The 1922 Auckland Rugby League was the 14th in its history. There were 68 teams playing across the various grades. City Rovers won the first grade championship for the 5th time, with Ponsonby winning the Roope Rooster for the 2nd time. City Rovers also defended the Challenge Shield, warding off efforts from Petone, Tongariro, and Huntly to lift it from them. The twenty two year old Bill Davidson set a record for points scored in an Auckland club rugby league season with 116 for City Rovers. He and his brothers Ben and their Olympic sprinting brother George between them scored 186 of City Rover's 339 points which was also a competition record for a team in a single season. City scored a further 19 points in the Roope Rooster competition and 85 points in their 3 Challenge Shield matches for 443 points in all official games.
It was an incredibly busy year for the Auckland representative team. They played more matches than some club teams had played in earlier seasons with ten matches in total. There was also an Auckland Provincial team match against New South Wales, and one Auckland B fixture with the team making the trip down to Cambridge to play the local side. Bill Davidson also led the representative team in scoring with 37 points.
Auckland rugby league news Club teams by grade participation Team1st Grd2nd Grd3rd Grd4th Grd5th Grd6th Grd A6th Grd BTotalCity Rovers11210117Richmond Rovers11111117Devonport United11111005Newton Rangers11111005Ponsonby United11101105Maritime11010115Manukau Rovers01001114Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers01001114Marist Old Boys10001103Kingsland Rovers00110103Ellerslie United00110103Otahuhu Rovers01010103Parnell00110013Fire Brigade10000001Ihumātao01000001Māngere Rangers01000001Point Chevalier00100001Coromandel Old Boys00100001Takapuna00001001Total811119810663
Junior Management Committee The junior management committee elected for the season was Lewis Binns, J.S. White, K. Lippiatt, G.J. Flynn, W. Baskett, William Mincham, O.O. Riley, D.C. Adamson, W.E. Frost, Bill Davidson (Hon. Sec), A. Freeman (Chairman), G.H. Seagar, A.H. Te Mete, T.B. Carpenter, W. Dowle, G.F. Burgess, J. Curtis, F. Cleal, W. Boag, F. Kennedy.
Carlaw Park At a pre-season meeting of the management committee it was discussed that Carlaw Park needed more 'modern equipment', and it was decided that "the establishment of more modern methods of dealing with the turf and the purchase of more efficient machinery shall be an early charge on the new season's funds". Sufficient money was made from gates at club and rep fixtures at Carlaw Park and the Auckland Domain to begin improvements on the ground at the conclusion of the season. New clubs and name changes Maritime to Athletic The Maritime club changed their name to 'Athletic'. Their club colours were also changed from red, white and blue to royal blue with a gold band. In 1926 they were to change their name again to Grafton Athletic. This was not to be confused with Grafton Athletic who had existed as a team from 1914 to 1920 under the leadership of Karl Ifwersen and were presently playing under the name of 'Fire Brigade'.
Richmond promoted to 1st grade Richmond Rovers applied for entry into the Senior A Grade competition and this was approved. This made the competition an even 8 teams meaning 4 matches per round and no byes. Unlike most previous seasons there were no byes, no defaults, and no postponed matches meaning 56 matches were played in total, easily the most in the competitions history. Richmond would go on to finish 7th with 3 wins and 11 losses.
Ihumātao club enter On April 4 the ARL management committee reported that they had accepted the application of a new club called the "Central Mangere Club", and they would enter a team in the second grade. The team was however exclusively named "Ihumata" for their existence and were ostensibly a Māori football side. It was a misspelling of their area's Māori name and was corrected at a later date to Ihumātao. They were based in the Ihumātao area of Māngere and played most of their home games at the Mangere ground further towards the east. They only survived for two seasons with it likely that many of their players began playing for the preexisting Māngere United League Football Club such as Paul and Wilson junior.
Coromandel Old Boys join On February 15 the Auckland Rugby League held their weekly management committee meeting and said that "affiliation was granted to a new third grade club to be called Coromandel Old Boys, with the colours red, white, and blue". a Thames Old Boys team had existed from 1915 to 1920 but this team appears to have had no serious links to the Coromandel Old Boys side. The Coromandel team fielded a third grade side only from 1922 to 1925 before withdrawing from the competition.
George Davidson's return George Davidson played for Maritime (now named Athletic) in the 1919 season but had missed most of the 1920 and 1921 seasons as he was training for and competing at the Antwerp Olympics where he came 5th in the 200m final. He stated that over those two seasons he had only played for Maritime on two or three occasions as he was seeking a transfer to the City Rovers where his two brothers Bill and Ben played. Athletic were denying his request and Davidson appealed to the league who then asked the Athletics club to reconsider his request "favourably". He would eventually have his transfer to City approved.
Point Chevalier Point Chevalier secured the use of Richard and Elizabeth Walker's paddock at the bottom of Humariri Street as their home ground. It has since become Walker Park where they are to this day located. In the same season they bought jerseys from George Court & Co. Ltd. In 1925 a shed was built at Walker Park with volunteer labour.
