The 1914 season was the sixth season of

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 ...

since its formation in 1909. It followed the

1913 Auckland Rugby League season The 1913 Auckland Rugby League season was the 5th season of the Auckland Rugby league. The first grade competition began on 3 May with the same 6 teams that had competed in the 1912 season, however Manukau Rovers pulled out of the competition mi ...

where

North Shore Albions The North Shore Albions were a rugby league club based on the North Shore of Auckland in Devonport, New Zealand, 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 nu ...

were crowned senior champions for the first time. The senior grade saw the addition of Otahuhu Rovers, who had previously competed in the lower grades only, and

Grafton Athletic Grafton Athletic was a rugby league club in Auckland. They competed in the Auckland Rugby League competition from 1914 to 1920 as Grafton Athletic, and as Fire Brigade in 1921–22 before they folded. Club history Formation Grafton were formed ...

. The Manukau Rovers and Eden Ramblers no longer contributed teams. The first grade was won once again by

. At a meeting of

on 9 May it was decided that the proceeds of ticket sales at club games would be split 50–50 between the teams and

. Interest in the competition continued to grow with 5,000 attending the 3 senior matches played at Victoria Park on 20 June. There were 3,000 in attendance at the

game versus

City Rovers 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 ...

in the Round 8 clash at the Devonport Domain. While 4,000 attended the Round 9 match between

and Ponsonby United at Victoria Park. There were 7,000 spectators for the final between

and Ponsonby United. Whilst attendances were spectacular at times there were still signs that the competition was in its infancy with teams often playing one or more men short. The worst case being in the Round 9 match where

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 ...

could only field eight players, with two spectators from the crowd later joining them as they were defeated by 43 points to 2 by

. Near the conclusion of the season a match was played 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 ...

between a team of veterans and Auckland colts on 29 August. It raised £27 and 10 shillings for the Patriotic Fund. Also a "Patriotic Carnival" was held on 5 September. A fancy dress carnival paraded around town with Highland pipers and a brass band. It proceeded to the

Auckland Domain The Auckland Domain, also known as Pukekawa / Auckland Domain, is a large park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the oldest park in the city, and at is one of the largest. Located in the central suburb of Grafton, the park land is the remains o ...

where a 3rd grade match was being played between Remuera and Ponsonby United 3rd Grade teams, and a ‘Burlesque’ football game was then played. Finally a match was played between the North Island Jockeys and

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

3rd grade team which the jockey's won 11–6. £49 was raised for the Patriotic Fund.

Season news

Lower grade clubs

Teams which fielded sides in lower grades were the Northcote Ramblers, Hobsonville Pirates, Sunnyside (on the North Shore), Remuera and

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, so ...

. The Sunnyside and Remuera United clubs were both new. The Sunnyside club would later amalgamate with

and form the Devonport United club, which later reverted back to the North Shore Albions name. While Remuera fielded sides in 1914 and 1915 before the war wrecked their playing ranks. They reformed again in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

but only lasted until the end of the

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

season.

Representative season

The

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 ...

representative campaign got underway with a match versus the touring

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

team where the home side lost. However the

made over £500 from the 13,000 in attendance. They also received £200 in gate takings from the match with

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 ...

Myers Cup championship

After three weeks of practice in inclement weather the competition commenced on 16 May.

Myers Cup standings

The standings include the final between North Shore and Ponsonby won by North Shore by 13 points to 2.

Myers Cup fixtures

Round 1

Otahuhu's beginning to senior rugby league got off to an inauspicious start when they began their match with just nine players. At halftime they were brought up to a full thirteen when substitutes arrived. Percy Williams who had previously represented Auckland at rugby union before being signed by

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 ...

where he played from 1910 to 1913 had returned to Auckland. He had played for New Zealand on their tour of Australia as a late addition mid tour. He turned out for the

and played his debut match against Otahuhu.

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

In the match between Grafton and City both

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 ...

(City) and Bob Mitchell (Grafton) were ordered off. Fincham, a former Taranaki league representative scored a try for Grafton.

