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 midway through the season as they struggled to put a full team on the field. The Eden Ramblers also pulled out at the same time. North Shore Albions were crowned champions for the first time.

Other clubs competing in lower grades were Otahuhu, Northcote Ramblers now known as the Northcote Tigers, and Ellerslie Wanderers, who later became known as the Ellerslie Eagles. A match was also played between Avondale and New Lynn in Avondale on 13 September. The match was won by New Lynn by 23 points to 8.

Preceded by 1912

5th Auckland Rugby League season 1913

Succeeded by 1914

Switching codes[]

Karl Ifwersen switched from rugby union where he had been playing in Auckland and made his debut appearance for North Shore Albions. He was to go on to have a remarkable rugby league career and his scoring feats were un-rivalled through the 1910s in Auckland rugby league. While New Zealand representatives Graham Cook and Cecil King had moved from Wellington and made debut appearances for Newton Rangers.

Charles Savory controversy[]

In a match involving Ponsonby and Manukau in Onehunga, Charles Savory was accused of kicking an opponent. The incident was not seen by the referee but an Auckland Rugby League official claimed to have seen it and as a result Savory was banned for life by Auckland Rugby League. Savory had been selected to play for New Zealand on their tour of Australia and as a result of the ban was unable to make the trip. When the evidence was presented to New Zealand League they said that the evidence was not sufficient to justify the penalty and refused to confirm it. Auckland Rugby League then decided to strike Savory off the list of registered players thus making him ineligible to play in Auckland. Auckland selector Ronald MacDonald chose Savory to play against Wellington in their match on 23 August but was told at an Auckland Rugby League meeting that he was ineligible and they questioned why he had chosen him to play. MacDonald replied "one reason is because he is one of the best forwards in the Dominion. What was he suspended for?". A lengthy discussion followed and MacDonald refused to withdraw Savory's name from selection and a motion was then passed that MacDonald be removed from his position as Auckland selector. This was carried unanimously with Mr Angus Campbell appointed selector, and Morgan Hayward chosen to replace Savory in the side for the match with Wellington.^[1]

Death of Adolphus Theodore Bust whilst playing[]

Tragedy struck in May in a 3rd grade match between Ellerslie and Ponsonby when 26 year old Adolphus Theodore Bust was severely injured and later passed away as a result of his injuries. The death occurred at the Ellerslie Domain. He was said to have collided with an opposing player and the two of them fell to the ground with a third player falling on top of them. The other two men rose to their feet to carry on playing but Bust remained stationary on the ground. Dr. Baber was called to attend from his residence in Remuera but he found that Bust's spinal cord was fractured near the base of the skull and he recommended he be taken to hospital however Bust's father decided to have him taken to his home in Ellerslie. He was unable to be revived and died at 8.30am the following morning.^[2] After the incident the deceased father said he witnessed the incident and was satisfied that it was an accident. Martin Ellis, the player involved in the tackle said that he was running down the field and Bust was waiting to tackle him and had dived and caught Ellis by the legs but his neck struck him on the hip and they both fell to the ground. The coroner returned the verdict that nobody was to blame for the death. None of the Ellerslie teams took the field the following weekend out of respect.^[3]

Myers Cup (first grade competition)[]

Eighteen regular season matches were played before North Shore Albions were awarded the title with a 5 win, 1 draw, 1 loss record.

Myers Cup standings[]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
North Shore Albions	7	5	1	1	80	55	11
Newton Rangers	7	4	0	3	117	53	8
City Rovers	7	3	2	2	60	46	8
Ponsonby United	7	4	0	3	103	65	8
Eden Ramblers	5	1	0	4	18	124	2
Manukau Rovers	5	0	1	4	21	56	1

Myers Cup fixtures[]

Round 1[]

	3 May	North Shore	13–10	Newton	Devonport Domain
	3:00	Try: R Ridings, Karl Ifwersen, Stan Walters Pen: George Seagar Drop: Jim Griffin	[4]	Try: Maher, Cecil King Con: Pen:

	3 May	Ponsonby	31–5	Eden	Victoria Prak
	3:00	Try: Thomas McClymont, Charles Webb, Harry Fricker 3, Arthur Carlaw, Jim Clark, Charles Savory Con: Charles Webb 4, Charles Savory	[5]	Try: Bert Denyer Con: Don Kenealy

	3 May	Manukau	3–3	City	Onehunga Recreation Reserve
	3:00	Try: Pullen	[6]	Try: Sheehan

Round 2[]

	10 May	Newton	46–0	Eden	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Try: George Cook 2, Ike Healey, Clark 5, , Cecil King, Brennan, R Roope Con: George Cook, Adelbert Tobin, Clarke, , Cecil King	[7]		Referee: Benson

	10 May	North Shore	9–9	City	Devonport Domain
	3:00	Try: Jack Paul Con: Karl Ifwersen Pen: Karl Ifwersen 2	[8]	Try: Watene Con: Albert Asher Pen: Albert Asher 2	Referee: Knox

	10 May	Manukau	3–20	Ponsonby	Onehunga Recreation Reserve
	3:00	Try: unknown x 1	[9]	Try: unknown x 6 Con: unknown x 1

Round 3[]

	17 May	City	6–5	Ponsonby	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Albert Asher, Watene	[10]	Try: Irvine Pen: Charles Savory	Referee: Archie Ferguson

	17 May	North Shore	19–0	Eden	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Try: Stan Weston 2, Jim Griffin, Haddon 2 Con: Jim Griffin 2	[11]		Referee: Billy Murray

	17 May	Manukau	5–22	Newton	Onehunga Recreation Reserve
	3:00	Try: unknown x 1 Con: unknown x 1	[12]	Try: unknown x 6 Con: unknown x 2

Round 4[]

In the Ponsonby match with North Shore Harry Fricker was ordered off for striking an opponent. The act was missed by the referee but seen by the line umpire. The match between Manukau and Eden was reported as a win to Manukau and a win to Eden in differing reports.

	24 May	City	5–0	Newton	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Albert Asher Pen: Albert Asher	[13]		Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Archie Ferguson

	24 May	North Shore	17–7	Ponsonby	Devonport Domain
	3:00	Try: Stan Weston 2, Karl Ifwersen 2, Stan Walters Con: E Rogers	[14]	Try: unknown x 1 Con: unknown x 1 Pen: Charles Savory	Referee: Dick Benson

	24 May	Manukau	10–11	Eden	Onehunga Recreation Reserve
	3:00	Try: unknown x 2 Con: unknown x 2	[15]	Try: unknown x 3 Con: unknown x 1

Round 5[]

Manukau defaulted their match to North Shore Albions. The later arrived in Onehunga to find that their opponents could not muster a team. Jim Rukutai and other prominent players were said to be suffering from influenza.^[16] This was to be Manukau's last game in the senior grade for decades as they forfeited the following week along with Eden and dropped out of the senior competition. Rukutai was diagnosed with smallpox and was put into isolation in a Point Chevalier hospital.^[17] However it was soon after realised that he was actually suffering from a severe case of chicken pox and he made a full recovery soon after. Eden were to cease playing as a club a few seasons later and never returned.

	31 May	Ponsonby	8–5	Newton	Victoria Park
	3:00	Pen: Charles Webb Drop: Charles Webb 3	[18]	Try: George Cook Con: Len Farrant	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: E R Harker

	31 May	City	18–2	Eden	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Try: unknown x 4 Con: unknown x 3	[19]	Pen: unknown x 1

	31 May	Manukau	LBD-WBD	North Shore	Onehunga Recreation Reserve
	3:00		[20]

Round 6[]

A somewhat unusual event occurred in the match between Ponsonby and North Shore when it was briefly suspended after a player from North Shore dropped his false teeth. He was inevitably subjected to some “good-natured banter from the crowd”.

