The 1915 season, and 7th of Auckland Rugby League saw the First Grade competition begin on 8 May featuring the same 6 senior clubs who had competed in 1914.
The First World War was in full effect by the time the 1915 season began. War had been declared just as the 1914 rugby league season was concluding in August 1914. As a result, several efforts were made during the 1915 season by the Auckland Rugby League to raise funds for Auckland Hospital Ship and Wounded Soldiers Relief Fund.
On 12 June, a seven-a-side tournament was arranged to be played at Victoria Park to raise money for the Auckland Hospital Ship and Wounded Relief Fund.[1] In total £200 was raised with "almost 1,000 people" in attendance. All senior clubs entered teams and the final was played between North Shore Albions and City Rovers though the match was not completed owing to the fact that some earlier matches went to extra-time and the final saw an injury requiring a stoppage. As it had become dark it was decided to call the game off with North Shore leading by 3pts.[2] A further £35 was raised from the 19 June round of matches at Victoria Park for the same cause.
Grafton Athletic were crowned First Grade champions for the first time after defeating City Rovers 10–5 in the championship final at Victoria Park in front of 4,000 spectators.
A trophy which is still played for today saw its beginnings in the 1915 season. Namely the Roope Rooster trophy which was donated by Mr. R Roope. It was a knockout competition with one round of matches before semi-finals were played.[3] With the semi-final between Newton and Grafton being drawn (after North Shore received the bye) the management committee decided rather than replaying a match between the same teams there would be more interest in a match between Grafton and North Shore, with Newton progressing to the final. The second semi-final was played at Victoria Park and saw both teams wearing white armbands in memory of 3 men killed in action at the Dardanelles who had played club rugby league in Auckland (Charles Savory from Ponsonby United, Charles James Hally from Otahuhu, and William Moeki from City Rovers).[4] A charge was made for the semi-final between North Shore and Grafton with the proceeds going to the Door of Hope, the Salvation Army Maternity and Rescue Homes, Sister Esther's Relief Work, and the St John Ambulance Brigade. The final was played on 11 September at Victoria Park between North Shore Albions and Newton Rangers, with North Shore winning 10 points to 7.[5]
Charles Savory was born on 23 March 1889 and grew up in Auckland. In 1910 he was suspended from playing rugby for two years for kicking an opponent and he switched to rugby league where he joined the Ponsonby team. Savory played for Ponsonby United from 1911 to 1914 and scored 16 tries and kicked 13 goals. For Auckland he played 4 times, scoring 3 tries and kicking 11 goals all in the 1914 season. He had made a quick impression after switching codes and was selected to play for the touring New Zealand side on their visit to Australia. He was then selected for the 1911–12 tour of the United Kingdom for the Australasian side. In 1912 he was sent off in a club match versus Newton which meant he was unable to tour with the New Zealand team to Australia. In 1913 he was accused of injuring a player from Manukau and was banned for life however on appeal the New Zealand Council refused to confirm the ban and ultimately sacked the entire Auckland Rugby League board and selected a new one.[6] Savory was also an outstanding boxer and in 1914 he became the National Amateur Heavyweight Boxing champion. In 1915 he enlisted in the army and on 8 May 1915 he was killed by a shell to the head before he reached shore at the Dardanelles aged 26.[7]
William Moeki[]
William Moeki was born at Port Awanui on the East Coast. He was also known as Wātene Moeke and William Moeke. He played for the City Rovers from 1911 to 1914 in the forwards and scored 8 tries. He joined the Auckland Infantry Battalion and embarked for Suez, Egypt on 16 October 1914. William Moeki was killed in action at the Dardanelles on 25 April 1915. In a letter back to New Zealand by well known Auckland boxer Private Alfred Gault, Moeki was said to have last been seen in a bayonet charge.[8] His name is memorialised on the Lone Pine Memorial, at Lone Pine Cemetery in Anzac Cove, Turkey and at Tikitiki Church's War Memorial.[9] He was awarded the 1914–1915 Star, and British War & Victory Medals.[10]
Charles James Hally[]
Charles James Hally was born on 18 May 1889 in Cambridge, New Zealand. Hally was also an outstanding sprinter and in 1913 was runner-up in the 100 and 220-yard championships of New Zealand.[11] In 1914 he had moved to Auckland and played for the Otahuhu senior team where he scored 2 tries. He had moved to Morrinsville where he was farming before enlisting in the army soon after the outbreak of the war on 11 August 1914. He was injured in battle on 8 May in an attack on the Daisy Patch at Gallipoli and recovered on Hospital Ship Franconia and at Cairo once ashore. He again joined the battle on the attack at Courtnays Post, Gallipoli serving in the Hauraki Company of the Auckland Infantry however this time he was wounded more seriously in the lungs and legs and succumbed to his injuries on 26 July 1915. He was buried at sea off Gaba Tepe. Like William Moeki he is commemorated at the Lone Pine Memorial in Anzac, Turkey.[12]
1st Grade championship[]
The 1st grade championship had been competing for the Myers Cup from 1910 to 1914 but after the beginning of the war the league decided to not award trophies though the grade competitions were still competed for as normal. Twenty eight matches were played in the 1st grade competition. Nine full rounds were played followed by the final. Victoria Park was the main ground used, with matches also played at the Auckland Domain, , and Otahuhu.
