1911 Auckland Rugby League season

The 1911 Auckland Rugby League season was the second full organised club season in Auckland following the 1910 Auckland Rugby League season. City Rovers won the title again after winning it in the competitions inaugural year.

The club season commenced on 20 May, with the start of the competition for the Myers Cup. City Rovers were crowned champions after defeating Ponsonby United in the final 36–15 which was required due to both teams being within 2 points of each other as the competition entered its closing stages. The competition at the time and for decades to come often did not complete full round robins. When a team held an unassailable lead over their nearest rivals, the competition was often concluded at that point. Ponsonby and City had already met twice during the season, but rather than ending the round-robin with round 10—when Ponsonby would have had a bye and City likely would have had an easy win over wooden spooners Eden Ramblers—the Auckland Rugby League decided to have the two top teams play off for the title a week early, rather than prolong the competition.

The City side featured Albert Asher, Alex Stanaway, Jim Rukutai, and Bob Mitchell, while Ponsonby had Charlie Savory, Charles Dunning and Arthur Carlaw.

In 1941 at the annual meeting the chairman of the league in 1911 (Mr. Barry Brigham) spoke about the league in its formative years. He said "the seeds sown by the pioneers have developed in a wonderful way... when we first started playing, the matches were at Victoria Park. “For funds, we used to go around with a hat. Then we started taking boxes around, and if at the end of the day we were ‘shy,’ we had to have a tarpaulin just to pay for the ground,” he recalled. He went on to say, “Plenty of mud was thrown at us in those times, and we had to face a good deal of hostility. Our first meetings were held in the cellar of the Rob Roy Hotel, and then we gained use of the social room in the same hotel. From there, we drifted to other rooms, and eventually to a home of our own.” He also talked of venues and said "at one time the league had a lease of Eden Park at £100 a year, and from there they shifted to Victoria Park, where on one occasion they had a £300 gate, a figure that was not beaten until the 1924 season at Carlaw Park.

Unlike in 1910 when only two venues were used, there were 5 venues used. They were Victoria Park, Takapuna Racecourse, 'Avondale', Auckland Domain, and Eden Park (which was the venue for the club final between City Rovers and Ponsonby United.

The senior competition saw the addition of the Eden Ramblers who had been formed in April. A meeting was held at the Avondale Public Hall on Wednesday 26 April with Mr John Bollard, MP presiding over it. He was elected president and chairman, and the name Eden Ramblers was chosen along with the colours or green and gold. The following officers were selected: Hon Secretary, Mr B Boone; Management Committee, W. A. Cummings, J Eddoes, W Fairweather, M Morrow, and J Denyer. The membership was close to 50 and they were to begin their training for the season ahead on 29 April with a joint practice with Ponsonby United at Victoria Park.

At the start of the season George Gillett, Arthur Francis, Alan Blakey, and Frank Morse all switched codes. Gillett and Francis had both played for the All Blacks for several seasons and were joining the Newton Rangers along with Blakey who was a well known Auckland rugby player. Morse was joining the City Rovers. Gillett, Francis, and Morse would all go on to represent the Kiwi's.

It featured a representative programme in August and September where Auckland played nine matches including two against the New Zealand side. They won eight and lost one. Their first match saw them lose to New Zealand however they rattled off consecutive wins against New Zealand (6 weeks later), Wellington, Lower Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay Māori, and a Country team from Waihi & Rotorua.

Eighteen regular season matches were played before the final on 16 September where City Rovers defeated Ponsonby United 36 to 15 to retain the title which they had won in 1910.

A total of 19 first-grade games were played, resulting in 132 tries, 60 conversions, and 11 penalties. The average number of points per game was 28.4, with 6.95 tries per game. With 60 successful conversions from 132 attempts, the success rate was 45.5%. All of these figures represented significant increases from the previous season, when 10 fewer points were scored per game.

The second round did not feature the final round of matches hence Ponsonby playing an extra match (when they were due to have a bye), while the table also includes the final played between City and Ponsonby.

Charles Savory

Jim Rukutai in 1929.

