1921 Auckland Rugby League season

The 1921 season of Auckland Rugby League was its 13th. Seventy two teams played across its six main grades.[1]

Preceded by
1920
13th Auckland Rugby League season
1921
Succeeded by
1922

The first grade competition featured seven teams, City Rovers, Marist Old Boys, Maritime, Devonport, Fire Brigade (formerly Grafton Athletic), Newton Rangers, and Ponsonby United. City Rovers comfortably won the senior championship for the 4th time with a 8 win, 1 draw, 0 loss record ahead of Maritime who were unable to repeat their title win from the previous season. City had previously won the title in 1910, 1911, and 1916. This was to be the first of 3 consecutive titles for them. They also won the Roope Rooster knockout competition for the 3rd time after previous wins in 1916 and 1918.

Club name changes and mergers

On 13 April the Management Committee of the Auckland Rugby League met. At the meeting Grafton was granted permission to change its name to "Fire Brigade Club". Devonport United notified the league that the Devonport Borough Council had allocated the Devonport Domain for its use. During the season the club was named 'North Shore' and 'Devonport' interchangeably by both The New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Star. In 1920 the club had seen a merger between North Shore Albions and the Sunnyside club and agreed on the name Devonport United but it appears that the stronger club's name was still more favoured by those reporting on the games, and it was eventually the name adopted by the club. While the Kingsland Rovers club wrote asking for advice on what it should do regarding a ground for the club to play at.[2]

Carlaw Park open for business

History was made on 25 June when the first ever match was played on Carlaw Park between City Rovers and Maritime. The match was won by City Rovers 10 points to 8. Prior to the match an official opening ceremony was held. "The park was declared open by Hon. Arthur Myers, MP. Mr and Mrs. Carlaw were each presented with a gold badge and certificate of life membership on the ground, and at the conclusion of the ceremony Mrs Carlaw kicked off for the first game on the new park".[3] City Rovers capped a remarkable season by winning the Thacker Shield from Ponsonby United on the final day of the season after having already won the Monteith Shield by winning the First Grade Championship, and the Roope Rooster Knock-out trophy.

Female football club denied by the league

On 12 July a meeting was held in Parnell to form a "girls" rugby league competition and over 40 enrolling. They were to play a game on Carlaw Park on the following Saturday afternoon. They were all aged between 16 and 20 years of age. The chairman of the Parnell club, Mr. A. R. Turner explained "that it wished to develop the girls as well as the men, and to this end the club was being formed at the suggestion of the girls". A trophy "similar to the Monteith Shield" had been donated, and "members of the Auckland League Management Committee had donated a football, and were providing assistance in supplying jerseys. At the meeting when the time for enrollment came it was described that "they rose in a body and fairly rushed the table, which was in danger of being overturned in the excitement of the moment" Ivan Culpan, secretary of the league told the girls that the league would train them every evening in the lead up to the match.[4] Over the next week the number of girls enrolled increased to 65. It later transpired that the members of the Auckland Rugby League who had attended had done so by invitation and were not necessarily acting on behalf of the league with the comments they had made. At the Auckland Rugby league Management meeting the following night the decision on whether to support the girls playing and affiliate the club with the league was deferred. Both G. Hunt and E Phelan spoke against allowing the girls to play.[5] And at a meeting on 20 July the Auckland Rugby League decided to oppose the girls playing football. Mr. J. Carlaw said that medical opinion was in opposition to females playing the sport. Mr Stallworthy and Mr. E Feilding suggested a trial game with modified rules take place with doctors watching but the request was declined.[6]

Arthur Singe switches to rugby league

At the beginning of the season Marist Old Boys enticed Arthur Singe to join the club. He was an outstanding rugby player playing in the wing-forward position (flanker in today's terms). He played for the New Zealand Army rugby team which toured Great Britain and then South Africa at the end of the war. When he returned to New Zealand he played for the Marist rugby club and played for Auckland 8 teams. He narrowly missed the New Zealand rugby team to tour Australia after playing just 10 minutes in the North Island v South Island match which acted as a trial of sorts. He switched codes and joined Marist, playing for them in 1921–22 and 1925–26 before going on tour with the New Zealand team on their ill-fated tour of England. Seven players went on strike due to issues with management on the tour and were ultimately banned for life. Singe was the only Auckland player among the strikers. The ban was lifted in 1962, 26 years after his death in 1936. Singe was to play 48 games for Marist scoring 148 points, 15 games for Auckland scoring 25 points, and 8 matches for New Zealand.

