| Clubname: | Auckland |
| Fullname: | Auckland |
| Founded: | 1908 |
| Ground: | Mount Smart Stadium |
| Ground2: | Cornwall Park, Auckland |
| League: | National Competition |
| Premierships: | 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016 |
| Minorpremierships: | 2010, 2011 |
| Cup1: | Rugby League Cup |
| Cup1titles: | 1910–21, 1924–26, 1928–29, 1950–59, 1960, 1961, 1964–68, 1986–89, 1991, 1995–96, 2008–09, 2012–present |
The Auckland rugby league team is the team which traditionally represents all of the clubs which play in the Auckland Rugby League competition. As well as a senior men's team there are also Auckland representative teams throughout the various age groups such as under 15s, under 17s, under 19s and under 21s.
Under the new zone scheme introduced in 2010 the Auckland team represents the North Shore, East Auckland and West Auckland, while South Auckland is represented by the Counties Manukau rugby league team. The zone team is named the Akarana Falcons.[1]
Auckland played its first game on 24 August 1908 when they took on Wellington at Victoria Park, Auckland in the first provincial game of rugby league in New Zealand. The Auckland Rugby League had not yet been formed so the side was not an official one as such.[2]
Auckland had played against several touring teams over the years, though once the Auckland Warriors started playing in the 1995 ARL Premiership it diluted the standard of the representative side, and they have not played against full international sides in recent years. Auckland beat Australia, England and France in the space of 21 days in 1977. A feat which the Warriors commemorated by wearing replica strips in their clash with Australian club Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in round 24 of the 2007 NRL season on 26 August 2007. The Warriors won 36–14 in front of a packed Mount Smart Stadium.
The Akarana Falcons participate in the Albert Baskerville Trophy. This team represents the Hibiscus Coast Raiders, Richmond Bulldogs, Mt Wellington Warriors, Ponsonby Ponies, Glenora Bears, Ellerslie Eagles, Mt Albert Lions, Te Atatu Roosters, Bay Roskill Vikings, Northcote Tigers, Marist Saints, East Coast Bays Barracudas, Pt Chevalier Pirates, Waitemata Seagulls, Glenfield Greyhounds, New Lynn Stags and the Waiheke Rams.[3]
Auckland representative sides traditionally wear a blue jersey with a white double 'V', in the same style of the New Zealand national rugby league team jersey but with blue instead of black, this is still the jersey worn by the Auckland Vulcans NSW Cup team.
The team for the match was: (fullback) Alf Chorley; (three-quarters) L Nolan, George Smith, Albert Asher; (five-eights) Alfred Jackson, Ronald MacDonald; (halfback) Len Farrant; (forwards) Fred Jackson (captain), Charles Dunning, Jim Griffin, Alex Stanaway, Harry Fricker, and George Seagar. The emergency players named were (backs) Sid Riley, Arthur Carlaw; (forwards) Joe Bennett, Jim Rukutai, and Bob Mitchell.
Auckland won their first victory over an ‘international’ side when they defeated New South Wales by 10 points to 3. The game was marred by several acts of violence with the visiting side said to be at fault repeatedly. Near the end of the match Sid Deane was sent off for punching Billy Curran.
New South Wales reversed their earlier loss with a comprehensive win over a disappointing Auckland effort. Charles Dunning and Bob Mitchell who had both been named to play originally were forced to withdraw due to illness and were replaced by Harry Fricker and Jim Griffin.
The Australian University team was made up of players from Sydney University and Brisbane University.
Auckland played the touring New South Wales team in front of 20,000 spectators at the Auckland Domain but was heavily defeated with Australian legend Frank Burge running in 5 tries.
A few days after the match with New South Wales an Auckland provincial team took on the touring side. The Auckland team was largely made up of Auckland club players but also included Bill Te Whata who had played in Australia for the New Zealand Māori side, and a handful of others from the Waikato including former Auckland player Tim Peckham. They lost a tight match by 21 points to 20. Frank Burge was ordered off for disputing Wilson's try late in the match.
Frank Delgrosso had to come on the replace George Davidson after he collided badly with teammate Clarrie Polson when they were both going after the ball. Polson received a bad cut over his eye and he also later had to retire and was replaced by Billy Ghent.
There is film footage of the match taken by Tarr Film and archived on the New Zealand Archive of Film, television and Sound Ngā Taonga website.[4] In scoring on halftime Ben Davidson was knocked out. At the start of the second half Auckland attempted to replace him with Lou Brown who ran out on to the field. However the England captain when seeing this objected as replacements were forbidden in the second half of rugby league matches at this time. Auckland were forced to play with 12 players for a time until Davidson recovered well enough to return to the field.
