The 1909
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. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond.
...
season was the league's first ever official season. It celebrated its centenary in 2009. Four representative matches had been played in 1908 as players in Auckland attempted to showcase the new code to both Auckland residents and those elsewhere.
First meeting
A meeting of players was held on Monday 12 July where it was decided to call for another meeting the following Monday and to invite all interested parties to attend. The ultimate aim was to form a league. It was also stated that "three clubs will be formed, two in the city and one at the North Shore". The meeting was duly held on 19 July at the Chamber of Commerce on Swanson Street. Mr. A.E. Glover, M.P., occupied the chair, and there was a large attendance of around 150 supporters and players. They were to affiliate with the Northern Union and hold a practice match on the following Saturday. "Mr. R. Eagleton offered the league the use of three suitable playing grounds in Epsom". The ground was located near Potters Paddock which was later converted into Alexandra Racecourse. Elections for officers were also held with 14 appointments made.
North Shore Albions formed
A further meeting was held at North Shore on the Wednesday evening at the Council Chambers in Devonport with 40 in attendance, and a club was formed. It was noted that they had the playing numbers for two teams and they had "taken the pick of the amateur players of the district club". The club would be called
North Shore Albions
The North Shore Albions were a rugby league club based on the North Shore of Auckland in 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 numbers. At the start of ...
. On the Thursday night a preliminary meeting was held in the city with 20 players attending with the goal of forming a club that was either a city team or a combination of a city and
Ponsonby team, while a
Newton club was also aimed to be formed the following week as there was "considerable dissatisfaction among the members at the management of the Auckland Union". It was decided to play a match on the Saturday between the
North Shore team and the city team. The match was duly played between North Shore and
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
and resulted in a win to the former by 44 points to 22.
Chairman of the league, D.W. McLean spoke with a representative of ''
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 in New Zealand, ...
'' and was reported as saying the following; "no payment would be made for playing, but the men when away from home would be recompensed for lost time. They would provide players with uniforms free in order that a team might take the field in a regulation costume, not in varied coloured pants and stockings, as is often seen even in rep. Rugby matches. Their meetings would be open to the press and full information will be given to the public of all moneys received and expended...". He "spoke enthusiastically of the possibilities of the new code, from which he contended the rougher elements of rugby had been removed, this providing a game which was full of bright play and sparkling situations. The liability of getting hurt had been greatly reduced by the removal of scrums and line-out play". It was also reported that several prominent players, questioned about why they had left the Rugby Union game said that "they were tired of the unequalness of the contests under the present system. There was no sport in being beaten by 61 points to nil as the North Shore seniors were recently by the
Ponsonby team… the management of the Auckland Union was not mindful enough of the clubs’ or players interests".
Ponsonby United born
At a meeting at Leys Institute on 30 July the Ponsonby club was formed. There were 50 supporters present with Mr. A Thompson chairing the meeting. Also in attendance were Mr
James Carlaw, along with
Arthur Carlaw
Arthur Carlaw was a New Zealand rugby league player who played a role in the establishment of the sport in New Zealand and represented New Zealand.
His uncle, James, was an administrator in the sport and Carlaw Park was named after him and hi ...
,
Charles Dunning
Charles Avery Dunning (July 31, 1885 – October 1, 1958) was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, business ...
, and
Jack Stanaway. They called for another meeting to be held the following week to enroll players. They played a match against Newton Rangers on August 21 which they won by 16 points to 6.
Representative matches
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
played four representative matches, though the first match was still prior to the official formation of the league. They played the New Zealand Maori team, two matches against
Taranaki
Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the ...
, one against Wellington, and a further match against Rotorua which was a largely junior side. The match versus Wellington on 9 October drew 4,000 spectators and raised £122 for 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. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond.
...
.
Auckland v NZ Maori
A match was played between
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
and a
New Zealand Māori team on 10 July which was preparing to depart for a tour of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The Auckland team was victorious by 21 points to 14 in front of a crowd estimated at 3,000. Proceeds from the match were to go towards the formation and establishment of the league.
