1925 Auckland Rugby League season
The 1925 season of Auckland Rugby League was its 16th. On 30 March Auckland Rugby League held its fifteenth annual meeting with 200 in attendance. The strong financial position of the league was commented on. It was also decided that if possible the Senior Grade would be split into A and B divisions owing to the increasing number of teams who wished to enter but also the gap in standard between the best teams and the worst.[1]
Preceded by 1924 |
17th Auckland Rugby League season 1925 |
Succeeded by 1926 |
Monteith Shield (First Grade Championship)
Final A Division Standings
First Grade A Division FixturesPrior to the kickoff in the Round 7 games at Carlaw Park on 6 June, the teams stood in silence for one minute as a mark of respect for the late William Stormont who had died two days earlier. He was a World War I veteran and had played for Marist from 1920 to 1924. Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4Sam Lowrie was ordered off in the match between Ponsonby and Devonport.
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7The match between Marist and Richmond scheduled to be played at Victoria Park was cancelled due to the death of recent Marist player Bill Stormont two days earlier.
Round 8
Round 9Jim O'Brien for Marist and Tom Haddon for Devonport were ordered off for fighting in their match at Carlaw Park. In one of the more amazing team efforts in early Auckland rugby league history the City team saw all 13 of its players score points in a 57-10 victory over Athletic. There were nine different try scorers and the four who didn't cross the line all kicked at least one conversion.
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14
Roope Rooster Knockout CompetitionRound 1
Semi Finals
Final
Stormont Memorial ShieldSemi Final
Final
Top Try Scorers and Point Scorers (Senior Grade and Roope Rooster)
B Grade Standings and ResultsFinal B Division Standings
First Grade B Division Fixtures
The round 15 match between Kingsland and Otahuhu was not played due to the poor condition of the field at the Auckland Domain. Stallard Cup Knockout CompetitionThis was the first season with a B Division in the First Grade competition and at the end of the season a knockout competition was played between the five teams.
Other Club Matches and Lower GradesLower GradesThere were 5 lower grades in 1925, with the Sixth Grade split into A and B divisions as it had been in previous years. Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold:
Exhibition MatchesOn 19 April, when Marist had a bye in the first round of the club competition they travelled to Christchurch and played Marist of Christchurch. They won by 16 points to 7. The match also marked the opening of Monica Park.[77] Exhibition Match
Labour Day Carnival
Representative SeasonThe Auckland representative team had a busy season. After a series of 3 trial matches on 27 June both the New Zealand team and Auckland teams were selected. Officials had declared that "give us fine weather and we will get an attendance of 20,000". Unfortunately the weather did not oblige and it was in fact described as "the worst experienced this season ... in one place there was a miniature lake." This resulted in a crowd many times smaller, however thousands came into the ground to watch the main match between North Island and South Island, won by the former 27 points to 9.[80] Auckland then played against the New Zealand team and lost 9 points to 16. Following this they played a Northern Union Challenge Cup match against the holders South Auckland and were victorious by 24 points to 16. After the New Zealand team returned from their tour of Australia they again played Auckland at Carlaw Park and they used the experience they had gained to trounce Auckland by 41 points to 17, employing tactics that the Auckland team were not prepared for. Two weeks later Auckland played Queensland who were being touted as the finest league team in the world at the time in the first of three matches. They drew the first, before narrowly losing the second and then being well and truly outclassed in the 3rd match by 54 points to 14. Representative FixturesAfter the trial matches were played the New Zealand team was selected by Mr Liversedge, Pearce, and Harding, and 14 Auckland players made the side. They were: Craddock Dufty, P. Gregory, Lou Brown, Hec Brisbane, Frank Delgrosso, Jack Kirwan, Bert Laing, Maurice Wetherill, Wilson Hall, Stan Webb, Bert Avery, Ernie Herring, J. O'Brien, and Horace Dixon. The following day Sam Lowrie of Ponsonby United was added to the touring side. Inter-Island Match
Auckland Trial Match
Auckland C v South Auckland
Auckland v New Zealand
Auckland v South Auckland (Northern Union CC)
Auckland v New Zealand
Auckland B v West Coast
Auckland v Queensland
Auckland B v Canterbury
Auckland B v Wellington
Auckland v South Auckland (Northern Union CC)
Auckland Province v Queensland
Auckland Representative Matches Played and ScorersThis list only includes the Auckland team games and does not include the Auckland B, Auckland C, and Auckland Province matches.
References
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