• Source: 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.




Auckland Rugby League news






= Club teams by grade participation

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= Trophy winners

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City Rovers 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

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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 Challenge 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 4 June William Stormont (known better as Bill 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 9 July 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 22 July 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)






= Monteith Shield standings

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= Monteith Shield fixtures

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Round 1




Round 2

A good deal of ill feeling was shown in the Marist v Devonport game at the Devonport Domain, perhaps a hangover from their controversial championship final the year before when player eligibility had dragged on for some time afterwards. In comments later in the week the Auckland Star described the match as "brutal" with much "illegal and unsportsmanlike play". Charles Gregory and Arthur Cadman of the Marist side were both ordered off in the second half but they still won 18 to 9. It was said that the crowd had threatened to run the field and even after the sendings off the game "developed into something of a melee". In the match between City and Athletic Alf Townsend was also ordered off in the second half for City, and then winger Ernest Ruby left injured leaving City with 11 players to finish the match but they led 16-8 and still managed to add another try when Lou Brown followed up a kick which new Athletic fullback Tommy Taylor failed to field. Towndsend and Cadman were suspended by the league with their respective clubs appealing the decision and the ARL forwarded the appeals to the New Zealand Council (NZRL). The appeals were dismissed by the national body. In Ponsonby's win over Richmond, Tim Peckham who had just joined the side, scored one of their tries. Late in the game Richmond were awarded a try after W Little was obstructed when attempting to score. At this time obstruction tries were awarded to the player in question. Ray Hyland scored the other three tries for Richmond.



Round 3




Round 4

Sam Lowrie was ordered off in the match between Ponsonby and Devonport. Julius Laing of Devonport was taken to hospital suffering from slight concussion. It was rumoured during the week that his brother, Bert Laing had retired from the sport but he soon resumed playing and retired at the end of the 1926 season, though he came out of retirement to assist the side in 1927 a couple of times and then four more times in 1930. W Hannan had joined the Marist forward pack and was a brother of champion rower Pat Hannan.



Round 5




Round 6

The City - Marist match ended sensationally. With the scores tied at 7, and time up with the time keeper standing with the bell in hand waiting for the ball to go out of play, Ben Davidson drop kicked a goal for City to win 9–7. An enormous crowd of 12,500 was on hand to witness the match which was a club record for a regular season match to this point. The crowd was said to be "at a high pitch of excitement" throughout each half.



Round 7

Prior to the kickoff teams stood in silence for one minute as a mark of respect for the late William Stormont of the Marist club who had died two days earlier. He was a World War I veteran and had played for Marist from 1920 to 1924. The match between Marist and Richmond scheduled to be played at Victoria Park was cancelled due to his death. The 39 year old,Tom Haddon returned to the field for the first time since 1919, the year in which he represented New Zealand. From 1910 to 1919 he played for North Shore (Devonport), Grafton Athletic, and City though spent 2–3 years at war in between. He scored a try in Devonport's 27–20 loss to City. Ponsonby thrashed Newton 42–3 after leading 37–0 at halftime. Ponsonby scored shortly after halftime and then when Newton had spent a period of play on attack, crossing for a try they decided that they had had enough and the game was called.



Round 8

In the main match at Carlaw Park before a crowd of 10,000 City scored on full time however W Sandham missed a relatively easy conversion which would have given them the win. Instead Ponsonby inflicted their first defeat of the year. Charles Hand kicked 6 goals on debut for Newton after transferring mid week from Devonport. Newton's easy win over Athletic was surprising as they had been struggling recently. Athletic were missing their star back, Craddock Dufty who did not play owing to an injured hand.



Round 9

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. The loss was the heaviest ever against Athletic. There were nine different try scorers and the four who didn't cross the line all kicked at least one conversion. The match perhaps somewhat anti-climatically took place on the number 2 field. There were 9,000 in attendance at Carlaw Park but the majority would have been watching the match on the number 1 field at the time where Marist beat Devonport 19–11. Jim O'Brien for Marist and Tom Haddon for Devonport were ordered off for fighting in their match at Carlaw Park.



