The 1933 season of Auckland Rugby League was its 25th. The championship was won by Devonport United. This was their fifth title having previously won it in 1913, 1914, 1928 and 1932. The first two titles were prior to their merger with the nearby Sunnyside club when they were known as North Shore Albions, a name they later reverted to. They finished 1 point ahead of runner up Marist Old Boys. Devonport also won the Stormont Shield for the third time following victories in 1930 and 1931. They defeated Richmond Rovers in the final by 12 points to 7. Richmond had gained their place in the Stormont Shield match by winning the Roope Rooster with wins over Newton (29–15), Marist Old Boys (10–0), and City Rovers in the final by 26 points to 14. This was Richmond's third Roope Rooster title following wins in 1926 and 1927. Marist were awarded the Thistle Cup for the most competition points scored in the second round.
The Challenge Round trophy (awarded to the team with the best second round competition points) was won by the much improved Newton Rangers after they beat all 5 senior opponents. The Max Jaffe Cup was won by Richmond who defeated Marist comfortably by 31 to 8, and in a charity match to conclude the season Marist reversed this result with a 16 to 5 win over Richmond.
In reserve and lower grade competitions Richmond once again shone. The senior reserve competition was won by Richmond Rovers Reserves who finished with a 6 win, 2 draw, 2 loss record. While Devonport United Reserves won the reserve grade knockout competition when they defeated Richmond 5 to 4 in the final. Richmond once again won the Davis Shield with their lower grade teams combining for more competition points than any other club. This was their 11th win in the 13 years that it has been awarded.
It was a busy season for the Auckland representative side. They played seven matches for six wins and one loss. Their sole loss came against the South Auckland (Waikato) side who beat them 14–0 at Carlaw Park. Auckland had revenge in their final representative match of the season this time beating South Auckland by 17 points to 5. Their other wins came over Taranaki (32–20 and 25–17), North Auckland (28–13), West Coast (28–22), and Hawke's Bay (47–17).
Season News Club teams by grade participation TeamFox MemorialReserves2nd3rd Open3rd Int.4th5th6th7thSchoolsWednesday CompTotalRichmond Rovers1101112121011Marist Old Boys110112000006Devonport United110011011107City Rovers110011100106Newton Rangers110002001005Manukau Rovers001021010005Ellerslie United001000201105Ponsonby United110101000004Papakura001110100004Point Chevalier001001110004Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers000011100104Otahuhu Rovers001010010003Akarana000011100003Mount Albert United001100000002Māngere United001100000002New Lynn000100100002Avondale000000010102Glenora000100000001Wednesday Sides000000000088Total6678101210656884
+ there were company teams representing Amalgamated Theatres (2 teams), Atta Taxis (Cabs), Checker Taxis, City Markets, Railway Locos, Seamen's Union, Victoria United (Markets). There were also House Matches played on Saturdays between business sides including W. Lovett's Limited, Auckland Gas Company, McKendrick Bros, Bycroft's, Miller Paterson & Lees, Australian Waste Products, A.J. Entrican, Star Office, Browne and Geddes, and Auckland Ambulance.
Auckland Rugby League meetings George Rhodes announced his resignation of the chairmanship due to business commitments which would require him leaving Auckland regularly. He died suddenly near the end of the season and was buried at Waikumete Cemetery. His successor was Mr. G, Grey Campbell, who was a well known member of the City Council, the Transport Board, and other institutions. Rhodes had been chairman of the league for six and a half years. Mr. R. Doble said Mr. Rhodes deserved to be honoured with life membership for his many years service. This was endorsed by several members. Rhodes started out as a groundsman at Carlaw Park in 1921 before becoming the ground superintendent. At the league AGM it was reported that revenue for the year totalled £2,573, of which £1,791 came from gate receipts, £416 from ground rents, £68 from advertising and £45 from subscriptions. The profit was £754 9/3, with £572 1/3 distributed in grant to clubs. After other spending the total profit for the year was £182 8/. J. Carlaw presided over the meeting where over 100 people were in attendance. Mr. J. B. Donald was elected patron, Mr. J. F. W. Dickson was elected vice-president. At the ARL Board of Control meeting prior to the commencement of the season the chairman Mr. G. Grey Campbell said the policy of granting gate percentages to senior clubs should be retained. He said that it was up to the clubs to produce a high standard of play and the percentage to senior clubs would be an incentive.
