The 1912

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 ...

season was the 4th official year of the Auckland Rugby League. The season commenced on 11 May, with the start of the First Grade competition. It saw six teams competing for the First Grade title after the addition of the Manukau Rovers who were formed after a meeting in Onehunga in March. The season commenced on 11 May with the start of the first grade competition.

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 p ...

secured their first Auckland first grade club title after they defeated Ponsonby United in the penultimate round at

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

on 13 July.

News

Manukau Magpies formed

Manukau held a meeting in Onehunga in March. They decided to field a senior team and two junior teams. James Rukutai was their captain and after his death in 1940 the trophy for the minor premiers was named after him. Teams still play for it today.

Hobsonville Pirates

A club was formed in Hobsonville, West Auckland at the start of the season. They decided on the name of

Hobsonville Pirates The Hobsonville Pirates were a rugby league club which existed briefly from 1912 to 1914 and competed in the Auckland Rugby League competitions in the 2nd and 3rd grade. They were based in Hobsonville in West Auckland, New Zealand. History Fou ...

. They fielded a team in the second grade. The had the use of a paddock on Midgeley's farm for games and teams had to make their way their by launch from the city centre on Saturday mornings. They failed to field a side in 1913 and then in 1914 they fielded a side in the 3rd grade before folding at the end of the season.

Myers Cup (First Grade Championship)

Thirty regular season matches were played with nearly all fixtures being played at

(25 in total). With the

Devonport Domain Devonport may refer to: * Devonport, Plymouth, Devon, England ** HMNB Devonport, naval base/dockyard ** Plymouth Devonport (UK Parliament constituency), parliamentary constituency formerly known as Devonport * Devonport, New Zealand, a suburb of Au ...

being used for four

North Shore Albions The North Shore Albions were a rugby league club based on the North Shore of Auckland in Devonport before moving to Bayswater at a later time. They formed in 1909 and folded in the early 2000s due to a lack of playing numbers. At the start of ...

home matches, and one match at Ellerslie.

Myers Cup standings

{, , - , {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" , - !width=175 , Team !width=20 abbr="Played" , Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" , W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" , D !width=20 abbr="Lost" , L !width=20 abbr="For" , F !width=20 abbr="Against" , A !width=20 abbr="Points" , Pts , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 10, , 8, , 0, , 2, , 223, , 83, , 16 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United , 10, , 6, , 2, , 2, , 192, , 87, , 14 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 10, , 5, , 1, , 4, , 129, , 111, , 11 , - , style="text-align:left;", City Rovers , 10, , 4, , 0, , 6, , 94, , 146, , 8 , - , style="text-align:left;", Manukau Rovers , 10, , 3, , 0, , 7, , 57, , 139, , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

Eden Ramblers Eden Ramblers was a rugby league club in Auckland which played in the Auckland Rugby League competition from 1911 to 1913. They were based in the Avondale suburb of Auckland where they largely trained and played and held meetings in Point Cheva ...

, 10, , 2, , 1, , 8, , 78, , 210, , 5 , -

Myers Cup results

Round 1

Round 2

In the match between North Shore and Newton, Joe Bennett broke his leg and missed the rest of the season. He returned to captain the side at the start of the 1913 season.

Round 3

Round 4

Eden only had nine players for their match with North Shore and after trailing by 33 points to 0 they threw in the proverbial towel and the match ended at that point. No point scorers or match description was published in the NZ Herald or Auckland Star. In the match between Ponsonby and Newton

Charles Savory Charles Savory (23 March 1889 – 8 May 1915) was a New Zealand international rugby league footballer and champion boxer who died in the First World War. An Australasian and New Zealand international representative forward, Savory was one of fou ...

was ordered from the field for “rough and tumble” play just before fulltime and a match his side won by 16 to 6. He had earlier scored 2 tries and kicked a conversion.

Round 5

Round 6

The rugby league code showed that it was still struggling in its infancy to always organise itself properly with City only managing to field 12 players and the Auckland Star noted in its match report that several players “wore wrongly coloured uniforms”, and that the match was 45 minutes late kicking off. Also noticeable was the Newton and Eden result where Newton ran in 12 tries but only managed to convert one of them. Goal kicking in general was relatively poor and was shared amongst the teams with it not uncommon to see 3 or 4 players used.