Round 10

All of the teams were without their New Zealand representatives who had departed for their Australian tour. The touring party included 15 Auckland club players. George Davidson played his first game of the season for City, ostensibly replacing his brother Ben in the back line who was rested with an injured foot. He scored a try in their 27–16 win over Newton. Wilfred McNeil also made his first appearance of the year for Ponsonby in their 24–6 win over Marist. He hooked in the place of Sam Lowrie who was in Australia.



Round 11

Matthew Kirkland scored 4 tries in Marist's 35–3 win over his former club, Athletic in greasy conditions at the Auckland Domain.



Round 12

At the Devonport Domain the local winger, Buffet had to deal with a dog crossing the field as he attempted to catch a ball. Athletic swooped on the moment with Len Mason scoring.



Round 13




Round 14





= Roope Rooster knockout competition

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Round 1

George Gardiner had a field day for Ponsonby in their 50–23 win over Athletic. He scored three tries and converted seven of his sides twelve tries for 23 total points.



Semi finals




Final

Ponsonby won their fourth Roope Rooster title following previous wins in 1917, 1922, and 1923. They score tries through Ivan Littlewood and Leonard Riley, older brother of Brian Riley. While George Gardiner added 4 points to his season tally through two penalties. City fielded former Marist player C.M. Stevens in their backs, and made a change on the wing, playing 32 year old utility player George Paki in place of George Davidson which was said to have been a mistake as they lost two try scoring chances on that wing. There were 7,500 spectators present and 212 pounds were raised at the gate with half the money going to charities and the other half to players injured during the season.




= Stormont Memorial Shield

=



Semi final

Lou Hutt debuted for Ponsonby after transferring from the Ngaruawahia club in the South Auckland (Waikato) competition. Despite the "squally weather" and muddy ground the match was said to be one of the best games played at Carlaw Park during the season. It featured several New Zealand representatives who had returned from the Australian tour and recently played against the touring Queensland side.



Final





Top try scorers and point scorers (senior grade, Roope Rooster and Stormont Memorial Shield)


The scoring is from all matches which were technically open to all sides. The Stormont Shield was to become a champion of champions match between the winner of the championship and the winner of the Roope Rooster, however in its first season the winner of the Roope Rooster (Ponsonby) played a semi final match against Marist, who Bill Stormont played with prior to his death.




B Grade standings and results






= B Grade standings

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= B Grade fixtures

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In Kingsland's debut in the grade Claude List in his debut season in first grade scored 3 tries in their win over Northcote. He repeated the feat 2 weeks later against Mangere. He would later become the first ever player to represent New Zealand whilst playing for ostensibly a 'second grade' team.

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.



Final

The match was played as curtain raiser to the New Zealand game against Queensland.




Lower grades


There were 6 lower grade competitions in 1925 below the B Division with the 6th grade split into an A and B division.




= Second grade

=
Richmond defeated Ponsonby A 15–3 on 5 September of the championship final. Ponsonby B beat Richmond 14–5 in the knockout final on 10 October. Ellerslie and Kingsland withdrew after 4 rounds, United Suburbs after 5 rounds, and City after 7 rounds.




= Third grade

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The 1933 Third Grade competition had 17 teams entered which was the largest for any grade in the history of Auckland Rugby League to this point. City Rovers secured the championship when they defeated Ponsonby B on 19 September in round 18. They played Northcote in the knockout final on 3 October but no result was reported. Otahuhu withdrew from the competition after a round 8 default, while Coromandel Old Boys withdrew after round 10.




= Fourth grade

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Richmond Rovers won the competition undefeated. When they secured the title on 19 September they were a full 6 points clear of their nearest rival according to newspaper reports. Parnell were second and it is likely that they won more matches than the 10 that were reported. City withdrew after 1 round as did New Lynn and Newton B after 2 rounds so they have not been included in the standings, and Marist B after 4 rounds. There were many results that were unreported so the table is incomplete. Richmond beat Athletic in the knockout final on 10 October by 5 points to 3.