Near the conclusion of the season the Auckland Rugby League met and Mr. Campbell said “the gate receipts to date had been in excess of those last season. Clubs had benefited considerably from the percentage granted, and most senior clubs were now in a position to assist their players next season”. The intention was to carefully manage the finances of the league and “to improve the stand accommodation and give players better dressing facilities”.
The New Zealand Herald printed an article ‘reviewing’ the season where they wrote of the visiting St George team and the standard of play in Auckland. They also discussed the possibility of Auckland teams touring Australia.
Carlaw Park In late April efforts were made to protect players from colliding with the concrete retaining wall on the number 2 field by placing sacks filled with sand bags on the lower part of it. The wall had been built soon before using relief workers during the depression.
Junior management meeting At the annual general meeting of the Auckland Rugby League Junior Management Committee on 21 March the annual report (in reference to the 1932 season) was submitted. It stated that there were 1,008 registered players compared with 1,224 the previous season, and 63 teams took the field. The reason for the decline in numbers was put down to the fact that large numbers of people had left Auckland in search of work during the trying economic times. The report then went on to congratulate teams who had won various trophies in the Junior grades in the 1932 season.
Senior competition It was decided prior to the season that the reserve grade games would be played before their respective senior teams. This had been requested by clubs as it would help them ensure they had players available for their top side at all times. In spite of this there were no changes ultimately made at all to the scheduling with all senior matches played at Carlaw Park apart from rare exceptions. One reserve grade match was played at Carlaw Park most weekends with the other matches usually played at the nearby Auckland Domain.
The Auckland Rugby League decided at a meeting following the first round of the Roope Rooster competition that a new competition for senior teams spread over 5 weeks would take place. With the senior competition having reverted to 6 teams 2 seasons earlier the round robin was over relatively quickly leaving more time later in the season than had previously existed. The matches were to be unique in that they would be of 40 minutes duration with no interval. Most weeks two of the games would be played prior to an inter-provincial match. In the event of a tie the team that had the best for and against record would be declared the winners and a special trophy would be awarded.
It was also decided that force downs in teams own in goal and kicks that went dead in goal would be worth points in order to speed up the games. These rules were used in an annual competition in Sydney when there were no representative games on. Newton ultimately won this round and it was a key factor in them being given the opportunity to play against the touring St George team.
St George tour In September the St George team from Sydney toured the upper North Island. St George had finished runner up in the 1933 NSWRFL. Their first match was against the Auckland champion Devonport United team who they defeated 19–8. They then played a midweek match with Richmond Rovers who they lost to 8–13 and then Marist Old Boys who they also lost to 11–25.
Following this they departed on a tour of Rotorua to see the geothermal sites before playing South Auckland in Huntly where they won by 17 points to 5. They then travelled to New Plymouth where they had a 22 points to 14 win over Taranaki.
St George returned to Auckland to complete their tour where they played Newton Rangers in a midweek match which they won 30 points to 23, followed by a return match with Richmond on the Saturday. There had been some debate as to who the last match would be played against. Newton had had a solid season putting in some strong performances and they were arguably the most improved side in Auckland. They had also been the first club to request a match with the touring side however the strongest performing sides had all been matched up with St George first and this last match of the tour was only confirmed at the end of the tour. Following the match with Newton the St George team was entertained by the New Zealand Rugby League at a dinner. Tribute was paid to the “sporting spirit” that the team had shown and a “hand-some engraved shield” was presented to the team by H Wamsley who had made it himself. The shield was to be played for in an annual competition between clubs from Sydney and the Auckland Province. Whilst in Auckland several members of the team along with the manager Mr. J. H. Mostyn visited Sacred Heart College where Mr. Mostyn gave an address to the students on football. Following their last match the team departed for Sydney on the Wanganella Ship at 5pm which meant that the match with Richmond kicked off at the earlier time of 2:45pm. Richmond won the match by 5 points to 3. Prior to the match a running race was held between Len Brennan and Bernard Martin of the touring side and several members of local clubs. It was run from try line to try line and Martin won the race by a foot from Adams (Devonport) in a time of 12.15 seconds with Brennan finishing third. Brennan was killed ten years later in 1943 when the plane he was in was shot down over Italy during World War II.
Tour matches Prior to the opening match with Devonport a minutes silence was observed for Ray Morris the Australian rugby league player who got an ear infection and then meningitis while swimming in Colombo on the way to England for the Australian tour. He had disembarked in Malta to get surgery but died from complications at the age of 25. His funeral was taking place in the same day in Sydney.
Carlaw Park