Monteith Shield (first grade championship)

Final standings

Team Pld W D L F A Pts
City Rovers 98102505017
Maritime 960313511212
Marist Old Boys 950416712210
Ponsonby United 95041389910
Newton Rangers 9315831297
Devonport United 7106611322
Fire Brigade 8107491792

Monteith Shield fixtures

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 6 was somewhat farcical. Devonport fielded several juniors and when the score got to 14–0 in favour of Maritime very quickly four Maritime players changed teams to make it a more even contest. The remainder of the game more resembled a practice match. While Newton defaulted their match with Fire Brigade as only 6 players turned out. The New Zealand Herald match report stated that "counter-attractions proving too strong for the Newton players".

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 9 saw the opening of Carlaw Park and the first ever match played on its soil. City defeated Maritime by 10 points to 8 in front of 7000 spectators. The other two matches for this round were postponed. The captains of both Newton and Devonport decided to postpone the match, though the majority of the Devonport players were unaware of this arrangement and arrived at the ground ready to play. While on the same day the Fire Brigade players were called to a warehouse fire in the city at mid-day and were tired and late arriving to the ground so the match was abandoned.[28]

Round 10

Round 11

The City v Newton game was discontinued at halftime due to the score line. Newton had started the match a man short and the score line had already blown out to 37–5 by the interval.

Roope Rooster knockout competition

The first round match between Marist Old Boys and Maritime ended controversially with Marist complaining that the match had finished early (when they were trailing by 10 points to 8. They protested and the match was replayed with Maritime winning 21 to 10.

The final was won by City Rovers who defeated Maritime in the final in front of a large crowd by 30 points to 14. Over £230 were taken at the gate which was a record for Carlaw Park, albeit in its first season of use. From this 50 percent went to the Auckland League Sick and Injured Players' Fund, 25 percent to the Hospital Radium Fund, and 25 percent to the St. John Ambulance Association .[36]

Round 1

Semi final

Round 1 replay

Semi final

Final

Top try scorers and point scorers

Other club matches and lower grades

Lower grade clubs

There were 7 lower grades in 1921 if you include the Sixth Grade which was split into an A and B grade, and the cadet competition. Clubs with only lower grade teams were:

Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold:

  • Second Grade: Maritime, Newton, Otahuhu, Ellerslie, City Rovers, Ponsonby, Manukau, Marist Old Boys. Newton defeated Maritime in the Second Grade final by 17 points to 11 at Carlaw Park to win the Second Grade Cup.[44]
  • Third Grade (Myers Cup): Point Chevalier, North Shore, Kingsland, Ponsonby, Ellerslie, Newton.
  • Fourth Grade: City Rovers, City Rovers B, Kingsland, Manukau, Point Chevalier, Richmond, Maritime, Otahuhu, Ponsonby, and Takapuna.
  • Fifth Grade: Manukau, Northcote, Otahuhu, Ponsonby, Richmond, Maritime A, City Rovers, Maritime B, Manukau, Northcote, North Shore, Marist Old Boys, Takapuna. City Rovers defeated Richmond by 5 points to 2 to win the championship.[44]
  • Sixth Grade: Ponsonby United, Ellerslie, Otahuhu, Kingsland B, Otahuhu A, Kingsland A, City Rovers A, Takapuna, Marist Old Boys, Richmond, Manukau, Maritime, Ellerslie B, Marist Old Boys B
  • Sixth Grade B: Richmond, Maritime, Marist Old Boys, Ellerslie, and Ponsonby United.
  • Cadet Competition: Senior Cadets 13th Company A, Senior Cadets 18th Company, 24th Company, Senior 4th Company, Senior Cadets 13th Company B, 51st Senior Cadets Company (Devonport), 23rd Company, 37 Company, 34th Senior Cadets Company (Mt Eden). This competition was won by the 18th Company of Senior Cadets after they won the final game of the season defeating the 13th Company by 7 points to 2.

Challenge Shield

The Thacker Shield was held by Ponsonby United coming into the 1921 season however there was a dispute over whether the shield should be held by North Island teams as it was unclear if it had been intended for competition among South Island teams only. The New Zealand council decided that the rules should be amended to allow North Island teams to hold it but the donor, Dr. H. T.J. Thacker and the Canterbury Rugby League would not agree to them. As such the shield was returned to the donor. Mr. C Weaver donated a trophy to take its place and this became known as the Challenge Shield and it was this that Ponsonby went on to defend twice. They first hosted Petone from Wellington who they beat 18–13. In the curtain-raiser Petone juniors were defeated by Richmond by 14 points to 8. In the evening the Petone players were entertained at the Druids' Hall by the Ponsonby club and Auckland League. They later defeated Huntly 19–8 before losing the Shield to local rivals City Rovers

Exhibition matches

List of exhibition matches
Date Score Score Venue Attendance
Exhibition match 18 June[48] Hamilton19Maritime16Hamilton
Exhibition match 13 Aug[49] Cambridge16City Rovers14Victoria Square, Cambridge

Auckland representative fixtures

It was a very busy season for the Auckland representative team with ten matches played. Though in reality B and C teams played some of the fixtures as matches were played at the same time in different centres. They won seven matches and lost three. On 20 August Auckland played three matches, which showed off their depth. One at Carlaw Park versus King Country, one in Hamilton against South Auckland, and one against Wellington on the Basin Reserve. They won against King Country and Wellington, with a loss against South Auckland.