The entire Auckland Provincial team were Auckland club players aside from Joe Menzies.
Australian legend Dave Brown who was renowned for his point scoring feats and was referred to as "the Bradman of league" scored 10 of Australia's 16 points. This was the first match Australia had played in New Zealand since their 1919 tour.
The Auckland team had been selected by Bert Avery and coached by Bert Cooke. Auckland competed well against a very strong England team before going down 22–16. Walter Cuthbert donated a trophy (a cap) for the best Auckland player which was selected by an Mr. R.F. Anderton, the touring teams co-manager as being Steve Watene. It was presented to him at the Auckland annual prize giving in November.[5] [6]
1946
1949
1953
1954
1955
1960
1961
1962
1965
1969
1971
1974
1975
1977
1980
1981
1985
1988
1989
1990
1949, Auckland Colts 16 Australia 30 (Carlaw Park)1984, Auckland 16 Great Britain 14 (Carlaw Park)
This does not include matches by Auckland Province which typically had players from the Waikato region in the early decades as it was a sub-union of Auckland. It also does not include matches by or between Auckland Pākehā and Auckland Māori.
| width=60 | Season | width=15 abbr="Played" | Played | width=15 abbr="Won" | W | width=15 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=15 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=600 abbr="Opponents" | Opponents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 50 | +3 | v Wellington (x2), Taranaki (x2) | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 74 | 55 | +19 | v New Zealand Māori, Taranaki (x2), Wellington | ||||||||||
| 1908-09 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 127 | 105 | +22 | ||||||||||
| 1910 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 250 | 167 | +83 | v Rotorua, Great Britain, Auckland B, Wanganui, Bluff, Southland, Otago/Southland, Nelson, Hawke's Bay, Dannevirke | |||||||||
| 1911 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 198 | 109 | +89 | v New Zealand (x2), Wellington, Lower Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay Māori, Waihi/Rotorua | |||||||||
| 1912 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 163 | 107 | +56 | v Thames/Goldfields, New Zealand, Hawke's Bay, Rotorua, Wellington, Waikato, New Zealand Māori, New South Wales (x2) | |||||||||
| 1913 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 189 | 142 | +47 | v Waikato Country, Taranaki (x2), Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Canterbury, North Shore Albions, Wellington (x2), New South Wales | |||||||||
| 1914 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 86 | 54 | +32 | v England, Waikato, Taranaki, Wellington | |||||||||
| 1915 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 60 | -14 | v Thames (x2), Lower Waikato | |||||||||
| 1916 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No matches played due to the war | |||||||||
| 1917 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 20 | +3 | v Military Camps | |||||||||
| 1918 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 9 | +35 | v Canterbury | |||||||||
| 1919 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 89 | 96 | -7 | v New Zealand, Returned Soldiers, Hawke's Bay, Australia | |||||||||
| 1910-19 | 51 | 37 | 0 | 14 | 1089 | 764 | +325 | ||||||||||
| 1920 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 16 | +62 | v Rest of New Zealand, England | |||||||||
| 1921 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 270 | 126 | +144 | v New Zealand, Wellington (x2), Hawke's Bay, King Country, South Auckland (x2), West Coast, Canterbury | |||||||||
| 1922 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 253 | 222 | +31 | v New Zealand Māori, Australian Universities (x3), Cambridge, Hawke's Bay, South Auckland (x2), New South Wales (x2), Bay of Plenty | |||||||||
| 1923 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 192 | 74 | +118 | v Wellington, Hamilton, South Auckland (x2), Auckland Province | |||||||||
| 1924 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 62 | 68 | -6 | v Australian Universities (x3), England, South Auckland | |||||||||
| 1925 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 104 | 110 | -6 | ||||||||||
| 1926 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 194 | 102 | +92 | v South Auckland (x2), Rest of New Zealand, New Zealand, Otago, Canterbury | |||||||||
| 1927 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 240 | 130 | +110 | v New Zealand (Auckland members only), Canterbury, West Coast, Otago, Wellington, Buller, South Auckland | |||||||||
| 1928 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 202 | 126 | +76 | v South Auckland (x3), Canterbury, England, Otago, North Auckland | |||||||||
| 1929 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 45 | +35 | v South Auckland, Northland, Canterbury | |||||||||
| 1920-29 | 59 | 40 | 3 | 16 | 1675 | 1019 | +656 | ||||||||||
| 1930 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 63 | -3 | v Northland, South Auckland, New Zealand | |||||||||
| 1931 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 19 | 0 | v Northland | |||||||||
| 1932 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 78 | 40 | 38 | v South Auckland, England, South Auckland | |||||||||
| 1933 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 177 | 108 | +69 | v Taranaki (x2), South Auckland (x2), North Auckland, West Coast, Hawke's Bay | |||||||||
| 1934 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 36 | +53 | v Taranaki, Northland, South Auckland | |||||||||
| 1935 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 172 | 95 | +77 | v Taranaki, Auckland B, Wellington, West Coast, Canterbury, Australia | |||||||||
