The 1910 New Zealand rugby league season was the third season of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

that had been played in New Zealand.

International competitions

Touring squad of the 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand

The

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in New Zealand. SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a tour of Great Britain that same year.Coffey and Wood ''T ...

was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for the tour by Great Britain later in the year.Coffey and Wood ''The Kiwis: 100 Years of International Rugby League'' Taranaki, Auckland and Nelson were represented at the meeting and Southland was admitted later in the year.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. p. 14 William Wynyard was one of the first members of the New Zealand Council.

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

hosted the touring Great Britain Lions, losing 20–52. New Zealand wore the colours of Red and Yellow with Black bands for the Test match. It was the only time that they wore these colours. The New Zealand side was:

Alf Chorley Alf Chorley was an English-born rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. Playing career Chorley played for Halifax ( Heritage № 8), and Swinton before moving to New Zealand.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of r ...

Ernie Buckland Ernest Buckland (1887–1945)BUCKLAND, ERNEST 1909 - 11 - KIWI #30
''nzleague ...

Albert Asher Arapeta Paurini Wharepapa (3 December 1879 – 8 January 1965), or Albert Asher as he was more commonly known, was a New Zealand List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballe ...

Ernie Asher Ernest "Ernie" Asher (21 April 1886 – 10 April 1973), also known as Te Keepa Pouwhiuwhiu, was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand Māori and New Zealan ...

Charles James Charles James may refer to: * Charles James (British Army officer) (1757/8–1821), English army officer and writer * Charles James (attorney) (born 1954), former U.S. assistant attorney general * Charles James (American football) (born 1990), Amer ...

, Frank Woodward, Ronald MacDonald, captain

Charles Dunning Charles Avery Dunning (July 31, 1885 – October 1, 1958) was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, business ...

Pat Hannigan Patrick Edward Hannigan (March 5, 1936 – December 11, 2007) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers b ...

Ned Hughes Edward Hughes (26 April 1881 – 1 May 1928), was a New Zealand rugby union and rugby league footballer who played 9 times (6 of these were test matches) as an All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All ...

, Fred Jackson,

George Seagar George Seagar was a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. His younger brother Allan Seagar also represented New Zealand at rugby league. Rugby League Playing career and Rowing George Seagar was a boiler ...

and Jim Griffin. Billy Wynyard had served as a selector, a position he was to retain until 1919. The

Great Britain Lions The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, ...

had already defeated New Zealand Māori 29–0 and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

52–9 at

Victoria Park, Auckland Victoria Park is a park and sports ground in the Auckland city centre, New Zealand. It was opened in 1905 and named after the queen who had died four years earlier. It lies on reclaimed bay land in Freemans Bay, a suburb directly west of th ...

and

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

54–18 in

. The Auckland side was;

, L Nolan, G Smith,

Alf Jackson Alfred Jackson (25 October 1887 – 21 September 1964) was an Australian military officer and an Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League, Victorian Football League (VFL). Family ...

, Ronald MacDonald, Len Farrant, Fred Jackson (c),

, Jim Griffin,

Alex Stanaway Alexander William Stanaway (14 July 1886 – 27 June 1972), also known as Ariki Haira, was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand. His brother, Jack Stanaway, was also a professional r ...

, H Fricker,

. Emergencies;

Sid Riley Sidney Austin Riley (18 April 1878 – 31 March 1964) was a rugby union player who represented Australia. Riley, a centre, was born in Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in t ...

Arthur Carlaw Arthur Carlaw was a New Zealand rugby league player who played a role in the establishment of the sport in New Zealand and represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand. His uncle, James Carlaw, James, was an administrator in th ...

, J Bennett,

Jim Rukutai Puhipi James Rukutai (1877 – 11 January 1940) was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played representative rugby league (RL) and coached New Zealand. The Auckland Rugby League's minor premiership, the Ruku ...

, Bob Mitchell. During the tour the Lions donated the

Northern Union Cup The Rugby League Cup is a New Zealand rugby league trophy that is contested between districts on a challenge basis. The trophy used to be known as the Northern Union Challenge Cup. It is the oldest rugby league competition in New Zealand. Histo ...

which was awarded to

for inter-provincial competition and is still contested today. Earlier in the tour the Lions had played two matches against an Australasian team in Sydney. New Zealanders involved in that squad were

Riki Papakura Riki "Dick" Papakura was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented the New Zealand Māori side and Australasia and played professionally for Warrington. His position of preference was at fullback or in the centres. Playing career From ...

and

Con Sullivan Con Sullivan (1886–1964) was a New Zealand international rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s for various Australasian representative sides. Playing career Sullivan started his career playing rugby in Wellington where h ...

