The 1932 season was the 24th season of 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 ...

. Devonport United won the Senior grade with a 7 win, 2 draw, and 1 loss record ahead of Marist Old Boys and Ponsonby United. They were the dominant team and their only loss came in the final round when they had already secured their second title first having won it in 1928. Marist Old Boys stuffed their trophy cabinet when they won the Roope Rooster (defeating

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 ...

28–8), Stormont Shield (defeating Devonport United 15–8), and Max Jaffe Cup for finishing runner up in the Senior Championship (they beat Ponsonby United in a playoff after both teams tied for second by 37 to 8).

won the Thistle Cup after beating Devonport in the final by 22 to 19 after both teams finished with 8 competitions points in the second round thus forcing a playoff for the Cup.

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

won the Davis Shield after their lower grade teams combined for the most competition points in Auckland. This was remarkably their 10th win in the Shields 12-year history. In the reserve grade Richmond Reserves won with an 8 win, 2 loss record, with Ponsonby Reserves finishing runner up. The Marist Old Boys club added yet another trophy to their season haul with their reserve grade team winning the Stallard Cup (awarded to the reserve grade knockout winners) when they beat Devonport Reserves by 12–6 in the final. The representative program was marked by a match between

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 ...

and the touring England team. In a very competitive match Auckland went down by 14 to 19. Aside from this fixture Auckland only played matches against

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

where they won 29 to 13, and Lower Waikato in Huntly where they won 35–8. There were a series of trial matches such as North Island v South Island and Probables v Possibles matches dominated by Auckland players.

Annual general meeting

At the annual general meeting of the

on 11 April, Mr. E.J. Phelan presided as acting president due to Mr. James Carlaw’s absence. The plan put in place at the beginning of the 1931 season of having each club electing two members to represent them on the management committee and clubs taking a percentage of the gate receipts was considered a success. The election of officers took place and the results were: Patron: Hon. J.B. Donald (re-elected), President: Mr. James Carlaw (re-elected), Vice-presidents: Mr. George McMillan, Mr. O. Blackwood, Mr. S.H. Grange, Mr. W. Wallace, Mr. C. Seagar, Mr. R. Benson, Mr. C.H. Drysdale, Mr. E.J. Phelan, Mr. A.E. Laird, Mr. J.A. Lee, Mr. R.H. Woods, Mr. R.T. Sharman (all re-elected), and Mr. W.J. Meilklejohn, Mr. C. Gray Campbell, Mr. J.W. Dixon, and Mr. C. Faulkner.

Manukau Rugby League Club reborn, club name changes and competition restructuring

Prior to the season commencing the Mount Wellington club requested permission to change its name to Otahuhu Rovers and this was approved by the league. Their chairman Mr. L.W. Arnold said that the reorganised club was in good hands and they would enter teams in the second, fourth, and school teams grades. Their colours would be royal blue. It was decided that the Ellerslie-Otahuhu club would revert to the name of Ellerslie United, and that senior players would be able to transfer to any other club, but juniors would need to obtain transfer clearance from Ellerslie. At a meeting the following night the league decided to cut the teams in the first grade from seven to six with Ellerslie (or rather the combined Ellerslie-Otahuhu United team of 1931) being culled from the grade. The teams which would remain were Marist Old Boys, Devonport United, Ponsonby United,

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 ...

Richmond Rovers The Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club is a rugby league club based in Grey Lynn, New Zealand. The premier team is called the Richmond Bulldogs and compete in Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial competition. Early history The club was formed in ...

. ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' previewed the 6 teams in the week leading up to the first round of matches. It was initially decided to play two senior matches at

Carlaw Park Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, New Zealand, Parnell, a central suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of aro ...

with the reserve teams playing the curtain raisers. However, for Round 2 it was decided to play all three senior matches at Carlaw Park and reserve grade games elsewhere. This was a decision which clubs fought over as they wanted their reserve teams playing prior to the Senior A teams in case of needing players. This came to a fore after Round 5 when

arrived at

Devonport, New Zealand Devonport ( ) is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, at the southern end of a peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. Eas ...

4 players short. Fortunately for them the reserve grade match was being played at the same venue at 1:30pm and so they were able to use those players to avoid defaulting. In mid September plans began to manifest for the formation of a Manukau Rugby League Club. The plans were reported to an

Management Committee meeting. It was stated that there was a good deal of playing talent in the

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 ...

district. Mr. J. Rukutai was deputed to investigate the matter. On Thursday, 29 September they placed an ad for intending players and supporters to be held at the Strand Theatre Buildings, Onehunga. At this meeting the club was officially formed with Mr. H. Kemp convening the meeting. There were 52 people present including W. Mincham, referee of the RL Association, and Mr. T. Davis, secretary of the junior control board. Mr. J Rukutai said that the proposed club had been discussed by the league and they would give it every consideration. A resolution to form the club and have its headquarters in

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the Auckland CBD, city centre, close to the volcano, volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree ...

was adopted. Mr W. Hayward was elected chairman, with the patron being Mr. W. J. Jordan, M.P., and the president Mr. E. Martin, Mayor of Onehunga. Financial assistance has also been promised by several local businessmen. A committee was formed to further the development of the club during the off season. The newly formed club asked that an exhibition match be played in

so that the club could gain some funds. Permission was granted for the match between second grade knockout final between Mangere and Mount Albert to be played at the Onehunga Recreation Reserve. The match was won by Mangere by 18 points to 15.

