The Hobsonville Pirates were a

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 ...

club which existed briefly from

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and competed in 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 ...

competitions in the 2nd and 3rd grade. They were based in

Hobsonville Hobsonville is a suburb in West Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. The area was administered by Waitakere City Council until the council was amalgamated into Auckland Council in 2010. Hobsonville Point, formerly the location of the ...

in West Auckland,

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 ...

History

Founding

There were rumours in mid to late April that a rugby league club was going to be formed in the

area at the first meeting of the

management committee in

. The Hobsonville Pirates rugby league club was officially formed in May, 1912. It was said that “a largely attended meeting was held … for the purpose of forming a football club, Mr. J. S. Wilson being in the chair”. They decided to enter a team in the second grade of the

competition which had been running since

1910 Events January * January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...

after the organisation itself was formed the year prior. The club elected the following officers on to its committee:- President, Mr. Alex Harris, M.P. who had been recently elected as a minister of parliament, vice presidents, Messrs. James Sims Ockleston, T. Hunter; captain, Mr. E. Saxon; vice captain, Mr. J.C. Adams; and hon. secretary, Mr. T.E. Clark. They then settled on the name of ‘Hobsonville Pirates’.

1912 second grade

In their first season their results were rarely reported, though their fixture details were listed each week in 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Their first ever game was against

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 ...

on May 11 and they suffered a 13–0 defeat at Hobsonville though it is unknown specifically where the ground they played at was. Teams would have to catch a launch from the central port area to reach the ground. A few other results were reported which were also losses but after 7 rounds the table was reported and they had won one match and lost 6 to that point. Their win had come over the win less

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 ...

on May 25. The match was played “in one of Mr. Midgley’s paddocks”. On June 22 they played a match against Ellerslie United 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 the number 3 field in a season where rugby league had use of the ground. They lost by 9 points to 3. Following their match at Hobsonville with Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers on July 6, player R. Heron was suspended by the

"until such time that he appear before the Auckland League". Hobsonville had one player (Wilson) selected for an Auckland junior trial match between A and B sides on July 27. The match was a curtain raiser to

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 ...

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 ...

1913 season

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

the club failed to field any teams in either the second, third, or fourth grade competitions.

1914 third grade revival

Hobsonville fielded a team in the 3rd grade competition. On May 16 in their opening game of the season the

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

side defaulted, handing them a win. Then in their next match on May 30 they defeated Sunnyside B by 6 points to 3. Very few results were reported during the season and it appears that they only played intermittently. After 5 weeks of the competition they had only recorded 1 win scoring 36 points and conceding 74 to that point.

Disestablishment

The 1915 season was to be short lived. They had elected E. Frelan as their secretary but they were unable to field any teams and the club folded soon after. It was reported in the Observer newspaper that “J. Frelan, who will be remembered as secretary of Hobsonville last year, was granted a transfer to

Thames Old Boys The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. His old club is not reforming.

Team records

The season record for the most senior men’s team in the club.

References

{{reflist Auckland rugby league clubs Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 1915 1912 establishments in New Zealand 1910s disestablishments in New Zealand Sports clubs and teams established in 1912