Auckland City Council
Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1989 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elec ...
granted use of
Victoria Park for the match to be played on Saturday, 10 July. The council allowed for an admission charge "not exceeding one shilling for each person… with an extra shilling for every horse or vehicle, and an additional charge not exceeding one shilling for each person for admission to the pavilion". The Maori team was preparing for a tour of Australia. They had been based in
Te Kūiti
Te Kūiti is a town in the north of the King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highways 3 and New Zealand State Highway 30, 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk rail ...
with Barclay tutoring the side. He had been a member of the last 'native' team to tour Australia. The Auckland team was preparing hard under the guidance of
William Mackrell.
Trial Match (Probables v Possibles)
A trial match was played to choose the Auckland team to play Taranaki. At the conclusion of the game sole selector
William Wynyard chose the Auckland side. It was said that it was "not a good exhibition" though to be expected given the circumstances. There was no scoring reported by either the Auckland Star or the New Zealand Herald.
Auckland v Taranaki
Taranaki tipped over the home team 8–7. On 31 July a trial match was played between A and B teams before
William Wynyard selected the representative side to face Taranaki. It was an uninspiring encounter, won by the Possible selection 37–29. Prior to the representative match a curtain raiser was played between
North Shore Juniors and a City side. The match against Taranaki marked the first 'official' Auckland team as it was selected after an actual league had formed despite Auckland teams playing in 1908 while the sport was being established.
Auckland v Taranaki
On 12 September a trial match was played at Eagleton's Paddock in Epsom between A and B teams. The A team won by 22 points to 8 with tries for the A team to
Arthur Carlaw
Arthur Carlaw was a New Zealand rugby league player who played a role in the establishment of the sport in New Zealand and represented New Zealand.
His uncle, James, was an administrator in the sport and Carlaw Park was named after him and hi ...
2,
Fred Jackson,
William Mackrell,
George Seagar, and Winters, with D Bradburn kicking 2 conversions. While for the B team Smith and Frederick Neighbour scored tries, and Neighbour also kicked a conversion.
William Wynyard then selected the team to face Taranaki in New Plymouth and they fared better this time winning by 27 points to 11.
Auckland B v Rotorua
An Auckland B travelled to Rotorua to play the local side and was trounced by a much better team filled with Māori players who had represented them in Australia. The Auckland team was largely a junior side though it did feature several more experienced players such as
Richard Wynyard
John Richard "Dick" Wynyard (10 May 1885 – 7 April 1915) was a New Zealand rugby footballer who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain. Richard was the brother of William Wynyard. He had 2 sisters, Ka ...
,
Frank Woodward and Frederick Neighbour. Unfortunately Ferguson broke his leg during the match and had to be taken to the local hospital. The Rotorua side featured
Riki Papakura
Riki "Dick" Papakura was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented the New Zealand Māori rugby league team, New Zealand Māori side and Australasia and played professionally for Warrington Wolves, Warrington. His position of preference ...
who a week later played for Auckland against Wellington.
Auckland Province v Wellington
Auckland representative matches played and scorers
The following list includes the four legitimate representative matches against New Zealand Maori, Taranaki (two matches), and Wellington. The
Rotorua
Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
match is omitted as it was an Auckland Junior/Auckland XIII selection. James Grundy switched from the Ponsonby rugby club at the end of the season and made one appearance for Auckland. It appears that he did not play either code in the following season.
Exhibition matches
North Shore Albions v City Rovers

A photograph of the first ever club rugby league match was published in the New Zealand Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic Review publication on August 5. Frank Woodward is seen bending to tackle an on rushing player. It was played at R. Eagleton's Paddock in Epsom which was close to Alexandra Park. The paddock was located near the south west portion of the intersection of Manukau Road and Greenlane West Road. William Wynyard was the captain of the North Shore side and both he and his brother Richard were the teams coaches.
Alfred Jackson played for North Shore and would go on to represent Auckland 23 times and New Zealand 3 times.
North Shore Albions v Combined Town
Ponsonby United v Newton Rangers
Jack Stanaway (Hone Haira) coached the sides. There was no scoring published for the match as it was considered a practice game. It was reported that F. Lynch, W. Tobin, and Matthews played well in the backs for Ponsonby, with B. Kean, Warner, and Oakley playing well in the forwards. In the Newton side Will Tobin, and Haswell in the backs, and Oliver, Cole, and Curtis were "conspicuous" in the forwards.
Ponsonby United v Newton Rangers
Newton Rangers v North Shore Albions
Junior matches
References
{{reflist
External links
Auckland Rugby League Official Site
Auckland Rugby League seasons
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. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond.
...
Rugby league in Auckland