1926 Auckland Rugby League season
The 1926 season of the Auckland Rugby League was its 17th.
Ponsonby won the Monteith Shield, the major first grade title after defeating City Rovers in the final. Richmond won their first ever senior trophy when they won the Roope Rooster. On the last week of the season these teams met for the Stormont Shield with Ponsonby winning by 15 points to 5 over. Northcote won the B Division championship, with Kingsland winning the Stallard Cup for taking out the B division knockout competition. The representative season was dominated by a long series of trial matches to assist in selecting the New Zealand team to tour England.
Athletic Club Name Change
At the annual general meeting of the Athletic Rugby League Football Club the idea of adopting the name of Grafton Athletic was discussed though no decision was made at the time it was later agreed to change the club name to Grafton. They were known as 'Maritime' from their formation in 1918 and remained as such for four years until the start of the 1922 season when they changed their name to Athletic. They remained 'Athletic' for four years until deciding to change their name again in this 1926 season to Grafton Athletic. There had previously already been a Grafton Athletic club which formed in 1914 under the leadership of Karl Ifwersen and they survived for seven years until the 1920 season which was their last after Ifwersen switched back to the rugby code.Senior competitions
Nominations were received for 13 teams to compete in the Senior Grade. It was decided to have an A section and a B section like the 1925 season. In the A section competing for the Monteith Shield would be the same 7 teams as the previous year. They were Ponsonby United, City Rovers, Marist Old Boys, Devonport United, Richmond Rovers, Newton Rangers, and Grafton Athletic. The same 5 teams would compete in the B section with the addition of Parnell. The teams in that section were Northcote, Kingsland, Ellerslie, Mangere, Otahuhu, and Parnell.Jim Parkes who had moved to Auckland and begun playing for Richmond was also to coach the side. With the Monteith Shield competition nearing its later stages L Taylor joined the Richmond club from the Whitiora club in Hamilton. He scored 54 points in just 6 games for Richmond which meant he finished as the second highest scorer for the season behind Maurice Wetherill. During the season the New Zealand team was chosen to tour England and many clubs were hard hit by player losses to the tour. Wetherill was almost a certainty to make the tour but was unavailable to tour. He remained with his City Rovers team who qualified for the final with Ponsonby United but could not lead them to the title.
Carlaw Park
the well known player was appointed to work on the ground staff at Carlaw Park. He would be busy mid season when torrential rain leading up to the round 5 matches forced their abandonment. A large hole opened up on the number one field due to water overflowing from the railway embankment and the surrounding hills overwhelmed the surface drains. "As a result, the water forced its way back, emerging from a joint in the main pipe. The ground for some feet around was raised and, when it subsided, an open hole was revealed". It took several days to repair the playing area which was open again for the following weekend.Representative Program
A large number of representative and trial matches were played on Carlaw Park during the course of the season. The New Zealand team was to tour England later in the year and so several trial matches were played including Auckland v South Auckland, North Island v South Island, A v B team matches, a 'probables' v 'possibles' game, Auckland v The Rest of New Zealand, and ultimately after the team had been selected Auckland played them before they departed. Then near the end of the season Auckland defended the Northern Union Challenge Cup 3 times against Otago, Canterbury, and South Auckland. The season was then concluded with an Auckland Colts match against the B Division representative side.The Auckland members of the New Zealand team to tour England were:Craddock Dufty, Charles Gregory, George Gardiner, Jim Parkes, Lou Brown, Ben Davidson, Jack Kirwan, Hec Brisbane, Hector Cole, Stan Webb, Frank Delgrosso, Ernie Herring, Arthur Singe, Bert Avery. Avery was to captain the touring side.
During the tour 7 players went on strike due to a large number of issues they had with the management of the tour and upon their return the New Zealand Rugby League administration banned each of them for life. The only Aucklander to be among the strikers banned was Arthur Singe, the Marist Old Boys hooker. He had joined them after switching from rugby in 1921 where he had represented the New Zealand Army team in 1919 on their British and South African tours and Auckland in 8 matches. He played 48 times for Marist, 15 times for Auckland and made 8 appearances for New Zealand before his ban. The ban was eventually lifted by the New Zealand Rugby League in 1962, 26 years after his death in 1936.