	7 June	Ponsonby	22–12	North Shore	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Hayward, Charles Webb Con: Charles Webb 2 Pen: Charles Webb Drop: Charles Webb 2	[21]	Try: Ernie Bailey, E Rogers Con: George Seagar 2 Pen: George Seagar	Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Knox

	7 June	Newton	17–12	City	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Try: Clark, , George Cook 3 Con: Tobin	[22]	Try: Ormsby, Phillips Con: Ernie Asher 2 Pen: Ernie Asher	Referee: Archie Ferguson

	7 June	Manukau	Double Forfeit	Eden
	3:00		[23]

Round 7[]

With Manukau and Eden both disbanding their senior teams Pullen from Manukau transferred to North Shore and played for them, while Don Kenealy of Eden transferred and played for City.

	14 June	Newton	17–10	Ponsonby	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Tobin, Clark, A Healey Con: George Cook 2 Pen: George Cook 2	[24]	Try: Charles Dunning, McCallum Con: Charles Webb 2	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Archie Ferguson

	14 June	North Shore	10–7	City	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Try: Sheen, William Wynyard Con: George Seagar 2	[25]	Try: Ormsby Con: Ernie Asher Pen: Ernie Asher	Referee: Harker

Knockout competition[]

After North Shore had won the championship the league decided to play a knockout competition between the four remaining teams. Newton and City both won their matches and progressed to the final.

Round 1[]

	21 June	Newton	17–0	North Shore	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Try: Clarke 3, A Healey, George Cook Con: Jim Bennett	[26]		Attendance: 2,000 Referee: J Fielding

	21 June	City	14–7	Ponsonby	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Dunkley, Watene Con: Ernie Asher Pen: Ernie Asher 3	[27]	Try: McCallum Pen: Charles Webb, Cross	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Billy Murray

Knockout final[]

City were joined by Jim Rukutai for the match following Manukau's senior team disbanding.

	5 July	City	25–5	Newton	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Harold Denize, Don Kenealy 2, Robinson, Watene Con: Ernie Asher 4 Pen: Ernie Asher	[28]	Try: Bowen Con: George Cook	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Knox

Top try and point scorers[]

Scoring included both the first grade championship and the knockout matches. A large number of matches did not have the scorers named meaning the following lists are incomplete. Points missing are as follows: Newton Rangers (22), City Rovers (18), Ponsonby United (25), Eden Ramblers (15), and Manukau Rovers (18).

Exhibition Match[]

Hamilton v City Rovers[]

On July 19 City Rovers travelled to Hamilton to play the local side.

	19 July	Hamilton	21–10	City Rovers	Hamilton
	3:00	Try: Rogers, Ernie Asher 2, Phillips, George Cook Con: Ernie Asher 3	[29]	Try: Potier, Agnew Con: Potier

Avondale v New Lynn[]

On September 13 Avondale played New Lynn in their "annual football match". Several of the players including Bert and John Denyer, Kenealy, Bond, and Bob Biggs had played for the recently folded Eden Ramblers who were based in the Avondale/Point Chevalier area.

	13 September	Avondale	8–23	New Lynn	Avondale
	3:00	Try: Atkinson, McSweeney Con: Kenealy	[30]	Try: Bert Denyer 2, L Yearbury, Bond, John Denyer, Bob Biggs (+ 1 unknown) Con: Allan	Referee: F. Postlewaight

Thacker Shield[]

On 7 September North Shore Albions journeyed to Christchurch to play against Sydenham to play for the Thacker Shield. At the start of the season Dr. Thacker, president of the Canterbury league had presented the shield for competition amongst the senior clubs of Christchurch but he had stipulated that it was open to competition to any club in New Zealand. When North Shore won the Auckland championship they immediately issued a challenge to Sydenham. North Shore sent a strong team south but were without Karl Ifwersen and Stan Walters who were representing New Zealand against the touring New South Wales side.

	7 September	Sydenham	13–8	North Shore Albions	Christchurch Showgrounds
	3:00	Try: T Kirton, W Smythe 2 Con: J Smith 2	[31]	Try: E Pullen, A Rogers Con: George Seagar	Referee: A Hooper

Lower grades[]

Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold:

• Second Grade: City Rovers, Ellerslie United, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Northcote Ramblers, Otahuhu United (runner up), Ponsonby United
• Third Grade: City Rovers (runner up), Ellerslie United, Eden Ramblers A, Eden Ramblers B, Manukau Rovers A, Manukau Rovers B, North Shore Albions, Northcote Ramblers, Otahuhu United, Ponsonby United
• Fourth Grade: City Rovers, Manukau Rovers, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Otahuhu United, Ponsonby United

Representative season[]

1913 was a very busy year for the Auckland representative team as they played 10 matches recording a 7 win, 3 loss record. Their three defeats were against the touring New South Wales team and then on a two match end of season tour to Taranaki and Wellington.

