The Hobsonville Pirates were a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

club which existed briefly from

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

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

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. Founded in 1909, the ARL has played a pivotal role in the development and promotion of rugby league in Auckland and beyond. ...

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. Historically a rural settlement, Hobsonville has now developed into a suburb of Auckland. Hobsonville was one of the earliest European settlements in the area and ...

in West Auckland,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

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 i ...

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 in New Zealand ...

. 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 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 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 the launch (Elsie) from the "Harbour Board" steps to reach the ground. Their first ever team was listed in the New Zealand Herald as: Lindsay, W Williamson, S. Wiseley, S Hutchinson, T.E. Clark, J. Adams, J. Williamson, E. Saxon, Te Ruby, J. Denny, Alderton, G. Clark, and E. Briggs, with the emergency players named as J. Brown, G Bennett, and C Nicklin. For North Shore Woodward scored 2 tries, Seagar 1, and Nicholson converted 2 of them. It was described as a "fast, interesting game". 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 a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...

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 ( ; ) 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 ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

1913 season

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

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

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 The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. His old club is not reforming.

Team records

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

References

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