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Top scorers

There were multiple instances of points being unattributed. As such the following try scoring and point scoring lists are incomplete. Games and/or teams with unattributed points are as follows: North Shore try and penalty v Manukau (R3), North Shore 33 points v Eden (R4), Manukau try v North Shore (R3), Newton try v Manukau (R5), Newton 2 tries v Manukau (R10), Eden 25 points v City (R10), City 5 points v Eden (R10). This amounts to 84 points unattributed out of 773 points scored in total. {, class="wikitable collapsible sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:100%; width:80%;" , - ! colspan="100%" , Top try scorers , - ! style="width:15%;" , Rank ! style="width:35%;" , Player ! style="width:35%;" , Team ! style="width:15%;" , Tries , - , style="text-align:center;" , 1 , , D Healy, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 7 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 1 , , William Tobin, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 7 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 1 , ,

, , Ponsonby United, , style="text-align:center;" , 7 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , , Alan Blakey, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , , C Brockliss, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , , Bush, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , ,

Billy Dervan Billy Dervan is a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand. Playing career From Auckland, Dervan was selected on the 1912 New Zealand tour of Australia. No test matches were played on this tour. He had originally played rugby ...

, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , ,

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 ...

, , Ponsonby United, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , , William Mincham, , Ponsonby United, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , , George Hunt, , City Rovers, , style="text-align:center;" , 5 {, class="wikitable collapsible sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:100%; width:80%;" , - ! colspan="100%" , Top point scorers , - ! style="width:15%;" , Rank ! style="width:30%;" , Player ! style="width:30%;" , Team ! style="width:25%;" , Points , - , style="text-align:center;" , 1 , ,

, , Ponsonby United, , style="text-align:center;" , 33 (5t,6c,3p) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 1 , ,

, , Ponsonby United, , style="text-align:center;" , 33 (7t,5c,1p) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 3 , , William Tobin, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 29 (7t,4c) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , , D Healy, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 23 (7t,1c) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 4 , ,

, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 23 (5t,4c) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 6 , , Arthur Francis, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 22 (4t,4c,1p) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 7 , , Alan Blakey, , Newton Rangers, , style="text-align:center;" , 19 (5t,2c) , - , style="text-align:center;" , 8 , ,

Don Kenealy Don Kenealy was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand. Early life Kenealy grew up in the Te Puke area where he attended Te Puke Primary School. He later moved to Auckland and went to Sacred Heart College where he excelled ...

, , Eden Ramblers, , style="text-align:center;" , 18 (2t,2c,4p)

Lower grades and exhibition matches

Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold: *Second Grade: City Rovers, Ellerslie United, Hobsonville Pirates, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Northcote Ramblers, Otahuhu United, Ponsonby United *Third Grade: City Rovers, Eden Ramblers, Manukau Rovers, North Shore Albions, Northcote Ramblers, Ponsonby United A (runner up), Ponsonby United B *Fourth Grade: City Rovers, Ellerslie United, Eden Ramblers, Manukau, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Otahuhu United (runner up), Ponsonby United Second Grade Standings The Points table at the end of the first round (which was published) and additional known results. Only 19 scores were reported therefore the points for and against are only tallies from those matches. The table also included the championship final which saw Ponsonby defeat Otahuhu 15-9. {, , - , {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" , - !width=175 , Team !width=20 abbr="Played" , Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" , W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" , D !width=20 abbr="Lost" , L !width=20 abbr="For" , F !width=20 abbr="Against" , A !width=20 abbr="Points" , Pts , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United , 11, , 11, , 0, , 0, , 128, , 35, , 22 , - , style="text-align:left;", Otahuhu United , 9, , 6, , 0, , 3, , 94, , 51, , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 9, , 6, , 0, , 3, , 53, , 36, , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;", Northcote Ramblers , 9, , 4, , 0, , 5, , 8, , 27, , 8 , - , style="text-align:left;", City Rovers , 9, , 3, , 0, , 6, , 41, , 70, , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ellerslie United , 9, , 2, , 0, , 7, , 9, , 69, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 7, , 1, , 0, , 6, , 18, , 57, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 7, , 0, , 0, , 7, , 9, , 15, , 0 , - Third Grade Standings Ponsonby B beat Ponsonby A in the final match 17-5 to win the competition. There were two rounds of matches played prior to the competition beginning. Only 8 rounds were played (7 matches for each team) and only 8 scores were reported, including none from Northcote's games. The standings were published after 7 rounds however which showed the teams wins and losses to that point. As a result the points for and against only includes those reported. {, , - , {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" , - !width=175 , Team !width=20 abbr="Played" , Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" , W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" , D !width=20 abbr="Lost" , L !width=20 abbr="For" , F !width=20 abbr="Against" , A !width=20 abbr="Points" , Pts , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United B , 7, , 7, , 0, , 0, , 107, , 17, , 14 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United A , 7, , 5, , 0, , 2, , 25, , 21, , 10 , - , style="text-align:left;", Manukau Rovers , 6, , 4, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 8, , 8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 6, , 3, , 0, , 3, , 11, , 29, , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 6, , 2, , 0, , 4, , 9, , 51, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;", City Rovers , 6, , 1, , 0, , 5, , 5, , 31, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;", Northcote Ramblers , 6, , 0, , 0, , 6, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - Fourth Grade Standings The competition was played over 7 rounds. Only 16 match scores were reported out of 26 matches played. The for and against as a result are incomplete as are the win loss records. {, , - , {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" , - !width=175 , Team !width=20 abbr="Played" , Pld !width=20 abbr="Won" , W !width=20 abbr="Drawn" , D !width=20 abbr="Lost" , L !width=20 abbr="For" , F !width=20 abbr="Against" , A !width=20 abbr="Points" , Pts , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 5, , 5, , 0, , 0, , 60, , 9, , 10 , - , style="text-align:left;", Otahuhu United , 5, , 4, , 0, , 1, , 83, , 22, , 8 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ellerslie United , 5, , 2, , 1, , 2, , 54, , 26, , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United , 4, , 2, , 0, , 2, , 14, , 29, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;", Manukau , 3, , 1, , 1, , 1, , 18, , 12, , 3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 1, , 0, , 3, , 26, , 46, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 1, , 0, , 3, , 6, , 30, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;", City Rovers , 4, , 0, , 0, , 4, , 2, , 89, , 0 , -

