

Final

Top Try Scorers and Point Scorers (Senior Grade and Roope Rooster)

RankPlayerTeamTries
1Lou BrownCity Rovers17
2Ivan LittlewoodPonsonby United16
3WardlawCity Rovers13
4Frank DelgrossoPonsonby United9
4George GardinerPonsonby United9
4H HawkesCity Rovers9
4Hec McDonaldCity Rovers9
8H GodleyPonsonby United8
8RileyPonsonby United8
8Norman VeartDevonport United8
8Arthur SingeMarist8
12Alan ClarkeNewton Rangers7
12J PaynePonsonby United7
12S CrewtherCity Rovers7
12E RubyCity Rovers7
16W HanlonRichmond Rovers6
16Ben DavidsonCity Rovers6
16George DavidsonCity Rovers6

RankPlayerTeamTriesConPenDrop GoalPoints
1Frank DelgrossoPonsonby United9147069
2George GardinerPonsonby United9123057
3W HanlonRichmond Rovers6125052
4Lou BrownCity Rovers1700051
5Ivan LittlewoodPonsonby United1610050
6S CrewtherCity Rovers791041
7Arthur SingeMarist Old Boys853040
8Craddock DuftyAthletic4103038
9SandhamCity Rovers0143046

B Grade Standings and Results

Final B Division Standings

First Grade B Division Fixtures

The round 15 match between Kingsland and Otahuhu was not played due to the poor condition of the field at the Auckland Domain.

Stallard Cup Knockout Competition

This was the first season with a B Division in the First Grade competition and at the end of the season a knockout competition was played between the five teams.
DateScoreScoreVenue
Round 115 AugNorthcote3Ellerslie0Victoria Park
Semi Final15 AugNorthcote19Mangere18Carlaw Park # 2
Semi Final8 AugOtahuhu11Kingsland2Auckland Domain
Final5 SepOtahuhu6Northcote2Carlaw Park

Other Club Matches and Lower Grades

Lower Grades

There were 5 lower grades in 1925, with the Sixth Grade split into A and B divisions as it had been in previous years.
Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold:
On 19 April, when Marist had a bye in the first round of the club competition they travelled to Christchurch and played Marist of Christchurch. They won by 16 points to 7. The match also marked the opening of Monica Park.

Exhibition Match

Labour Day Carnival

Representative Season

The Auckland representative team had a busy season. After a series of 3 trial matches on 27 June both the New Zealand team and Auckland teams were selected. Officials had declared that "give us fine weather and we will get an attendance of 20,000". Unfortunately the weather did not oblige and it was in fact described as "the worst experienced this season... in one place there was a miniature lake." This resulted in a crowd many times smaller, however thousands came into the ground to watch the main match between North Island and South Island, won by the former 27 points to 9. Auckland then played against the New Zealand team and lost 9 points to 16. Following this they played a Northern Union Challenge Cup match against the holders South Auckland and were victorious by 24 points to 16. After the New Zealand team returned from their tour of Australia they again played Auckland at Carlaw Park and they used the experience they had gained to trounce Auckland by 41 points to 17, employing tactics that the Auckland team were not prepared for. Two weeks later Auckland played Queensland who were being touted as the finest league team in the world at the time in the first of three matches. They drew the first, before narrowly losing the second and then being well and truly outclassed in the 3rd match by 54 points to 14.

Representative Fixtures

After the trial matches were played the New Zealand team was selected by Mr Liversedge, Pearce, and Harding, and 14 Auckland players made the side. They were: Craddock Dufty, P. Gregory, Lou Brown, Hec Brisbane, Frank Delgrosso, Jack Kirwan, Bert Laing, Maurice Wetherill, Wilson Hall, Stan Webb, Bert Avery, Ernie Herring, J. O'Brien, and Horace Dixon. The following day Sam Lowrie of Ponsonby United was added to the touring side.

Inter-Island Match

Auckland Trial Match

Auckland C v South Auckland

Auckland v New Zealand

Auckland v South Auckland (Northern Union CC)

Auckland v New Zealand

Auckland B v West Coast

Auckland v Queensland

Auckland B v Canterbury

Auckland B v Wellington

Auckland v South Auckland (Northern Union CC)

Auckland Province v Queensland

Auckland Representative Matches Played and Scorers

This list only includes the Auckland team games and does not include the Auckland B, Auckland C, and Auckland Province matches.
NoNameClub TeamPlayTriesConPenPoints
1Frank DelgrossoPonsonby United207218
2Arthur SingeMarist Old Boys523114
3George GardinerPonsonby United331011
4Ben DavidsonCity Rovers33009
4Claude ListKingsland13009
6Bert AveryAthletic12006
6Ivan LittlewoodPonsonby United42006
6M KirklandMarist Old Boys12006
6Neville St GeorgeDevonport United42006
10Clarrie PolsonNewton Rangers10204
11S RileyPonsonby United21003
11Stan WebbDevonport United11003
13Hector ColePonsonby United40000
13Hec McDonaldCity Rovers30000
13M HerewiniPonsonby United30000
13Charles GregoryMarist Old Boys20000
13J PaynePonsonby United20000
13Tim PeckhamPonsonby United20000
13Bill Te WhataAthletic10000
13Ernie HerringAthletic10000
13GreeningNorthcote10000
13Roy HardgraveNewton10000
13Harry DouglasDevonport United10000
13Horace DixonDevonport United10000
13Jack KirwanMarist Old Boys10000
13Jim O'BrienMarist Old Boys10000
13Len MasonAthletic10000
13Lou BrownCity Rovers10000
13MackieCity Rovers10000
13Maurice WetherillCity Rovers10000
13Nelson BassCity Rovers10000
13Jim O'BrienMarist or Devonport10000
13S CrewtherCity Rovers10000
13Alf TownsendCity Rovers10000