Inter-district competition

In preparation for the 1911 New Zealand tour of Australia,

toured the country between 20 September and 13 October, playing matches in Wanganui, Bluff, Invercargill, Dunedin, Napier and Dannevirke. The Auckland squad for the tour was; Harry Childs, G Harrison,

, W Banner,

, L Nolan,

, WJ Walker, Ronald MacDonald,

Sid Kean Sid Kean was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand. Playing career Kean played for the City Rovers in the Auckland Rugby League competition. In 1910 he was part of the Auckland side that toured the country, playing match ...

, J Bennett, S Cole, T Avery, R Denize, captain

, H Fricker,

, Bob Mitchell, Harry Oakley and C Brockliss. WJ Walker was selected from the Rotorua sub-league while the rest were Auckland based players. Auckland were undefeated in their seven match tour defeating Wanganui 15–14, Bluff 42–12,

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

17–12,

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

30–18, Nelson 24–13,

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region is ...

19–14 and Dannevirke 24–6.

refereed the Bluff match and the Hawke's Bay match.

Club competitions

Auckland

The

1910 Auckland Rugby League season Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condi ...

was the first with an organised club competition. City won it and were awarded the Myers Cup.Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1990 ''New Zealand Rugby League'', 1990. p. 72 The Cup had been donated by

Arthur Myers Sir Arthur Mielziner Myers (19 May 1868 – 9 October 1926) was a New Zealand politician. He was Mayor of Auckland City from 1905 to 1909, Member of the House of Representatives from 1910 to 1921, and a Cabinet Minister. Today he is remembered ...

. The competition was meant to start on 7 May but was delayed a week due to the death of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. In the opening week Ponsonby United lost to the

Newton Rangers The City Newton Dragons are a defunct New Zealand rugby league club that was based at Victoria Park, Auckland. The club was created in 1948 by a merger of two original clubs, the City Rovers and Newton Rangers. Both the Rovers and the Rangers par ...

6–12 at

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

while the North Shore and City Rovers drew 0-all at Takapuna Racecourse. The opening weekend team lists were: *Ponsonby; R McDonald, Harry Oakley, S Riley, A Carlaw, C Dunning, W Tyler, F Lynch, J Cholly, H Bettis, S Cole, H Childs, R W McDonald, A Bettis and J C Harley. *Newton;

Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada * Houghton Townshi ...

, Haswell, Henderson, Banner, Smith, Armitage, Farrant, Mackrell, Bradburn, Winters, A Smith, F Maki, C Linkhorn, Lupton and Simpson. *City; C Brett, E Asher, B Blakey, J Lane, A Asher, G Harrison, S Kean, Lowe (2), Haira, Avery, Denize, Blucher, Doran, Dennison, Tobin and Miles. *North Shore; F Taylor, McDonald, Percival, O Miller, A Sutton, Jackson, Hill, B Wells, Griggin, C Wells, Goulter, Baker and

Seager Seager is a surname, and may refer to: *Alexandra Seager (1870–1950), businesswoman and philanthropist in South Australia *Allan Seager (1906–1968), American novelist and short-story writer * Charles Allen Seager (1872–1948), Anglican Bishop ...

. Emergencies; Harrison, F Shaw and E Bailey.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909–2009'', 2009. .

and

also played for City later in the season. On 25 June Albert Asher was sent off by referee

Jack Stanaway John James "Jack" Stanaway (8 October 1873 – 23 December 1931), also known as Hone Haira, was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand Māori rugby league team, New Zealand Māori and was an international test referee. His b ...

. The rest of the City side walked off in support of Asher. Asher became the first player to face the ARL judiciary, who cautioned him. The

Auckland Rugby League The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...

management committee for 1910–11 consisted of B Brigham (chair), A J Powley (secretary), Percy S Ussher (treasurer), J G Jackson, M Hooper, E Goulter,

and J Graham. The Auckland Provincial Rugby League was constituted at a meeting in the Suffolk Hotel on 6 April 1910. The Northcote "Ramblers" League Football Club were founded in 1910.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1910 New Zealand Rugby League Season *