= Fifth grade

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Richmond won the championship for the second time. The result was not reported in the newspapers but did appear in the Rugby League Annual of 1949 written by Bill Davidson. City won the knockout final 16 to 13 on 10 October over Parnell. Parnell had defeated Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers 9 to 3 in one semi final, while City defeated Marist in the other by 24 to 5. Athletic withdrew after 12 rounds. Newton entered a team but it is unknown if they played a match as they withdrew after round one.




= Sixth grade A

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Richmond won the championship with an undefeated season. They also won the knockout competition when they beat Devonport 8 to 0 in the final on 19 September. Marist withdrew from the competition after 2 rounds. Less than half of the results were reported in the newspapers so the standings are incomplete. The Leys Institute were affiliated to the Ponsonby club. They were usually reported as Leys Institute in the official fixture lists on Thursdays and Fridays in the newspapers but as Ponsonby by the newspapers on Monday when they reported scores. Leys Institute buildings were established by the Leys family in 1905 and the Leys Institute side was for boys in the area interested in keeping themselves physically active.




= Sixth grade B

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Richmond A won the championship. They also won the knockout competition when they beat United Suburbs who had joined the competition late in the season by 32 points to 0. A large number of match results were not reported so the standings are incomplete.




Exhibition matches






= Exhibition match

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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. Charles Gregory of the Auckland Marist side scored the first ever points on the ground when he kicked a penalty and thus won a trophy presented by Mrs. Thacker. The match was refereed by former New Zealand player Abbie Shadbolt and featured several current or future New Zealand internationals on both teams.




= Fund Raising Match (Ponsonby training shed)

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On Monday, August 11 a fund raising match was held at Carlaw Park to raise money for a training shed for the Ponsonby club. There were 4,000 spectators in attendance with Ponsonby winning 15–5 after winger H Goodley scored two tries to go with one by Joseph Peckham. George Gardiner converted two of the tries and a penalty. For City Hec McDonald scored a try which was converted by former Olympic sprinter George Davidson who was in his 4th and final season with City.




= Labour Day carnival

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A crowd of 2,000 was in attendance at the Labour Day carnival match. It was played on the Saturday with the Carnival extending over three days (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Unusually it was preceded by a rugby union game between the Vermont Street School who were the season champions, and the St Benedicts XV. Vermont Street won 13 to 3. Ponsonby won the rugby league match by 26 points to 16 and all the victorious players were presented with 'gold' medals afterwards. They had stretched out to a 21–3 halftime lead and extended it further after a "great try" to George Gardiner who beat several opponents. Marist staged a late comeback, scoring three tries but ultimately fell well short.




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, Charles Gregory, Lou Brown, Hec Brisbane, Frank Delgrosso, Jack Kirwan, Bert Laing, Maurice Wetherill, Wilson Hall, Stan Webb, Bert Avery, Ernie Herring, Jim 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 C.C.)




Auckland v New Zealand




Auckland B v West Coast




Auckland v Queensland

In the match reports the newspapers did not distinguish between the two Jim O'Brien's. It is more likely that the try scored was by Jim O'Brien purely because he was playing in the second row (despite often playing at prop) and was more involved in the loose play which the try itself came from. The try came after a kick was chased by Maurice Wetherill.



Auckland B v Canterbury




Auckland B v Wellington




Auckland v South Auckland (Northern Union C.C.)

Claude List became the first player selected from the B Division to make the full Auckland representative side. He played for the Kingsland Rovers 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 and play senior club football into the 1940s.



Auckland Province v Queensland

Shortly before halftime Stan Rayner was carried from the field on a stretcher and replaced by Bill Te Whata.




= Auckland representative matches played and scorers

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This list only includes the Auckland team games and does not include the Auckland B, Auckland C, and Auckland Province matches.




References






External links


Auckland Rugby League Official Site

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• 1925 Auckland Rugby League season
• Auckland Rugby League
• Auckland rugby league team
• 1944 Auckland Rugby League season
• 1921 Auckland Rugby League season
• Auckland Rugby League club trophies
• 1935 Auckland Rugby League season
• 1925 New Zealand rugby league season
• Coromandel Old Boys Rugby League Club
• 1917 Auckland Rugby League season