| 1936 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 41 | 44 | -3 | v Wellington, England | |||||||||
| 1937 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 74 | 65 | +9 | v South Auckland, Taranaki, New Zealand Māori | |||||||||
| 1938 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 116 | 49 | +67 | v Rest of New Zealand, New Zealand, Canterbury | |||||||||
| 1939 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 26 | +23 | v South Auckland, Wellington | |||||||||
| 1930-39 | 33 | 25 | 1 | 7 | 875 | 545 | +330 | ||||||||||
| 1940 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No matches were played by Auckland. Auckland Māori and Auckland Pākēha teams did play matches. | |||||||||
| 1941 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 29 | +22 | v South Auckland (x2) | |||||||||
| 1942 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 16 | +33 | v South Auckland | |||||||||
| 1943 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 50 | -26 | v South Auckland (x2) | |||||||||
| 1944 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 17 | +29 | v South Auckland (x2) | |||||||||
| 1945 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 173 | 51 | +122 | v South Auckland (x2), Wellington (x2), West Coast | |||||||||
| 1908-45 | 163 | 116 | 4 | 43 | 4,109 | 2,586 | +1,523 |
| width=240 | Opponent | width=15 abbr="Played" | Played | width=15 abbr="Won" | W | width=15 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=15 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 25 | 46 | ||||||||
| Auckland Province | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 15 | 29 | ||||||||
| Australia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 40 | -16 | ||||||||
| Australian Universities | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 89 | 70 | +19 | ||||||||
| Bay of Plenty | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 26 | +7 | ||||||||
| Bluff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 12 | +30 | ||||||||
| Buller | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 33 | +27 | ||||||||
| Cambridge | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 29 | +44 | ||||||||
| Canterbury | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 356 | 142 | +214 | ||||||||
| Dannevirke | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 8 | +16 | ||||||||
| England | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 92 | 141 | -49 | ||||||||
| Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 52 | -43 | ||||||||
| Hawke's Bay | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 222 | 80 | +142 | ||||||||
| Hawke's Bay Māori | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 10 | +12 | ||||||||
| Hamilton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 16 | +6 | ||||||||
| King Country | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 25 | +33 | ||||||||
| Lower Waikato | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 77 | 49 | +28 | ||||||||
| Military Camps | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 20 | +3 | ||||||||
| New South Wales | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 39 | 95 | -56 | ||||||||
| New Zealand | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 202 | 240 | -38 | ||||||||
| New Zealand (Auckland members) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 21 | 3 | ||||||||
| New Zealand Māori | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 90 | 91 | -1 | ||||||||
| Nelson | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 27 | +49 | ||||||||
| North Shore Albions | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 13 | +1 | ||||||||
| Northland | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 142 | 88 | +54 | ||||||||
| Otago | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 39 | +37 | ||||||||
| Otago-Southland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 18 | +12 | ||||||||
| Queensland | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 0 | ||||||||
| Rest of New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 142 | 42 | +100 | ||||||||
| Returned Soldiers WW1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 26 | -2 | ||||||||
| Rotorua | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 27 | +4 | ||||||||
| South Auckland (northern Waikato) | 32 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 743 | 468 | +275 | ||||||||
| Southland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 12 | +5 | ||||||||
| Taranaki | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 310 | 159 | +151 | ||||||||
| Thames-Goldfields | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18 | -6 | ||||||||
| Thames | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 41 | -1 | ||||||||
| Waihi-Rotorua | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 10 | +10 | ||||||||
| Waikato | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 10 | +60 | ||||||||
| Waikato Country | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 | +2 | ||||||||
| Whanganui | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 14 | +1 | ||||||||
| West Coast | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 157 | 65 | +92 | ||||||||
| Wellington | 17 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 466 | 253 | +253 | ||||||||
| Total | 163 | 116 | 4 | 43 | 4,109 | 2,586 | +1,523 |
In 1936 the first ever match was played between Auckland Pākehā and Auckland Māori. It became an annual fixture thanks largely to the efforts of the Manukau club which successfully recruited brilliant Māori footballers from around the Auckland region and much of the North Island. Some of those players included Jack Hemi, Angus Gault, Frank Pickrang, Jack Brodrick, Tom Chase, Jack Broughton, Tame Kawe, Pita Ririnui, George Nepia, Jim Murray, Aubrey Thompson, George Shilton and many others.