1927 Auckland Rugby League season
The 1927 Auckland Rugby League season was its 18th. Newton defeated Ponsonby by 6 points to 3 in the championship final to win the Monteith Shield after both teams finished the season tied with identical 8 win, 1 draw, 3 loss records. This was the second time Newton had won the championship in 18 efforts, with the first being in 1912 and was to be their last after they merged decades later with City Rovers and the combined team ceased in the early 2000s. Richmond won the Roope Rooster knockout trophy for the second consecutive season. Newton Rangers defeated Richmond to win the Stormont Shield.

Ellerslie won the Norton Cup by winning the second division competition, known as the B Grade at this time. They were undefeated and also won the Stallard Cup which was the B Grade knockout trophy. Interestingly the league played a 'promotion-relegation' match, with Ellerslie by virtue of winning the Norton Cup for winning the B Grade playing off with Grafton, who had finished last in the A Grade. Ellerslie won 11–3 over Grafton thus winning the right to compete in the A grade competition in the 1928 season. Despite this there was still considerable discussion at the annual general meeting the following year as to whether or not Ellerslie be admitted to the A Grade. It was eventually decided that they would be, with Grafton dropping to the B Grade.
Other trophies awarded (at the 1928 annual general meeting of the Auckland Rugby League) were the Davis Points Shield to Richmond, the Thistle Cup to Newton, and a special cup for the best forward to W.Clark from Newton.
Auckland rugby league news
Transfers
A McIntyre who had been playing in Sydney joined the Newton club.
Annual meetings of Auckland Rugby League
The annual report for the 1927 season stated that the total revenue for Auckland Rugby League was £5,597, with £4,216 taken at the gates.[1] At the annual meeting of the Junior Management Committee of the Auckland Rugby League on 23 March it was stated in their report that junior players exceeded 1,500. It was also reported that the Remuera League Club was being revived. They had fielded two junior teams in 1914, and appeared to have the numbers to enter two junior teams in the 1927 season.[2]

On 10 August the Auckland Rugby League Chairman, Mr. W.J. Hammill tendered his resignation for business reasons. He had occupied the position for five years. He was congratulated on his contribution to the game and made a life member of the League. Mr. George Rhodes was elected as the new chairman of the Management Committee.[3]
Representative season
Auckland began the season with a match against the returning members of the New Zealand team that had toured England from August 1926 to January 1927. There was some controversy in that Joe Menzies had played for the 'New Zealand team' despite being from the South Auckland (Waikato) province and the New Zealand Rugby League questioned the Auckland Rugby League on the selection. One possible reason for his selection may have been the fact that Arthur Singe had been banned for life after going on strike during the tour along with 6 other players. This meant that there was one less Auckland forward to pick for the match. Auckland won the game 24–21. They went on a southern tour later in the season and played matches against Canterbury, West Coast, Otago, and Wellington. After their return to Auckland they played against Buller and South Auckland. They lost the Northern Union Challenge Cup to South Auckland in their final game of the season.
John Albert Endean
John Albert Endean died after a long illness in August. He had been involved in many sports including rowing, rugby union where he played for the City club and was involved as an official later. He was also well involved with the founding of rugby league in Auckland. He was a former vice patron of Auckland Rugby League. He left behind a wife and 5 young daughters. One of his daughters, Joan had ceremonially kicked off the 1926 season at Carlaw Park.[4]
Bill Williams
Former New Zealand international and Newton Rangers and Fire Brigade club footballer Bill Williams was tragically killed on 21 November 1927 aged just 28. The 12 ft mullet yacht he was sailing capsized on its way from Milford on Auckland’s North Shore to Islington Bay on Rangitoto Island.[5][6] Williams who was said to be a good sailor had persuaded Stanley John Easdown to go with him to Islington Bay to go fishing and shooting. They later saw James Bowman at Milford and he asked them if he could also go.[7] The lone survivor (Easdown) went through harrowing conditions both in the water and once ashore on Rangitoto Island in an attempt to find help. A search failed to find either William's body or that of James Bowman.[8] WIlliams was a second rower and hooker. He had played 21 matches for New Zealand from 1919 to 1921, 5 matches for Auckland from 1918 to 1921, 59 matches for Newton Rangers from 1915 to 1922 along with 3 games for Fire Brigade in 1921 before transferring back to Newton.
Williams was married and living in Takapuna at the time with his wife and family.
Monteith Shield (first grade championship)
Monteith Shield standings
Monteith Shield resultsAfter two completed rounds Newton and Ponsonby were both tied on 19 competition points. This necessitated a final between the two sides and this was won by Newton 6–3. Round 1Jim O'Brien and J Stormont (ex-Marist players) had both retired from the game and were spectators at the match between Marist and Grafton. However, after watching they decided to come out of retirement and resume playing for their old team. Meanwhile Craddock Dufty returned to play for Newton after 5 years with Grafton Athletic.
Round 2Prior to round 2 Wigan made an offer to Lou Brown of the City side, while Ben Davidson had reportedly received one from Hull.
Round 3![]() Ponsonby v City showing Tim Peckham and Billy Ghent.