Auckland v New Zealand

Auckland v Wellington (Northern Union C.C.)

Auckland v Hawkes Bay (Northern Union C.C.)

Auckland v King Country

South Auckland (Waikato) v Auckland

Wellington v Auckland

West Coast v Auckland

No full team lists were published for this match and none of the scorers were listed either in match reports from any newspaper in New Zealand. The match report did however mention that the following players for Auckland performed well: Maurice Wetherill, W Flynn, G Yardley, T Peckham, V Thomas, and Bill Stormont. It is most likely that Auckland fielded the same touring team that played in Wellington 4 days prior and in Christchurch 3 days later.

Canterbury v Auckland

Hawkes Bay v Auckland B

Auckland v South Auckland (Waikato)

Auckland representative matches played and scorers

There was no scoring for the West Coast match where Auckland won by 47 points to 7. Bill Davidson led Auckland in scoring with 40 points from 6 tries and 11 conversions.

NoNameClub TeamPlayTriesConPenPoints
1Bill DavidsonCity Rovers4611040
2Bert AveryMarist Old Boys490027
3H HawkesCity Rovers570021
4Thomas McClymontPonsonby United444020
5Ben DavidsonCity Rovers460018
6M FlynnMaritime608016
7Bill StormontMarist Old Boys531011
7Wally SomersNewton231011
9Charles WoolleyFire Brigade52006
9John LangMaritime42006
9George PakiCity Rovers22006
12George YardleyMaritime41105
12Tim PeckhamCity Rovers41105
12Arthur SingeMarist Old Boys41105
12Eric GreyMaritime41105
16Frank DelgrossoPonsonby United21003
16Maurice WetherillCity Rovers71003
16G CargillMarist Old Boys31003
16Leonard NewdickNewton Rangers11003
16Ivan LittlewoodMaritime11003
16Wilfred McNeilPonsonby United21003
16C JamesNewton Rangers21003
16John McGregorMaritime21003
24Sam LowriePonsonby United30000
24Bill WilliamsNewton Rangers*30000
24H WynnDevonport United20000
24V ThomasCity Rovers20000
24P GallagherMarist Old Boys10000
24NelsonDevonport United10000
24Nelson BassNewton Rangers10000
24James HingMarist Old Boys10000
24Joe MeadowsPonsonby United10000
24Bill WalshPonsonby United10000
24Craddock DuftyNewton Rangers10000
24George MormonPonsonby United10000
24J PriceDevonport United10000
24S DelaneyNewton Rangers10000
24Billy GhentMarist Old Boys10000
24M Clark?10000
24F TurnerMarist Old Boys10000
24N BallantyneMaritime10000
24Charles WebbDevonport United10000
24Alf TownsendCity Rovers10000
24A EustaceMarist Old Boys10000

- Bill Williams began the season playing for Newton Rangers however after they were struggling for numbers and defaulted a game he transferred to the Fire Brigade team where he played 3 matches in June and July.