Financial statement, player passes and ground fees

The financial statement said that the revenue from the 1931 season totalled £2,907 with £2,293 coming from gate receipts and £228 from ground rents. Spending had amounted to £2,066 meaning a net surplus of £813. Of this £472 was given to Auckland clubs, £68 to the Referees’ Association and the Junior Management Committee, £30 in grants to visiting teams, £195 in honorariums, and £66 in presentations and trophies.

was valued as an asset at £10,152. At a meeting of the

Board of Control on 17 March it was decided to continue with giving teams a percentage of the gate takings as had been started in 1931. The League made a decision on an issue that had caused problems for several years, which was the abuse of players passes to gain entry to

on match days. Club secretaries would now have to supply the names of senior team players and that they would be checked in a side gate by a special official. It was decided to admit military patients from

Auckland Hospital Auckland City Hospital is a public hospital located in Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest hospital in New Zealand,Largest hospital in New Zealand...' - News-Medical.Net, Tuesday 29 June 2004 as well as one of the oldest medical fac ...

into Carlaw Park to watch Senior matches free of charge news. The Patients’ Welfare Committee gratefully acknowledged the league for the move. The

Auckland Rugby Union The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since ...

, and Auckland Football Association had asked the City Council if they could reduce their ground fees owing to the number of unemployed players. The City Council decided to reduce charges despite their Parks Committee suggesting otherwise. Mr. E.J. Phelan moved to reduce fees from 5s to 3s for games played from 12:30pm to 1:45pm, from 10s to 7s/6d for games played from 1:45pm to 3pm, and from 15s to 12s/6d for games played from 3pm onwards. This motion was passed by a show of hands.

Radio broadcast of Carlaw Park games

For the first ever time commentary of a game at

was broadcast. The 1ZQ station broadcast coverage of the Ponsonby v Devonport game in Round 1.

Rule issues

At the Auckland Rugby League Referees’ Association meeting on 16 May the City Club inquired about the play the ball rule. It was said that the rule was not being enforced properly regarding the forwards needing to be inside a 5-yard radius behind their halfback when the ball was being played. The New Zealand Council also wished for it to be known that the attacking side had the loose head at scrums but the defending team were to put the ball in. In addition hookers were not to go on their knees in scrums in order to get an advantage when raking the ball back.

Bert Cooke switches codes

In the middle of the season the famous All Black

Bert Cooke (rugby) Albert Edward Cooke (5 October 1901 – 29 September 1977) was a New Zealand dual-code international rugby footballer of the 1920s and 1930s, who represented for New Zealand in both rugby union and rugby league. Early years Born in Auckland ...

switched codes when he moved back to

. He signed with the

. The move proved very successful, so much so that he was selected for the North Island team in a trial match against the South Island only weeks after switching codes. He scored three tries and was selected for the

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 ...

team to play

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 ...

Obituaries

D.W. McLean

On 1 March Mr. D. W. McLean suffered a heart attack and died at a meeting of the North Shore Rowing Club where he was president. He was the first New Zealand president of rugby league in Auckland. He, along with Mr. William Wynyard and others was one of the founders of rugby league in New Zealand.

William Wynyard

In August William Thomas Wynyard, aged 49 died. He was from a sporting family with three uncles who were part of the

1888–89 New Zealand Native football team The 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team was a New Zealand rugby union team that toured Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 1888 and 1889. It mostly comprised players of Māori ancestry, but also included some Pākehā (white N ...

that went on a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

tour of Great Britain. William played rugby union for North Shore and was an Auckland trialist before switching codes. He was a member of the

team which toured

in 1907–08 playing in 15 matches and scoring 4 tries. He was then part of the inaugural Auckland rugby league competition in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

playing intermittently for

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 ...

from 1909 to 1913, and representing Auckland in 5 matches from 1908 to 1910. He retired in 1913 but remained involved in the game for many years after.

Harry Johns

On the morning of 4 October the

senior player Harry Johns died aged 21 after a boxing match at the

Auckland Town Hall Auckland Town Hall is an Edwardian building on Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, New Zealand, known both for its original and ongoing use for administrative functions (such as Council meetings and hearings), as well as its famed Great Hall and ...

the previous evening. He was knocked out in the 14th round of a 15-round fight by Archie Hughes of

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 ...

. Johns had played junior football for

since the age of 13 where he was a halfback. He had been in the seventh grade team which had won the championship and he repeated this feat in the following two years. In 1931 he was in the Third Intermediate grade which won the grade and he was promoted to the reserve grade team in 1932. His form was so good that he was promoted to the senior side and made the Probables versus Possibles match which played at

on 23 July. He was regarded as a certainty to gain higher honours in the future. Johns was originally from the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

and was the oldest in a family of four. Several articles were published in ''

'' and the ''

Auckland Star The ''Auckland Star'' was an evening daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, from 24 March 1870 to 16 August 1991. Survived by its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Star'', part of its name endures in ''The Sunday Star-Times'', created in ...

'' newspapers on his life and death. It was later reported that he had sustained a concussion in the Probables v Possibles match and bled from the nose along with requiring stitches in his head. He fought in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

shortly afterwards and lost. Johns then complained of feeling unwell and produced a medical certificate that he was not fit to fight. However he carried on playing league in the interim until beginning training for the fatal bout. It was said that those who knew him well could tell that he was not his usual self in the fight. He was laid to rest on 5 October at

Waikumete Cemetery Waikumete Cemetery, originally Waikomiti Cemetery, is New Zealand's largest cemetery. It occupies a site of 108 hectares in Glen Eden, New Zealand, Glen Eden, Auckland, and also contains a crematorium in the south-west corner of the cemetery. His ...

following an enormous gathering at the service with boxers and footballers walking before the cortege. Over 70 motor cars tailed the hearse and the entire procession was a mile long. The casket was draped in

colours of blue and maroon.

Fox Memorial Shield (senior grade championship)

Fox Memorial standings

References

{{reflist

External links

Auckland Rugby League Official Site
Auckland Rugby League seasons