The first representative fixture of the season was played on 28 June against a Country selection at Victoria Park, Auckland. Three thousand spectators attended and 117 pounds was collected. Further matches were played against Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Canterbury, Wellington, and New South Wales. Auckland also played an exhibition match in Pukekohe against the Auckland club champions North Shore Albions.

On August 9 Auckland Juniors beat Waikato Juniors 33-5 in Huntly.

Representative matches[]

Auckland v Waikato Country[]

	28 June	Auckland	10–8	Waikato Country	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: George Cook, Jim Griffin Con: George Seagar Pen: George Seagar	[32]	Pen: Dufty 4	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Harker

Auckland v Taranaki (Northern Union C.C.)[]

	1 July	Auckland	24–8	Taranaki	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: George Cook, Charles Webb 2, Arthur Carlaw, Karl Ifwersen 2 Con: Charles Webb 3	[33]	Try: Taylor 2 Pen: Gordon Hooker (mark)	Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Archie Ferguson

Auckland V Hawke’s Bay (Northern Union C.C.)[]

	26 July	Auckland	34–7	Hawke’s Bay	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Karl Ifwersen 4, Albert Asher, Harold Hayward, Stan Walters, Bob Mitchell Con: Charles Webb, Karl Ifwersen 2	[34]	Try: Jim Johnson Con: A Morrison Pen: A Morrison (mark)	Attendance: 5,500 Referee: Benson

Auckland V Nelson (Northern Union C.C.)[]

	2 August	Auckland	16–2	Nelson	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Alan Blakey, Karl Ifwersen 2, Albert Asher Con: Charles Webb 2	[35]	Pen: Taylor	Attendance: 2,500 Referee: George Frater

Auckland v Canterbury (Northern Union C.C.)[]

	9 August	Auckland	48–12	Canterbury	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Stan Weston 3, Harold Hayward 3, Bob Mitchell 2, George Cook 2, Frank Woodward Con: Charles Webb 4, Karl Ifwersen, Stan Walters	[36]	Try: Stokes, Hardingham Con: Shanks Pen: Shanks 2	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: E Harker

Auckland v North Shore Albions (exhibition match)[]

	16 August	Auckland	14–13	North Shore Albions	Pukekohe
	3:00	Try: Thomas McClymont, Alan Blakey, Jim Clark, Harry Fricker Con: Charles Webb	[37]	Try: Stan Walters, Karl Ifwersen 2 Con: Karl Ifwersen, Jim Griffin	Attendance: 400 Referee: L Neald

Auckland v Wellington (Northern Union C.C.)[]

	23 August	Auckland	12–11	Wellington	Victoria Park
	3:00	Try: Karl Ifwersen, Stan Weston Con: Charles Webb Pen: Karl Ifwersen Drop: Karl Ifwersen	[38]	Try: James Barber 2, Charles Finlayson Con: George Bradley	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Archie Ferguson

Auckland v New South Wales[]

	30 August	Auckland	2–27	New South Wales	Auckland Domain
	3:00	Pen: Karl Ifwersen	[39]	Try: Les Cubitt, Dan Frawley 2, Sid Deane 2, Con Sullivan, Billy Cann Con: Dan Frawley, Howard Hallett 2	Attendance: 15,000 Referee: S Benson

Auckland v Taranaki[]

Thomas McClymont injured his arm late in the first half and went off but came back on. Then early in the second half he retired permanently meaning Auckland only had 12 players. Bob Mitchell and Stan Walters joined the team in New Plymouth having left Wellington after the New Zealand match there. Karl Ifwersen was supposed to also join but he had been injured in New Zealand's match so went directly back to Auckland. George Seagar who had gone on tour was refereeing at late notice as Taranaki had been unable to organise a suitable referee. The Taranaki forwards were said to have dominated the match and while the Auckland backs played brilliantly they failed to finish many chances.

