The 2025 season is the 117th season since the founding of the Auckland Rugby League in 1909.
The men's senior season began with a 3-round qualifying competition for the Fox Memorial Shield where there were 3 pools of 4, with the top 2 teams from each qualifying for the Fox Memorial Premier competition. Richmond Rovers, Papakura Sea Eagles, Te Atatu Roosters, and Point Chevalier Pirates automatically qualified due to finishing in the top 4 in the previous season. The six teams who finished in the top two and won qualification to join them were Otahuhu Leopards, Mount Albert Lions, Manukau Magpies, Bay Roskill Vikings, Marist Saints, and for the first time in many years the Ponsonby Ponies. The teams who had been in the first division who were in the Sharman Cup for 2025 were Howick Hornets, Glenora Bears, and Otara Scorpions. The Steele-Shanks Women's Premiership reduced from seven teams to five with Richmond Roses dropping into the championship (2nd division), and Otara, Taniwharau, and Pakuranga failing to field senior women's teams at all. The competition was made up of teams from Mount Albert, Papakura, Otahuhu, Marist, and Mangere East.
The Otahuhu Leopards completed a remarkable season when they won the Fox Memorial Shield for the 13th time following a hard fought 8-4 win over the Mt Albert Lions at Trusts Arena in Henderson on August 17. They went undefeated with 17 consecutive wins while their reserve grade side also went undefeated to win their championship. The Papakura Sea Eagles women's team went back to back when they beat the Mt Albert Lionesses 32-24.The Otara Scorpions caused an upset when they beat Hibiscus Coast Raiders 22-20 and ruined their undefeated run in the competition. It was the third time Otara had won the Sharman Cup. Joshua Tanielu was awarded the Fox Memorial Player of the Year award, being the first time in Bay Roskill's history that one of their players had won the award.
News Premier competitions The Fox Memorial Shield competition will begin after a 3-week Fox Qualifying competition. Due to covid disrupted seasons from 2020 to 2022 the Auckland Rugby League decided that “2023 and 2024 will work as a bridge between the 2022 shortened season and by 2025 will see a return to a more exclusive Fox Memorial Premiership competition”, with the 2025 season seeing only 10 teams in the Fox Memorial premiership, down from the 12 teams of 2023 and 2024.
Club teams and grade participation Glenfield and East Coast Bays fielded a combined team in the Under 16 grade. The 55 teams in the Manurewa club was an increase of six from the previous season. Overall there was an increase of 20 teams from the 2024 season though the teams in the senior grades (men's and women's Premiers and Reserve grade sides, Senior B's and Open Age Restricted) decreased from 72 in 2024 to 66 in 2025. TeamPremResOARSBMast1818G171616G151414G1313G1212G11109876TotalManurewa Marlins1111100111202422155566755Mangere East Hawks2100111012232214243534448Otara Scorpions1101200210111213024434337Otahuhu Leopards2111111111111202131431233Papakura Sea Eagles2101110010110112033333129Mount Albert Lions4111110021101102031221228Richmond Rovers2101111002202101212122328Te Atatu Roosters1000110011101112112333226Glenora Bears1010110000100201022223322Ellerslie Eagles0000100110111102012221118Marist Saints2100200000110101022111218Waitemata Seagulls2100100000000102103211116Pakuranga Jaguars1100101000100001012122115Glenfield Greyhounds100110000.50100011012111214.5Hibiscus Coast Raiders1100100000000001011222214Manukau Magpies1102300000000101010111114Point Chevalier Pirates1101000000020000011122214Northcote Tigers1100100000000101011211213Bay Roskill Vikings1101100010100101010100212New Lynn Stags0000100000100111201111112Papatoetoe Panthers0002010010000001101111111Howick Hornets1100100000000101010111110Pukekohe Pythons100000000000100100010116East Coast Bays Barricudas000110000.5000000000000114.5Ponsonby Ponies100000000000000000001013Waiuku Toa000100000000000000000113Tuakau Broncos000000000000000000000112Mt Wellington Warriors000010000000000000000001Rodney Rams000010000000000000000001Te Awa O Waikato000010000000000000000001Te Iti Reearea000001000000000000000001Waiheke Rams001000000000000000000001Total3016515289451281810122483411353947444651511
Fox Memorial Competition The men's premiership competition started on April 5 with a 3-round grading competition. There were 12 teams competing divided into 3 pools based on their seeding from their finishing positions at the end of the 2024 season.
Fox Memorial Qualifying The 3 pools for qualifying were as follows with seedings in brackets based on the 2024 finishing positions: Pool A Pool B Pool C (5) Otahuhu (6) Mt Albert (7) Manukau (10) Marist (9) Bay Roskill (8) Howick (11) Glenora (12) Otara (13) Northcote (18) Manurewa (15) Hibiscus Coast (14) Ponsonby
Pool A Standings TeamPldWDLFA%PtsOtahuhu Leopards3300272102626Marist Saints320113292404Manurewa Marlins310250174-1242Glenora Bears300338216-1780
Round 1 Otahuhu in all likelihood handed Glenora their heaviest senior team defeat in their 94-year history with a 110–0 victory. Thirteen separate players scored tries for Otahuhu with William Fakatoumafi kicking 16 goals to go with a try for 36 individual points. New signing Sebastine Ikahihifo, a former New Zealand Warrior and Huddersfield Giants player scored a double. Marist easily beat Manurewa 56–10 with William, Cyruss, and Elam Payne scoring the opening tries for the winners.