Charles Savory had switched from the Ponsonby rugby union club to the Ponsonby rugby league side and made his debut, scoring a try in their 19-3 win. He was a controversial figure, going on to represent New Zealand and also Australia on their 1911-12 tour of Great Britain as one of four New Zealanders chosen to tour with the side. In 1913 he was found guilty of kicking and suspended for life though the NZRL quashed the conviction. In 1914 he won the National Amateur Heavyweight Boxing championship. Savory went away to fight in World War 1 but was tragically killed at Gallipoli in 1915. For City Jim Rukutai scored two tries in their 13-3 win after having joined the side late the previous season. William Moeki scored a try on debut for City. He enlisted in the war effort and was killed in action at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. Hec Wynyard was knocked out playing for North Shore with play stopping for some time.

Don Kenealy

Don Kenealy made his debut for the Eden Ramblers against Ponsonby. He would go on to become their only New Zealand representative, playing 4 matches for New Zealand in 1912. After the Eden club, which was based in the Avondale/Pt Chevalier areas folded in 1913 he moved to the City Rovers for the 1913-15 seasons before retiring aged just 22 as he soon left for World War 1 before returning and marrying in 1917.

For the North Shore side Stan Weston was on debut. He scored a try as did other New Zealand internationals Jim Griffen, and George Seagar all scored tries while Alfred Jackson kicked one of their conversions. Weston's younger brother Lyn Weston played rugby union for New Zealand. The match between City and Ponsonby at Victoria Park drew a crowd of 2,000.

In the match between Newton and Eden one of the three tries was unattributed but it was said that the try scorers were Short and Linkhorn so one of those players scored twice but it is unknown which. The North Shore fullback Weri Puki had to leave the field due to an injury to his face, while team mate Stan Weston had to go off with a sprained ankle.

Albert Asher

In the City match with Eden, Albert Asher was tackled by four opponents and held down. J Simpson, the City fullback took exception and after the referee had blown his whistle to stop play, Simpson struck an Eden player and was sent off. The crowd was agitated by the incidents and play had to be stopped for several minutes until the field was cleared of them. The Takapuna Racecourse was in a poor state. Something which had been commented on in previous matches. While the venue was considered a great one to view matches from it was only drawing small crowds with the argument being that it was relatively difficult to get to with a boat needed to reach Devonport and then either a bus or 15 minute walk to reach the ground. Stan Walters scored 2 tries for North Shore after debuting for them weeks earlier. He would go on to play 62 games for them as well as representing Auckland 16 times, and New Zealand 31 times before moving into the Waikato region and playing for Hamilton and Waikato in the 1920's.

Avondale Racecourse in 1902. The playing fields were located on the infield, mainly to the left.

The match between Ponsonby and Eden was played on the Avondale Racecourse. The sports fields were located at the eastern end of the racecourse grounds. Eden took the field with just 10 players and played the entire match with that number.

In the match between City and Ponsonby at the Takapuna Racecourse there were several injuries. The field was still in poor condition. George Harrison (City) sprained an ankle, George Hunt (City) ruptured the muscles of his shoulder, and Warner (City) had his nose "severely injured in a collision with Arthur Carlaw (Ponsonby) who was partly stunned and sustained a cut to his forehead". The Eden v Newton match saw 500 spectators turn up to the Domain but the match was described as "never at any time bright or interesting", though forward, Frederick Gladding was singled out for playing very well on the Newton side.

The Takapuna Racecourse ground was "in a shocking condition with mud and water, and all the players were plastered with filth at the end of the game". Though the game itself was interesting with North Shore attacking at the end but failing to overcome Ponsonby who held on to win 14-13. Samuel Houghton suffered internal injuries during the match for Ponsonby and was said to be ruled out for the remainder of the season however he was able to play in the senior final on September 16, 2 months later. Eden managed the first senior win in their history but it was against a Newton side that played 3 men short the entire game.

