The 1911 New Zealand rugby league season was the fourth 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

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 ...

toured Australia, playing in no Test matches. This was the first tour of a New Zealand side since the formation of 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 ...

.Coffey, John and Bernie Wood ''Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009'', 2009. . They lost three matches to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, defeated

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

by 21–20, defeated

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

two games to one and defeated Hunter River by 40–8. The touring party included

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 ...

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 ...

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

, Roy Siddells, Barney Winder, Frank Morse, Ronald MacDonald,

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 ...

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 ...

, William Mackrell and George A. Gillett.W.J.Davidson ''Rugby League Annual - 1949'', New Zealand Rugby League, 1949 During the tour they were joined by former

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

, who had been brought over to Australia to play in the

Queensland Rugby League The Queensland Rugby Football League QRL Constitution, 2009: 3 (QRL QRL Constitution, 2009: 2) is the governing body for rugby league in Queensland. It is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL Commission) and selects the membe ...

competition.Coffey, John. ''Canterbury XIII'', Christchurch, 1987. Before the tour New Zealand defeated

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 ...

16–14 at the Takapuna Racecourse. New Zealand also provided four players to the Australasian tour of Great Britain; George A. Gillett, Arthur Francis, Charlie Savory and Frank Woodward. Former New Zealand international

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 ...

also toured with the team but at the time was competing in the

NSWRL Premiership The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...

. During the season Wellington and Hawke's Bay were admitted to the

National competitions

Northern Union Cup

had been awarded 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 ...

by the 1910 Great Britain Lions. They successfully defended it four times in 1911, defeating

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

16–8 on 5 August,

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 ...

17–13 on 19 August,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

36–12 on 26 August and

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

26–15 on 2 September. Nelson included Bert Feary,

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 ...

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

and

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 ...

Inter-provincial matches

Auckland also bet the Lower Waikato 36–22 at Frankton and the Hawke's Bay Māori 22–10 on the North Shore in non-challenge matches. Reg Sprague played for Lower Waikato and later played for Auckland against Nelson. Arthur Francis represented Auckland and later played for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

Frank Woodward was selected for Auckland from the Rotorua sub-league. Other players to play for Auckland during the season included

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 ...

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 ...

Stan Walters Stanley Peter Walters Jr. (born May 27, 1948) is a former professional American football offensive tackle. After playing college football for Syracuse, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the ninth round of the 1972 NFL Draft. He spent t ...

, Ronald MacDonald,

, Frank Morse and Bob Mitchell. Wellington included Roy Siddells and

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

Club competitions

Auckland

City won 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 ...

's Myers Cup.Lion Red Rugby League Annual 1990 ''New Zealand Rugby League'', 1990. p.72 The Manukau Northern Union Football Club were captained by James Rukutai.Manukau Magpies
''sportsground.co.nz'' City included

and

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

and

, Ponsonby included

and Ronald MacDonald and the North Shore included

. Otahuhu was founded in 1911.

Other Competitions

The Ngaruawahia, Huntly, Taupiri and Rangiriri clubs were founded, forming the Lower Waikato District League. Only the Ngaruawahia club still exists today.''Superleague'', Issue 1 2011. p.9. Reg Sprague, from Ngaruawahia, made the New Zealand side that same year. The

Hawke's Bay Rugby League Rugby League Hawkes Bay is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of rugby league in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The RLHB run the local club competition and are responsible for the Hawke's Bay rugby league team. Th ...

was founded in 1911 with the help of All Golds Jim Gleeson and

Edward Tyne Edward "Hone" Tyne was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain. Early life Tyne was a railway worker, working for the New Zealand Railways Department.John Haynes ''From A ...

.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. Future dual international Dave Evans was said to be instrumental in helping three

Hawke's Bay Rugby Union The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union (HBRU) is the governing body of rugby union in the Hawke's Bay Region, Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The union is based in Napier, New Zealand, Napier. The Hawke's Bay representative team are nicknamed ''The M ...

clubs switch codes; Clive, Ahuriri and Kia Toa.David Evans
''stats.allblacks.com'' With the help of local politician

Vigor Brown John Vigor Brown (18 June 1854 – 2 September 1942), known as Vigor Brown, was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Napier, in the North Island. He was Mayor of Napier for a total of 18 years. He was a well-known figure in his adopted city, ...

, the Rugby League secured the use of

McLean Park McLean Park is a sports ground in Napier, New Zealand. The two main sports played at the ground are cricket and rugby union. It is one of the largest cricket grounds in New Zealand. McLean Park is a sports ground of international standards w ...

. The first overseas transfer occurred in 1911 when

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 ...

was cleared to play for

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

and the 20 pounds fee was forwarded to the Rotorua sub-league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1911 New Zealand Rugby League Season Rugby league season New Zealand rugby league seasons