Round 6

Round 7

George Gillett was granted a transfer from the

(where he was a life member) to the Ponsonby United club. The transfer needed the casting vote of the chairman before it was confirmed. He debuted for Ponsonby in their match with Otahuhu.

Round 8

Round 9

In the match between Otahuhu and Grafton, M Stanaway, the Otahuhu captain was ordered off the field by referee Tyson. The match between North Shore and Newton was a farce with Newton only mustering 8 players. Two of the spectators joined the Newton team who were being trounced and the match finished 43 to 2 in favour of North Shore. The newspapers did not bother recording the point scorers though they did mention that the Shore side gave everybody in the team a chance to kick for goal.

Final

Top try scorers and point scorers

None of the North Shore point scorers from their farcical Round 9 match with Newton Rangers were credited and therefore the following lists will be inaccurate as 43 points were scored by them. Of note in the point scoring lists is the prodigious scoring of

Karl Ifwersen Karl Donald Ifwersen (1893–1967) was a New Zealand rugby football player who represented New Zealand in both rugby league and rugby union. Early years Karl Donald Ifwersen was born on January 6 in Auckland, New Zealand. His parents were Char ...

with 66 points. Indeed, Grafton only scored 75 points in total.

Lower grades

Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers were awarded the second grade championship after August 8 as they were so far ahead of the trailing teams. The fourth grade competition was terminated early owing to so many of its players enlisting in the military forces. Whilst the draws were published in the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Star each Thursday, the results were only intermittently reported in the same newspapers on the Monday following games. As such the standings below are incomplete. Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold. *Second Grade: City Rovers, Grafton, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers, Otahuhu Rovers, Ponsonby United *Third Grade: City Rovers, Hobsonville Pirates, Manukau, Sunnyside A, Sunnyside B, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Grafton Athletic, Otahuhu Rovers, City Rovers, Ponsonby United, Remuera United *Fourth Grade: City Rovers, Otahuhu Rovers A, Otahuhu Rovers B, North Shore Albions, Sunnyside, Ponsonby United, Manukau A, Manukau B, Grafton Athletic A, Grafton Athletic B, Remuera United, Newton Rangers

Second grade 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="Bye" , B !width=20 abbr="For" , F !width=20 abbr="Against" , A !width=20 abbr="Points" , Pts , - , style="text-align:left;", Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers , 10, , 9, , 0, , 1, , 1, , 108, , 29, , 18 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 8, , 6, , 0, , 2, , 1, , 87, , 19, , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 8, , 6, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 60, , 43, , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United , 4, , 1, , 0, , 3, , 0, , 14, , 23, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 5, , 1, , 0, , 4, , 2, , 13, , 41, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 1, , 0, , 3, , 1, , 18, , 48, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;", Otahuhu Rovers , 8, , 0, , 0, , 8, , 1, , 20, , 99, , 0 , -

Third grade 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="Bye" , B !width=20 abbr="For" , F !width=20 abbr="Against" , A !width=20 abbr="Points" , Pts , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United , 10, , 10, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 73, , 4, , 20 , - , style="text-align:left;", Remuera United , 12, , 9, , 0, , 3, , 0, , 162, , 43, , 18 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 8, , 5, , 0, , 3, , 1, , 45, , 38, , 10 , - , style="text-align:left;", Hobsonville Pirates , 3, , 2, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 30, , 3, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;", Sunnyside A , 6, , 2, , 0, , 4, , 0, , 42, , 34, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 5, , 2, , 0, , 3, , 1, , 26, , 78, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 5, , 1, , 0, , 4, , 0, , 15, , 24, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 2, , 0, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 3, , 35, , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Sunnyside B , 5, , 0, , 0, , 5, , 1, , 5, , 114, , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Otahuhu Rovers , 3, , 0, , 0, , 3, , 1, , 0, , 29, , 0 , -

