1923 Auckland Rugby League season
The 1923 season of the Auckland Rugby League was its 15th. The First Grade competition featured 7 teams with the Fire Brigade club who featured in it in 1922 not entering a team.
First grade winners
City Rovers won their 6th championship title and the 3rd in succession after defeating Athletic 8–7 in the final. With a round to play City was only 2 competition points ahead of Athletic so it was decided to play a final to decide the champions. The match was played on Carlaw Park in front of an enormous crowd of 11,500 with £325 received in gate takings.[1] City were the second team to win three consecutive titles after Ponsonby United had won the competition in 1917, 1918, and 1919. It was to be 61 years until it happened again with Mt Albert winning the title from 1984–86 before Northcote won 4 titles from 1991–94, Glenora 3 titles from 1997–99, and Pt Chevalier won 3 titles from 2013–15.
Ponsonby won the Roope Rooster Knockout competition for the second straight year and their third time in the competitions history after defeating City Rovers 14–3 in the final.
Representative team
The Auckland representative team played 5 matches for 4 wins and a 20–20 draw. The draw was arguably the most significant result as it was in a match for the Northern Union Challenge Cup against South Auckland. Auckland had lost the cup to the same opposition the previous season and as the match was drawn South Auckland retained it. The two teams met again at the end of the season at Carlaw Park which Auckland won convincingly however the cup was not being played for as it was only defended at the holders home ground.
Manukau rugby league team
Near the end of the season the Manukau and Māngere clubs sent a letter to the Auckland Rugby League which was read at the management committee meeting on 29 August. It stated that the two clubs had decided to amalgamate and would enter a team in the senior grade the following year provided permission was granted, which it was. The Manukau club is the Manukau club of today, though the Mangere club is not related to the modern day Mangere East who were not founded until 1963. The Manukau club were located in their early decades in the Onehunga area before moving much later to their current location at Moyle Park. The clubs did however remain separate and compete as separate entities the following year. Māngere had previously been known as Māngere Rangers previously however and became known as Māngere United until they ceased to exist at the end of 1934.
Monteith Shield (1st grade championship)
The 1923 First Grade Championship was arguably the most keenly fought in the competitions history to this point with three teams in the hunt for the title up until the last two weeks. Marist Old Boys who were in a good position to win the title lost in the 12th and 13th rounds and bowed out of contention, leaving City Rovers and Athletics to contend. It was ultimately won by City Rovers who finished the season with a 10 win and 2 loss record, as did Athletic, with a final being required to determine the winner. City won by the narrowest of margins 8–7 to go back to back.
Monteith Shield standings
A final was played between City Rovers and Athletic after the round robin to decide the title with City winning 8 points to 7 in front of 11,500 spectators at Carlaw Park. Monteith Shield fixturesThe First Grade season was particularly close right until the end. In the final round the step was made to play both games on Carlaw Park number 1 field for the first time (usually one match was always played on the number 2 field at the same time). If Athletic had defeated City Rovers in the main match they would have won the championship for the first time however they lost to City which forced a final to be played the following week between the same two teams and City were again victorious to claim their 3rd straight championship. Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8Ponsonby defaulted their match with Newton after they could only manage 8 players.
Round 9
Round 10Richmond defaulted their match with City as they had a large number of players injured or ill.
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13
Round 14The match between City and Athletic saw two forwards ordered off, one from each team. Hec McDonald the future Kiwi debuted for City in the match after being drawn to Auckland from the Waikato.
Championship final
Roope Rooster knockout competition![]() Thomas McClymont ![]() Ivan Littlewood Round 1Athletic had a forward ordered off early in their match with Devonport United but still managed to lead at halftime before conceding the lead and the match in the second half.
Semi finals
Final
Top try scorers and point scorersThese lists include tries and points scored in the first grade competition and the Roope Rooster knockout competition. A Goddick of the Devonport who scored 6 tries during the season later moved to Fiji to live and help promote the game of rugby union there.[51]
Other senior club matches and competitionsAthletic v Wednesday representative teamDuring the season a Wednesday afternoon competition was played and it was decided to play a match between Athletic who had a bye and a representative team from that competition as curtain-raiser to the City Rovers – Marist Old Boys match.
Labour Day Carnival and charity sevens tournamentOn 20 October there was a carnival held at Carlaw Park with 7 a-side football on one field and seven-a-side rugby league on the other. There were three first round matches played with Richmond, Athletic A, and Devonport victorious. Richmond received a bye in the semi-finals and met Athletic in the final who they defeated 5 points to 0. The following weekend another seven-a-side tournament was held at Carlaw Park to raise money for the Takapuna Orphanage which was destroyed by fire. Unfortunately the weather was particularly bad in the morning which had an effect on the attendance with only 1,000 spectators. The teams were supposed to composed of senior players but in reality were largely made up of junior players.
Exhibition matchesOn June 2 Marist had a bye and so travelled to Hamilton to play a local Hamilton representative side. Hamilton won 28-13 against a Marist team missing 5 of its regular players.
Richmond travelled to Taumarunui towards the end of the season when they had a bye in the First Grade competition and were victorious against the local side by 14 points to 5. On 15 September the Athletic and Parnell 4th grade teams played a match in Whangarei which was the first time and organised game of rugby league had been played in the area. As both of the teams were composed of junior players, the game was not of a high standard and gained little interest.
Lower gradesThere were 8 lower grade competitions in 1923 with the 6th grade split into an A and B division, while the Cadets competition ran again and a Wednesday Competition was also run featuring businesses and professions. Second gradeCity Rovers won the competition after defeating Māngere Rangers 16-3 on September 8. Earlier in the season on June 2 the two sides drew 6-6 but the match was later awarded to Mangere as City had an "unqualified" player. The standings are incomplete with most teams playing around 14 matches but less than half were reported. On August 14 with the competition nearing its end the New Zealand Herald reported that Māngere were on 20 points, City 16, and Otahuhu and Kingsland were on 14. City had 2 games in hand and it appears Māngere must have lost their last match with City winning both of there's and forcing a playoff for the competition on September 8, which they won. Māngere won the knockout competition (Foster Memorial Shield). Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers withdrew after 7 rounds and had defaulted at least two matches to that point.
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