Round 4![]() Ponsonby v Marist.
Round 5The Devonport v Richmond match was played on the Friday as part of the King's Birthday celebrations. It was notable for the fact that 4 players were ordered off. Neville St George who had had words with the referee was sent from the field, two minutes later Stewart from Richmond joined him and Stan Prentice (Richmond), and Jim O'Brien (Devonport) soon followed. Leslie Knott scored two tries for Marist. At the end of the season he became the Auckland singles tennis champion and New Zealand doubles champion before moving to Australia to advance his career.
Round 6City were without the services of Lou Brown, Maurice Wetherill, G Brown, Nelson Bass and Alf Townsend and were soundly beaten by Marist. Frank Delgrosso of Ponsonby was ordered off in their match with Devonport.
Round 7City had lost the services of Lou Brown and Ben Davidson who had both been signed by Wigan during the week. They would depart for England later in the month. In their match with Devonport two players for Newton left the field injured during the second half leaving them with 11 players.
Round 8City were further weakened after Alf Townsend was transferred to Dunedin permanently for work during the week. In the Marist match with Grafton, N King broke a bone in his hand and had to leave the field.
Round 9City sought to strengthen their side due to the large number of players who had departed. They signed Godkin, a Bay of Plenty rugby player, Pascoe a Manukau rugby player, and E Spencer a league representative from the Waimairi club in Canterbury. H Mason also joined the City side from Huntly (Len Mason's brother). Devonport captain Jim O'Brien was ordered off in their loss to Marist. At the conclusion of the match the referee (H. Taylor) was escorted from the field by two police officers as several spectators crowded and heckled him. Taylor had replaced W. Ripley as referee after Ripley fell ill before the match. The match between Newton and Ponsonby at the Auckland Domain was postponed due to the ground being unfit for play. The following weekend saw all games suspended and the postponed match played at Carlaw Park. Ironically rain fell throughout the match and the field "was badly churned up as the game progressed".[34]
Round 10Richmond lost captain Jim Parkes who was moving back to Christchurch to join the Hornby club. The match between Devonport and Grafton was postponed due to the unfit nature of the field at the Auckland Domain. It was played on the following weekend at Devonport with other fixtures from that round not played due to the Auckland Rugby League making Carlaw Park available for the soccer match between New Zealand and Canada. Ponsonby fielded 3 brothers, future New Zealand international Tim Peckham, and his older brother Joseph, and younger brother Kenneth.
Round 11
Round 12
Round 13![]()
Round 14
Final
Roope Rooster knockout competitionRound 1Craddock Dufty and captain W Clarke were both out injured from the Newton side for their match with Marist. Hamilton went off injured for City meaning they had to finish the match with Richmond with 12 players. The scores were tied at the end of the match 17–17 so 5 minutes extra time was played with Telford scoring and Carroll converting to win the game for Richmond. This was the first time extra time had been used to decide a game in an Auckland Rugby League senior competition. Usually matches were replayed the following week.
Semi finalsThe Auckland representative team had left for their southern tour and so all teams were fielding greatly weakened sides. Holmes, a rugby representative three-quarter signed for Devonport just before their game with Ponsonby.
Final![]()
Stormont Memorial ShieldNewton won the match by 25 points to 14, but the match was noteworthy due to the large number of injuries suffered. G. Norman the Newton captain was concussed and had his jaw broken, Dick Stack fractured his leg, W. Rhodes broke his collar-bone, and Wally Somers sprained his ankle. The first three players were all taken to Auckland Hospital, while Somers was taken home.[60] Stacks leg injury was so bad in fact that his leg had to be amputated and he spent many months in hospital. There were several matches in the following season used to raise funds for him and his family.
A Grade/B Grade promotion-relegation matchAt the conclusion of the A and B division competitions the last placed Grafton Athletic from the A Division played against the winners of the B Division Ellerslie for the right to compete in the A Division in 1928. Ellerslie won the match by 11 points to 3 thus earning themselves a place in A Division and forcing Grafton Athletic to play in the lower grade. This was the first time in Auckland Rugby League competition that such a match had been played.
Top try scorers and point scorersTop try and point scorers for A Division, Roope Rooster and Stormont Shield competitions.
B Division (Norton Cup) standings and resultsA large number of games did not have the scores reported in either The New Zealand Herald or the Auckland Star. As a result, the fixtures list is incomplete as is the final standings. Results are missing as follows, Kingsland x 2, Parnell x 1, Mangere x 4, Point Chevalier x 1, and Otahuhu x 1). In addition there were two cancelled matches. The Ellerslie win over Mangere is missing the score so Ellerslie and Mangere teams for and against is incomplete. B Division standings
B Division (Norton Cup) fixturesThe Round 8 match between Mangere and Northcote was not played due to the condition of the ground at Mangere, as was the Round 15 match between Otahuhu and Northcote at the Auckland Domain.
Stallard Cup knockout competition
Other club matches and lower gradesLower gradesThere were 9 lower grades in 1927 if you include the split grades. Grades were made of the following teams with the winning team in bold:
Primary Schools final standings
|