Fourth grade standings

, 11, , 11, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 199, , 20, , 22 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 6, , 5, , 0, , 1, , 1, , 66, , 41, , 10 , - , style="text-align:left;", Ponsonby United , 6, , 3, , 1, , 2, , 0, , 57, , 42, , 7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, 5, , 3, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 37, , 30, , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Manukau B , 4, , 2, , 1, , 1, , 0, , 51, , 58, , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;", Otahuhu Rovers A , 3, , 2, , 0, , 1, , 0, , 22, , 12, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;", Remuera United , 8, , 2, , 0, , 6, , 0, , 16, , 35, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;", Grafton Athletic B , 5, , 2, , 0, , 5, , 0, , 11, , 35, , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;", Sunnyside , 6, , 1, , 0, , 5, , 0, , 33, , 81, , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;", Manukau A , 3, , 0, , 0, , 3, , 0, , 8, , 38, , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Otahuhu Rovers B , 3, , 0, , 0, , 3, , 0, , 3, , 47, , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Grafton Athletic A , 4, , 0, , 0, , 4, , 0, , 8, , 72, , 0 , -

Representative fixtures

began the representative season with a match with the touring

side who were on their first ever tour of

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 ...

. Film footage exists of the match and is archived on the New Zealand Archive of Film, television and Sound Ngā Taonga website.

was defeated 34–12 in front of 13,000 paying spectators at the

which allowed

to collect £519 and 2 shillings.

Auckland v England

Auckland v Waikato (Northern Union Cup)

Auckland B v Rotorua

Auckland v Taranaki (Northern Union Cup)

Auckland v Wellington (Northern Union Cup)

Auckland representative matches played and scorers

The following list includes the 4 matches that the Auckland A team played and excludes the Auckland B team match. {, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;" !No!!Name!!Club Team!!Play!!Tries!!Con!!Pen!!Points , - , 1, ,

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 ...

, , Ponsonby United, , 4, , 3, , 9, , 2, , 31 , - , 2, ,

, , Grafton, , 2, , 1, , 1, , 2, , 9 , - , 2, ,

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

, , Ponsonby United, , 4, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 9 , - , 4, , Joe Bennett, , Newton Rangers, , 4, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 6 , - , 4, , Stan Weston, , North Shore Albions, , 2, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 6 , - , 6, ,

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 ...

, , City Rovers, , 1, , 0, , 2, , 0, , 4 , - , 7, , Charles Woolley, , City Rovers, , 4, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 7, , Edward Fox, , North Shore Albions, , 3, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 7, ,

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 ...

, , North Shore Albions, , 4, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 7, ,

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 ...

, , North Shore Albions, , 3, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 7, , Rogers, , Grafton, , 2, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 7, ,

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 ...

, , Ponsonby United, , 1, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 7, , Leslie Henry (Hec) Wynyard, , North Shore Albions, , 1, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 3 , - , 14, ,

Arthur Hardgrave Arthur Hardgrave (1882-1953) was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand. His son Roy Hardgrave also played for New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand as well as a very ...

, , Otahuhu, , 4, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, ,

Thomas McClymont Thomas Allen "Scotty" McClymont (5 January 1892 – 18 December 1974) was a New Zealand rugby league footballer who played in the 1910s and 1920s, and coached in the 1920s through to the 1950s. He represented New Zealand. Early years Thomas Mc ...

, , Ponsonby United, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , J McDonald, , Grafton, , 3, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , Cross, , Ponsonby United, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , Bob Mitchell, , Grafton, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, ,

Harold Hayward Harold "Circus" Owen Hayward (1883–1970) was a New Zealand rugby football player who represented New Zealand in both rugby union and rugby league. His brother, Morgan, also represented New Zealand in rugby league. Rugby union career Growing ...

, , Thames, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , Corby, , Ponsonby United, , 2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , Charles Webb, , Ponsonby United, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , G Warner, , City Rovers, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , - , 14, , Harold Denize, , City Rovers, , 1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0 , -

References

{{reflist

External links

Auckland Rugby League Official Site
Auckland Rugby League seasons