In the match between Ponsonby and Otahuhu following a penalty being awarded to Ponsonby Arthur Hardgrave threw the ball and it struck the referee. It was unclear if this was accidental or deliberate according to the NZ Herald reporter of the time.
29 May
Ponsonby
19–9
Otahuhu
Victoria Park
3:00
Try: W Edwards, Thomas McClymont, R Longbottom Con: A Cross 3 Pen: A Cross 2
Newton, Grafton and North Shore were round 1 victors and North Shore received a bye meaning they should have advanced to the final directly. However Grafton and Newton played out a 2–2 draw in their semi-final. Rather than play a replay the league decided to have a second semi-final match between Grafton and North Shore, with Newton progressing to the final. North Shore beat Grafton and then defeated Newton in the final to win the inaugural Roope Rooster trophy which is still played for today.
The following point scoring lists include both Senior Championship matches and the Roope Rooster competition. Unlike in previous seasons where there were several matches with incomplete scoring lists the 1915 season was well reported by the New Zealand Herald and only two tries were unattributed (one for Ponsonby and one for Newton). For the second year in a row the outstanding Karl Ifwersen easily topped the point scoring lists.
Then on 3 July a "Patriotic Carnival" was held involving the , Auckland Rugby League, Auckland Rugby Union, and the Auckland Football Association. In addition there was a golf competition and a school basketball competition. Over 15,000 people crammed into the Auckland Domain to watch the matches. In the league matches Grafton Athletic defeated City Rovers by 15 points to 10, in the second grade match City Rovers beat Mangere 8 points to 3, and in the fourth grade match the Manukau Rovers defeated Ponsonby United by 8 points to 3 also.[28]
Sunnyside team which won the 4th grade competition.
The lower grades consisted of second, third, fourth, and for the first time a fifth grade. New teams included Thames Old Boys, made up of players from Thames who had settled in Auckland, Richmond, who were affiliated with the Eden Ramblers club.
The teams in each grade with the winning team in bold:
Second Grade: City Rovers, Ponsonby United, Grafton, Otahuhu Rovers, Thames Old Boys, Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers, Remuera, Mangere
Third Grade: City Rovers A, City Rovers B, Manukau, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Otahuhu Rovers, Ponsonby United, Sunnyside A, Sunnyside B, Richmond Rovers, Thames Old Boys
Fourth Grade (Endean Memorial Shield): City Rovers, Grafton, Manukau, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers, Ponsonby United, Remuera, Richmond Rovers, Sunnyside (Sunnyside won with a record of 11 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, 215 points for and 36 against).
Fifth Grade: City Rovers, Grafton, Manukau, Newton Rangers, North Shore Albions, Otahuhu Rovers, Ponsonby United, Remuera, Richmond Rovers, Sunnyside
Representative season[]
Due to World War I having broken out and the large number of players who had gone to fight the representative season was far reduced from previous years. The Auckland Rugby League did however decide to play 3 fixtures at the end of the season to support fledgling country leagues. Auckland had seen the death of a representative player already when Charles Savory died of his wounds at Gallipoli. The first representative match of the season was played on 28 August when Auckland defeated Thames by 27 points to 16 at Victoria Park with over 4,000 in attendance. In the return match a week later Thames won 25–13. The following weekend saw Auckland lose to Waikato in Huntly, though they had several new combinations and the first ever Roope Rooster club final was played at the same time in Auckland. A junior representative fixture was played as the curtain-raiser with Auckland winning by 16 points to 3 over a Lower Waikato team.