Round 2 The Manurewa v Otahuhu match was originally scheduled for Mountfort Park 1: Jack Shelly field but due to the wet weather it was closed and the match was transferred to Otahuhu's home ground of Bert Henham Park.
Round 3
Pool B Standings TeamPldWDLFA%PtsMount Albert Lions330012228946Bay Roskill Vikings32018084-44Otara Scorpions30125890-321Hibiscus Coast Raiders301246104-581
Round 1 Mount Albert recorded a comfortable 42–6 over Hibiscus Coast at Stanmore Bay in a match filmed by Petes Filming. Api Pewhairangi made his debut for the Lions. He had previously played for Parramatta Eels (2013), London Broncos (2016–18), and Te Atatu Roosters (2021–23) as well as representing Ireland. He had also played rugby union for Connacht and Ngati Porou East Coast. The game at Blockhouse Bay reserve saw Bay Roskill score first before Otara ran in four unconverted tries to lead 16–6 at half time. The second half saw the Vikings come back to score five tries to one and record a 14-point win.
Round 2
Round 3 Isaiah Fale scored a double for Mt Albert in their 34–16 win over Otara which secured their place in the Fox Memorial competition for 2025. Dion Fraser converted five of their six tries. Otara had led 6-4 until the 26th minute after an early converted try to Tovia Christopher Tovia. Former Bay Roskill junior, and Glenora and Richmond senior player Solomon Vasuvulagi scored one of Mount Albert's tries. At Blockhouse Bay Reserve the winner would make the Fox Memorial competition. Hibiscus Coast led 18–10 after 48 minutes following a scything run from Korey Craig for a try, however Bay Roskill rallied and scored five converted tries to win comfortably in the end. Former New Zealand Warrior, Ben Henry scoring in the 59th minute. Former professional player and NRL referee Henry Perenara scored Hibiscus Coast's opening try.
Pool C Standings TeamPldWDLFA%PtsManukau Magpies33009440546Ponsonby Ponies32017060104Howick Hornets31026492-282Northcote Tigers30035692-360
Round 1
Round 2 Manukau scored four first half tries to take an 18–0 lead at halftime. Northcote got the score to 22–12 after three unconverted tries but Manukau held them off to all but secure their place in the 2025 Fox Memorial competition. At Paparoa Park Ponsonby caused an upset 30–16 win over Howick. Amaramo Solomona scored a double for the winners with Charles Gabriel converting three of their six tries.
Round 3
Grading round top point scorers Grading round top point scorers (3 games) No Player Team T C P DG Pts1William FakatoumafiOtahuhu11510362Dion FraserMt Albert11500343=Tevita MikaeleOtahuhu6400323=Isileli UlaMarist21200325Joshua TanieluBay Roskill2110030
Fox Memorial Standings TeamPldWDLFAPDPtsOtahuhu Leopards12120052288+43424Mount Albert Lions12903320171+14918Manukau Magpies12813289202+8717Papakura Sea Eagles12804318277+4116Richmond Rovers12606312312012Bay Roskill Vikings12606288316-2812Point Chevalier Pirates12516354302+5211Marist Saints12309214374-1606Te Atatu Roosters121011207454-2472Ponsonby Ponies121011182510-3282 Fixtures Round 1 Papakura claimed the Stormont Shield for 2025 when they beat Richmond at Grey Lynn Park 30–26. The Stormont Shield match in recent years has been played in the opening round between the two Fox Memorial finalists from the previous season. Arthur Crichton scored a double while James Dowie kicked five goals to go with a try for the Sea Eagles. Siave Togoiu also scored against his former side. Marist caused something of an upset with a 30–26 win over Point Chevalier. Both teams scored five tries but the kicking of Doux Kauhiva was the difference with a 100% conversion rate. Second rower, Johnathan Falelua-Malio scored a double for Marist. At Jack Colvin Park, Ponsonby recorded a win in their first game in the first division for over 30 years. The match was for the Roope Rooster trophy with Ponsonby winning the trophy for the first time since 1973. Both teams also scored five tries each but Te Atatu was only able to convert one, while Charles Gabriel kicked four for the Ponies. At Fowlds Park the visiting Manukau side missed the services of injured Samuel Nati and were unable to score any tries in a 22–2 loss to a Mount Albert side which defended strongly. Dion Fraser scored a try and kicked three goals for the winners.
Round 2 Marist trailed Richmond 30-0 after 48 minutes but fought back to make the score a more respectable 30-16. Trujon Nomani-Brown and Waikare Ratima both scored doubles for Richmond who claimed the Eddie Poching Memorial Cup. At Blockhouse Bay Reserve the teams traded tries in the first half with the Vikings taking an 18-16 lead into the break. The Vikings defence held the Ponies out for 39 second half minutes and ran in three tries to claim a ten point win. Xavier Tutaki scored twice for the home side with prolific point scorer Joshua Tanielu kicking four goals to go with a try. Manukau hung around against Papakura at Moyle Park and with 7 minutes to go only trailed 22-16 but the Sea Eagles sealed the win with a late try to Jarney Proctor. Te Atatu scored the upset of the round holding Mt Albert scoreless from the 30th minute to come back from 14-6 down to win 21-14. Zensei Inu organised the backline well with France Leger's clever kicking causing trouble and leading to Patrick Ioane-Unasa's winning try in the right corner following a Leger break and angled kick. Jeremiah Poutu scored a double for Mt Albert against his former team of the past two seasons. At Bert Henham Park, Otahuhu won their fifth straight game clearing out to a 20-6 halftime lead and scoring three more second half tries against a new look Point Chevalier side.
Round 3