	25 September	Taranaki	21-11	Auckland	Taranaki Sports Ground
	3:00	Try: Tocker, Lance Moir, Rich, Martis, Kyle Con: Gordon Hooker Pen: Gordon Hooker 2	[40]	Try: George Cook, W Tobin, Stan Walters Con: Charles Webb	Attendance: 300 Referee: George Seagar

Auckland v Wellington[]

A player named 'Murdoch' appeared for Auckland and this is likely to have been the treasurer/manager of the Auckland side Adam Murdoch. There were no team lists in any of the newspapers and only 12 players were mentioned by name in the match reports. When Murdoch passed away in September of 1944 the Auckland Rugby League sent their condolences to his family.^[41] Those were Mansell, Cook, Woodward, Kenealy, Tobin, Seagar, Webb, Murdoch, Mitchell, Walters, Rukutai, and Denize. The other one who may have played is Clark, Manning, or Fricker who had all been with the touring side in Taranaki.

	27 September	Wellington	33-18	Auckland	Newtown Park, Wellington
	3:00	Try: B Whitley, Bill Kelly 2, George Bradley 2, Albert House, John Spencer Con: Paddy George 4, Les Campbell 2	[42]	Try: George Cook, George Seagar, Adam Murdoch, Bob Mitchell Con: Charles Webb 3	Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Charlie Murphy

Auckland representative matches played and scorers[]

Rank	Name	Club	Played	Tries	Con	Pen	Mark	Points
1	Charles Webb	Ponsonby United	10	2	18	-	-	42
1	Karl Ifwerson	North Shore Albions	6	10	3	2	1	42
3	George Cook	Newton Rangers	8	6	-	-	-	18
4	Bob Mitchell	City Rovers	8	4	-	-	-	12
4	Stan Weston	North Shore Albions	5	4	-	-	-	12
4	Harold Hayward	Thames	5	4	-	-	-	12
7	Stan Walters	North Shore Albions	7	2	1	-	-	8
8	George Seagar	North Shore Albions	5	1	1	1	-	7
9	Alan Blakey	Newton Rangers	5	2	-	-	-	6
9	Albert Asher	City Rovers	4	2	-	-	-	6
11	Harry Fricker	Ponsonby United	9	1	-	-	-	3
11	W Tobin	Newton Rangers	6	1	-	-	-	3
11	Frank Woodward	Waikato	5	1	-	-	-	3
11	Arthur Carlaw	Ponsonby United	4	1	-	-	-	3
11	Thomas McClymont	Ponsonby United	3	1	-	-	-	3
11	Jim Griffin	North Shore Albions	2	1	-	-	-	3
11	Jim Clark	Ponsonby United	2	1	-	-	-	3
18	Frederick W Mansell	City Rovers	10	-	-	-	-	0
18	Morgan Hayward	Thames	5	-	-	-	-	0
18	C Manning	Ponsonby United	2	-	-	-	-	0
18	Percy Williams	Ponsonby United	3	-	-	-	-	0
18	Harold Denize	City Rovers	2	-	-	-	-	0
18	Cecil King	Newton Rangers	2	-	-	-	-	0
18	Rukingi Reke	Rotorua	2	-	-	-	-	0
18	Jim Rukutai	City Rovers	2	-	-	-	-	0
18	Ormsby	City Rovers	1	-	-	-	-	0
18	D Bradburn	Newton Rangers	1	-	-	-	-	0
18	Tom Avery	City Rovers	1	-	-	-	-	0
18	Charles Brockliss	Newton Rangers	1	-	-	-	-	0
18	Don Kenealy	City Rovers	1	-	-	-	-	0
18	Adam Murdoch	Ponsonby United*	1	-	-	-	-	0

• Adam Murdoch was a member of the Ponsonby United club but non-playing. Was on tour as manager for the Taranaki and Wellington games.

References[]

External links[]

• Auckland Rugby League Official Site