New Zealand representatives from Auckland

Team to tour Australia Backs

Forwards

References

  1. "Activities in Auckland/Review of Last Season". The New Zealand Herald. LIX (18050). 27 March 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  2. "The Management Committee". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17755). 14 March 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  3. "City Defeats Maritime At Carlaw Park/Exciting Contest Witnessed". Auckland Star. LII (151). 27 June 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. "Girl Footballers/League Club Formed/First Match on Saturday/Much Enthusiasm Shown". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17832). 13 July 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  5. "Girl FootballClub/Question of Affiliation/League Defers Decision/Matter of Physical Welfare". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17833). 14 July 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  6. "Girl Footballers". Auckland Star. LII (172). 21 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  7. "Opening of the Season". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17764). 25 April 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  8. "City Defeats Maritime". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17770). 2 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  9. "Newton Too Good For North Shore". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17770). 2 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  10. "Marist Old Boys' Easy Win". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17770). 2 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  11. "Ponsonby 17, North Shore 10". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17776). 9 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  12. "Maritime Defeats Fire Brigade". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17776). 9 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  13. "Marist Too Good For Newton". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17776). 9 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  14. "Maritime Defeats Newton". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17782). 16 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  15. "Ponsonby 35, Marist Old Boys 3". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17782). 16 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  16. "City's Easy Victory". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17782). 16 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  17. "City and Newton Draw". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17794). 30 May 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  18. "Maritime Defeats Ponsonby". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17794). 30 May 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  19. "Marist Old Boys 17, Devonport 9". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17794). 30 May 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  20. "City Defeats Ponsonby". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17800). 6 June 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  21. "Maritime 25, Devonport 5". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17800). 6 June 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  22. "Newton Defaults to Fire Brigade". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17800). 6 June 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  23. "Maritime Defeats Marist/Ponsonby, 10; Fire Brigade, 8/City Puts Up Big Score". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17806). 13 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  24. "Ponsonby, 10; Fire Brigade, 8". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17806). 13 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  25. "City Puts Up Big Score". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17806). 13 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  26. "City Defeats Marist O.B/Before 7,000 Spectators/An Exciting Tussle". Auckland Star. LII (145). 20 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  27. "Ponsonby Loses to Newton". Auckland Star. LII (145). 20 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  28. "First Game on Carlaw Park/City Defeats Maritime/An Exciting Contest". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17818). 27 June 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  29. "First== Game on Carlaw Park/City Defeats Maritime/An Exciting Contest". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17818). 27 June 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  30. "Good Play On Carlaw Park/Marist Overwhelms Newton". Auckland Star. LII (157). 4 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  31. "Good Play On Carlaw Park/Ponsonby 18, Shore 11". Auckland Star. LII (157). 4 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  32. "Maritime Beats Fire Brigade". Auckland Star. LII (157). 4 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  33. "Marist Defeat Maritime". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17830). 11 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  34. "City Easily Defeat Newton". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17830). 11 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  35. "Ponsonby 21, Fire Brigade 5". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17830). 11 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  36. "City's Great Victory/Maritime Defeated/Fine Exhibition at Carlaw Park/Witnessed by 8,000 Spectators". Auckland Star. LII (235). 3 October 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  37. "The Roope Rooster/City Defeats Newton". Auckland Star. LII (169). 18 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  38. "The Roope Rooster/Maritime 10, Marist OB 8". Auckland Star. LII (169). 18 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  39. "The Roope Rooster/Ponsonby Accounts For Shore". Auckland Star. LII (169). 18 July 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  40. "Roope Rooster Semi-Final/City Defeats Ponsonby/Closely-Contested Game". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17842). 25 July 1921. p. 9. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  41. "Roope Rooster Competition/Maritime Defeats Marist/Fast and Exciting Game". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17860). 15 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  42. "Knock-out Semi-Final/Maritime Beats Firemen/After An Interesting Game". Auckland Star. LII (211). 5 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  43. "Roope Rooster Final/Victory For City Team/Fast and Exciting Game". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17902). 3 October 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  44. "Junior Championship Final/Newton Defeats Maritime". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17896). 26 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  45. "Thacker Shield Match/Ponsonby Retains Trophy/Petone Defeated By 5 Points". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17884). 12 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  46. "Thacker Shield Match/Ponsonby V Huntly/Win For the Local Team". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17908). 10 October 1921. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  47. "Final Game of Season/Thacker Shield Match/City Defeat Ponsonby". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17914). 17 October 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  48. "Hamilton Beats Maritime". Auckland Star. LII (145). 20 June 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  49. "City Rovers V Cambridge". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17860). 15 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  50. "New Zealand V Auckland/Local Team Defeated". The New Zealand Herald. 23 May 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  51. "Auckland V Wellington/Victory For Local Team/Game Played In Rain". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17848). 1 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  52. "Representative Match/Auckland Beats Hawke's Bay/Fast Game On Wet Ground". The New Zealand Herald. LXIII (17854). 8 August 1921. p. 3. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  53. "King Country V Auckland/The Visitors Outclassed". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17866). 22 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  54. "Match At Hamilton/Win For South Auckland". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17866). 22 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  55. "Auckland V Wellington/Margin Of Two Points". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17866). 22 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  56. "Auckland V West Coast/An Easy Victory". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17869). 25 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  57. "Auckland V Canterbury/Win For Northerners/Thirty-Nine To Fourteen". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17872). 29 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  58. "Hawke's Bay V Auckland/A Close Contest". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17872). 29 August 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  59. "Auckland V South Auckland/Victory For Local Team/Fast Spectacular Play". The New Zealand Herald. LVIII (17890). 19 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
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