Monteith Shield (First Grade Championship)
On 22 May all A and B division matches were postponed due to poor weather. Carlaw Park also suffered damage when water overflowed from the railway embankment and adjoining hills which proved too much for the surface drains. It caused the ground to subside and a hole to open up which would take some time to repair.A Division Standings
With 1 round remaining Ponsonby was on 18 competition points and City were on 20 competition points. City had a bye and Ponsonby were due to play Grafton however owing to the likely outcome of Ponsonby defeating Grafton Athletic which would mean the two teams would be tied on points the ARL decided to have Ponsonby and City playoff for the title instead. This was a regular method of deciding the title winners through this era and had happened in 1911, 1914, 1915, 1923, and 1924. Ponsonby won 13-8 and the result is included in the standings.A Division FixturesIn Round 12 new rules were introduced regarding the play the ball, mirroring rules adopted by the New South Wales Rugby League which made the games more open but it was stated in The New Zealand Herald that "it is evident the players will need more schooling to make the interpretation of this rule more effective. In the match between Ponsonby and Richmond every advantage was taken of the referee's awkward position, and some very unfair tactics were adopted in securing the ball from the ruck".Round 1In the match between Ponsonby and Devonport J Laing fractured his ankle while Webb also went off injured during the second half leaving Devonport with just 11 players.Round 2Round 3Ponsonby's win over Newton in this round was a club milestone, being their 100th first grade win. In their 17th season and 163rd match they became the second club in Auckland to do this after City Rovers achieved the feat 2 seasons earlier.Round 4Round 5Lou Brown tore a ligament in his foot in his match with Grafton and missed several matches but recovered in time to gain selection for the New Zealand team to tour England. His brother E Brown was also injured in the match which also saw G Rayner ordered off.Round 6Delgrosso left the field with a bad cut over his eye against Marist which required stitches and missed some game. Wetherill also missed City's match as he was sitting a plumbers exam. City were upset by Devonport.Round 7Brisbane made return from a broken collarbone for Marist's match with Richmond.Round 8Round 9Johnson was ordered off early in the match for Grafton against Marist.Round 10, Newton's New Zealand representative was leaving at this point in the season to go and live in Wellington. Eric Grey came out of retirement to play for Ponsonby. In his first game since 1924 he scored a try and kicked a drop goal in their win over Newton.Round 11Round 12L Taylor transferred from the Whitiora club in Hamilton and scored a try and kicked 6 goals on debut for Richmond. Newton only had 10 players for the entirety of their match with Marist but still made a game of it only losing 15-11.Round 13FinalRoope Rooster Knockout competitionRichmond Bulldogs won the Roope Rooster for the first time with a 16–15 win over Devonport in the final. This was their first major trophy.Round 1Semi-finalsFinalStormont ShieldPonsonby won the Stormont Shield again after winning it in the previous season which was the first year it had been contested after the passing of Bill Stormont months earlier who is was named in honour of.Top Try Scorers and Point Scorers (Senior Grade and Roope Rooster)
B Division Standings and resultsB Division StandingsB Division resultsIn Round 6 Parnell defaulted to Ellerslie with the club secretary saying "the fact that five men are on the injured list and that others have had to leave town to seek work in the country were the chief factors".Stallard Cup Knockout competitionThis was the second year that the B Division knockout competition had been competed for.
Other Club Matches and Lower GradesLower Grade ClubsThere were 5 lower grades in 1925, along with the addition of a third grade intermediate and schoolboy competition. The sixth grade was split into an A and B grade as had become customary in previous seasons.Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold:
Representative seasonRepresentative fixturesThe first representative fixture of the season was played on 26 June between Auckland and South Auckland. The match was the first trial game for the selection of the New Zealand team to tour England. With the score a lopsided 33–3 at halftime the selectors added five local Auckland players to the South Auckland team to even the match somewhat and it finished 49 to 15 in favour of the hosts.While not principally an Auckland team playing the trial matches between North Island and South Island, and the A and B match were heavily populated by Auckland players. The team selected to represent New Zealand featured a large number of Auckland players; C. Dufty, C.E. Gregory, G. Gardiner, J. Parkes, Lou Brown, B. Davidson, J. Kirwan, H. Brisbane, H. Cole, S.G. Webb, F. Delgrosso, E. Herring, A. Singe, and H. Avery . Before the team departed they played Auckland at Carlaw Park and went down in a high scoring game by 52 points to 32 after fielding a slightly weakened team against a strong Auckland side. Auckland v South AucklandDue to the lopsided match where the halftime score was 33-3 Auckland gave several players to the South Auckland team at halftime including A Mansill who kicked 3 goals for the visiting side.North Island v South IslandA Team v B Team (NZ Trial)Auckland v The Rest (of NZ)Probables v Possibles (NZ Trial)A Team v B Team (NZ Trial)Auckland v New ZealandAuckland v Otago (Northern Union Challenge Cup)became the first player selected from the B Division to make the full Auckland representative side. He played for the Kingsland club and had been mentioned as being as good as any player in his position in New Zealand rugby league. He was to go on to represent New Zealand from 1928 to 1932. Future Kiwi Len Scott also debuted for Auckland after coming on to replace the injured Harry Douglas.Auckland v Canterbury (Northern Union Challenge Cup)Auckland v South Auckland (Northern union Challenge Cup)Auckland Colts v B Division RepresentativesAuckland Representative Matches Played and ScorersThis list only includes the Auckland team games against South Auckland, The Rest, New Zealand, Otago, Canterbury, and South Auckland
Annual General Meetings and Club NewsOn 16 March Auckland Rugby League held its Junior Management Committee annual meeting where it was noted that the number of teams during the 1925 season was 75, with approximately 1,200 registered players. The full Auckland Rugby League annual report stated that in 1925 there were 12 senior teams and 103 junior teams playing in the various competitions, representing an increase of three senior and 28 junior teams. There was a total of 2,364 playing members. It was also noted that the total receipts from club fixtures was £3,136 and the total amount taken at all games was just over £7,000. The executive intended on spending money on improving the dressing accommodation for players at Carlaw Park, and when funds permit constructing a permanent grandstand. |