The final was played to raise money for charity and was staged at Eden Park for the first time in the season. Both teams were particularly strong featuring several players who had missed most of the club season owing to being in Australia with the New Zealand side. City won easily 36 to 15 after leading 23-5 at halftime before Ponsonby threatened to make a game of it with some early second half points getting back to 23-15. For City internationals Jim Rukutai, Albert Asher, Bob Mitchell, Alex Stanaway all scoring tries and Albert Asher kicking 6 conversions. For the losers Charles Dunning scored twice. At one point in the second half R.W. Roope of Ponsonby struck an opponent and was sent off. The Ponsonby team was going to leave the field but after some discussion decided to play on.

Albert Asher

The Ponsonby v Eden match in Round 2 had 23 unattributed points for Ponsonby (5 tries and 4 goals) and 5 for Eden (1 try and 1 goal), while the Round 4 match between Newton and Eden saw a try to Newton unattributed. As such the following lists are likely to omit tries and points for players from those sides. Albert Asher played the full season for City while his brother Ernie Asher traveled to Australia to play for New Zealand. Albert, while in the later stages of his career still played consistently well for City and kicked 6 goals from 8 attempts in the final against Ponsonby. Charles Dillimore scored 10 tries for Ponsonby in their wing.

A junior representative match was played between A and B teams as curtain-raiser to the New Zealand v Auckland match at Takapuna Racecourse on July 29. Harry Oakley and Frederick Gladding had been appointed selectors for the junior representative matches. The match featured Edward Vincent Fox who the Fox Memorial Shield would later be named after. The teams were; A team: Liversidge (Ponsonby), A Hawthorne (City), Herrick (Northcote), Keen (Ponsonby), Edward Fox (North Shore), Sceates (Northcote), Jackson (Northcote), A Gault (City), Jordan (Northcote), Boswell (Ponsonby), Hynes (North Shore), Stanaway (Ponsonby), Pugh (Northcote). B Team: Sergeant (Northcote), Ridings (North Shore), Schofield (Ponsonby), Conaghan (North Shore), Neil (Northcote), Gerrard (North Shore), Brown (Ponsonby), Buchanan (North Shore), Vic Barchard (City), Fairweather (Northcote), Young (North Shore), Davies (Ponsonby), McCullagh (City). Emergencies: Young (Ponsonby), Otto, Jonas, Leaity, and Tickner. The match was played in heavy rain and resulted in a 6-all draw.

The results are incomplete. There were 10 rounds played but only 11 of the 20 results were reported.

The results are incomplete. There were 9 rounds played but only 9 results were reported out of 18 matches. Ponsonby initially entered a team in the third grade but failed to play a game before withdrawing.

The season began with a match against the New Zealand team which was about to depart for its Australian tour. The touring side won by two points but when they returned from their tour they played again only this time Auckland were the victors by 11 points to 3.

Wellington team

Auckland team to play Wellington.

Ronald (Scotty) McDonald broke his leg during the match. Arthur Seeling of the Wellington team also badly injured his knee. The team was supposed to go by boat back to Wellington but decided to go by train so they could drop Seeling off in Whanganui where he lived. Frank Morse debuted for Auckland, as did Jim Rukutai who became the Manukau clubs first Auckland representative player.

Charles Dunning

John Kay had the distinction of playing for Auckland one week, and then turning out against them the following week for Waikato. Occasionally players from the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions would represent Auckland. Kay played 3 matches for Auckland in this season. The Auckland Star credited a conversion to Jim Griffen while the New Zealand Herald reported that Charles Dunning kicked all 3 goals. As the Auckland Star's match report was more detailed that is the record reported below.

Auckland team

Hawke's Bay team

For Nelson Dave Mason scored a try, while Oscar Cederman who was later killed in action in Belgium during World War I scored a try and kicked a conversion.

A month after Auckland's match with Hawke's Bay Māori an exhibition game was arranged in Waihi against a 'Country' team from that area, including Rotorua players. It was the first ever rugby league match played in the area and was played on the Waihi Domain in front of a "fairly large crowd". Despite a few regular forwards not making the trip Auckland still took a strong side and ran out winners 20-10. For the Country side Rukingi Reke kicked 2 conversions to go with a tries to F. Hall and St George.

• Auckland Rugby League Official Site