Monteith Shield (1st grade championship) Monteith Shield standings
TeamPldWDLFAPtsCity Rovers14110333915722Ponsonby United14100420516920Marist Old Boys1491425819219Devonport United1471622319415Newton Rangers1461719721913Athletic1460824220812Richmond Rovers1430111412956Fire Brigade1421111433135 Monteith Shield fixtures Round 1 Peter Irwin James Francis Hing, better known as James Hing, or later Sonny Hing scored a try for Ponsonby. He had previously played for Marist and would later coach the Point Chevalier premier side in the 1930s. He was the son of Charles A'Hing and Margaret Mary Irwin and was one of the first ever rugby league players in New Zealand with Chinese ancestry along with Arthur Singe.
Round 2 Lou Brown debuted for Newton aged just 17 having already played 2 seasons of senior rugby in the Waikato. He would go on to have a remarkable career being a prolific try scorer for every team he played for which included Newton (12), Wigan (106), City (72), Halifax (33), York (77), Bordeaux, Auckland (18), North Island (4), Auckland Māori (4), Other Nationalities (5), and New Zealand (22). In the match between Athletic and Ponsonby Eric Grey had a highly unusual collection of points after he scored a try, and kicked a conversion, a penalty, a goal from a mark, and a drop goal. Bert Laing transferred to Devonport during the week and had the unusual distinction of scoring against a team and then for a team in the space of a week. In the match between Devonport and Newton Alex Godick, J Price, and Calderwood had to leave the field through injury, with Godick being concussed.
Round 3 Stan Webb debuted for North Shore joining his older brother Clarence in the side. Stan would go on to represent Auckland in the same season and New Zealand in 1925. He predominantly played in the halfback position but also played at centre and fullback at times.
Round 4 The Carlaw Park games secured £213 2/6 through gate attendances. The main match between Marist and Athletics was "fast and interesting throughout, and was one of the best expositions of the code that has been seen here for some time" according to the Auckland Star scribe. In the match between Ponsonby and City, Horace Neal, and Mitchell were ordered off after a scuffle in the corner during the second half. The referee (Walter Ripley) stated at the hearing that he had caught them just before blows were struck and both players were let off with a caution. The Newton v Fire Brigade match at Grey Lynn Park only received very brief match reports with no detailed scoring provided.
Round 5 George Davidson made his debut for the City club. He had requested to be released from the Maritime/Athletic club where he had previously been a member prior to going to the Antwerp Olympics where he competed in the 100 and 200m races. He wished to join bis brothers Ben and Bill in the City side but was initially blocked by his old club before securing the release. He scored a try for City in their 20-5 win over his old side, with brother Ben being credited with a penalty try after being held back by his jersey when he was going to score, and Bill kicked 4 conversions. At halftime Athletic sent their fullback, Mike Flynn (a boxer from Australia), to second five eighth and shifted Dougie McGregor to fullback. They also brought New Zealand international Bert Avery out of the back row to act as an extra five eighth to good effect but they still went down. A Halliday scored Athletic's only try. He was also on debut for them, having previously playing for Ponsonby in 1920. The conditions at Carlaw Park were poor with a wet, muddy field with a smaller crowd than previous weeks. There was still 72 pounds in gate takings collected however. Harry Francis the City forward broke his shoulder and such was the seriousness of the injury that two months later on July 27 a benefit concert was held for him in the Town Hall concert chamber. Francis had been unable to work in his occupation due to the injury.
Round 6 In "ideal" conditions a "record attendance" came to Carlaw Park with £255 13/6 taken at the gates. Bill Davidson scored a try and kicked 2 conversions and 2 penalties for a personal haul of 11 points in City's 17-13 win over Marist.
Round 7 The match between Devonport and Marist was the 50th senior rugby league game played at Devonport Domain. The first match played there was in 1910. A large crowd attended the Carlaw Park games with 183 pounds being taken at the gate. The Auckland Star match description of the City v Newton game said that Wally Somers scored for Newton however the slightly more detailed New Zealand Herald match report credited the try to Leo Barraclough after Somers passed him the ball so Barraclough has been credited with the try.
Round 8 The club games resumed after Auckland had played the Australian University side 3 times. The crowd at Carlaw Park was relatively small with just £61 15/ taken at the gate with slippery conditions prevailing. In the 3pm game City had a 9-3 win with no goals kicked in the match. Near full time F. Wilson was knocked unconscious and had to be carried from the field. The game on the number 2 field between Ponsonby and Newton was a "mud scramble". Richmond recorded their first win coming back from 7-0 down at half time against Athletic at Victoria Park while Marist also mounted a second half comeback to draw 21-21. They had trailed 15-2 at the break. Marist had struggled to get a full team on the field and it was rumoured that they might have to default however they eventually mustered a side. Early in the match one of their recent recruits from rugby was ordered off the field for rough play which injured McClure. In the second half the Fire Brigade captain, Charles Woolley collided heavily with his brother John (Jack) with the sound of the contact heard by spectators. He was able to carry on but at the conclusion of the game had to be carried from the field suffering from concussion.
Round 9