Exhibition match

{, class="wikitable mw-collapsible" , + class="nowrap" , , - , ! scope="col" , Date ! scope="col" , ! scope="col" , Score ! scope="col" , ! scope="col" , Score ! scope="col" , Venue , - ! scope="row" , Exhibition Match , 24 Aug , , Manukau, , 10 , , Mangere Native Team , , 3 , , Onehunga Recreation Ground, Onehunga , -

Representative season

The team to play Thames-Goldfields to begin the season was a considerably weakened one. Several players named originally in the NZ Herald did not actually make the trip and the match day line up as reported in the Thames News was a very different one with many players on debut for Auckland.

Auckland v Thames-Goldfields

Auckland v New Zealand

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 ...

the former Australian rugby international who was playing club football in Auckland for Ponsonby at the time was listed to play for Auckland in the match. However he played for New Zealand instead.

Auckland B v Thames

Auckland v Hawke’s Bay (Northern Union C.C.)

The Auckland team featured Harold Hayward who was from the Thames district which was affiliated to Auckland Rugby League. He had been a member of the combined Thames-Goldfields team which had played Auckland earlier in the season.

Auckland B v Waikato

Early in the game Skeates for Auckland broke "several ribs" and had to leave the field. Then near the end of the match another Auckland player sprined a toe and left the field leaving Auckland a player short.

Auckland v Rotorua

On 3 August Auckland played Rotorua in Rotorua and they also played Lower Waikato at Eden Park. The later match was listed in some quarters as a B team though it was filled with New Zealand internationals.

Auckland B v Lower Waikato

Auckland v Wellington (Northern Union C.C.)

Due to the Rotorua and Thames leagues being affiliated with the Auckland Rugby League the Auckland team contained two players from each sub league. Namely Riki Papakura and

Rukingi Reke Joseph Rukingi RekeREKE, Joseph Rukingi - 1912 - 13
''nzleague.co.nz'' (23 J ...

from Rotorua and Harold Hayward and his brother

Morgan Hayward Lewis Morgan Hayward (28 August 1890 – 21 October 1971) was a New Zealand Cured fish, fish curer, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s. He played at representative level for New Zealand national rugby league team, New ...

from Thames.

Auckland v Waikato

Auckland v New Zealand Māori

Auckland v New South Wales

Auckland won their first victory over an ‘international’ side when they defeated New South Wales by 10 points to 3. The game was marred by several acts of violence with the visiting side said to be at fault repeatedly. Near the end of the match

Sid Deane Sid Deane (1885–1967) was a foundation Australian rugby league player. He was a centre for the Australia national team. He played in five Tests between 1908 and 1914. In 1914 he became the ninth Australian national captain and the first fro ...

was sent off for punching

Billy Curran Billy Curran is a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand. Playing career Curran was playing rugby union in Auckland before switching codes and joining the Newton Rangers. He played one match for Newton on June 8 against Manuk ...

Auckland v New South Wales

New South Wales reversed their earlier loss with a comprehensive win over a disappointing Auckland effort.

and Bob Mitchell who had both been named to play originally were forced to withdraw due to illness and were replaced by

Harry Fricker Harry Fricker was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who was one of the founding players of the Ponsonby United team. He represented Auckland from 1910 to 1914. He fought in World War I and was injured in battle. Early years Harry Fricker or ...

and Jim Griffin.

Auckland representative matches played and scorers

The following list is complete in terms of points scored however the match with Rotorua did not have team lists published with only the three point scorers from the match known (Hardgrave, Tobin, and Webb). {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" !Rank!!Name!!Club!!Played!!Tries!!Con!!Pen!!Points , - , 1, , Arthur Hardgrave, , Manukau, , 7, , 1, , 7, , 4, , 25 , - , 2, , Bob Mitchell , , City, , 7, , 7, , -, , -, , 21 , - , 3, , George Seagar, , North Shore, , 6, , 3, , 4, , -, , 17 , - , 4, , Jim Rukutai, , Manukau, , 6, , 4, , 2, , -, , 16 , - , 5, ,

, , Newton, , 6, , 3, , 1, , -, , 11 , - , 6, ,

, , Ponsonby, , 5, , 1, , -, , 2, , 7 , - , 7, , Arthur Francis, , Newton, , 1, , -, , 2, , 1, , 6 , - , 7, ,

Stan Weston Stanley James Weston (26 November 1889 – 23 December 1967) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. Early life Weston was born in Auckland to Stephen James Weston. He had two brothers and three sisters. His younge ...

, , North Shore, , 6, , 2, , -, , -, , 6 , - , 7, , D Healy, , Newton, , 3, , 2, , -, , -, , 6 , - , 7, ,

, , Ponsonby, , 4, , 2, , -, , -, , 6 , - , 7, , Alan Blakey, , Newton, , 6, , 2, , -, , -, , 6 , - , 7, ,

Rukingi Reke Joseph Rukingi RekeREKE, Joseph Rukingi - 1912 - 13
''nzleague.co.nz'' (23 J ...

, , Rotorua, , 4, , 2, , -, , -, , 6 , - , 7, , Young, , ?, , 1, , 2, , -, , -, , 6 , - , 14, ,

Charles Webb Charles or Charlie Webb may refer to: *The Somerton Man, who has supposedly been identified as a man going by this name *Charles Webb (author) (1939–2020), American author *Charles Webb (architect) (1821–1898), architect working in Victoria, Au ...

, , Ponsonby, , 6, , 1, , 1, , -, , 5 , - , 15, , C Clark, , North Shore, , 1, , -, , 2, , -, , 4 , - , 16, , Malcolm, , Newton, , 1, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, ,

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 ...

, , Ponsonby, , 2, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, ,

, , Eden, , 4, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, , Alfred Jackson, , North Shore, , 3, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, , Harold Hayward, , Thames, , 5, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, , Adelbert Tobin, , Newton, , 3, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, , Cross, , Newton, , 1, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 16, , R Roope, , Ponsonby, , 4, , 1, , -, , -, , 3 , - , 24, , Alex Stanaway, , City, , 1, , -, , -, , 1, , 2 , - , 24, , Jim Griffin, , North Shore, , 3, , -, , 1, , -, , 2 , - , 26, ,

, , Thames, , 6, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Harry Childs, , City, , 3, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Ernie Asher, , City, , 2, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , George Smith, , ?, , 2, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Frazer, , ?, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , George Harrison, , North Shore, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Warner, , City, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , McPherson, , Ponsonby, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Tom Avery, , City, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Capill, , Thames, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , G Lambert, , Ponsonby, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Bob Biggs, , Eden, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Charters, , Ponsonby, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Charles Brockliss, , Newton, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , Riki Papakura, , Rotorua, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0 , - , 26, , George Gillett, , Newton, , 1, , -, , -, , -, , 0

References

{{Reflist

External links

Auckland Rugby League Official Site
Auckland Rugby League seasons