The 1944 Auckland Rugby League season was its 36th. The Auckland Rugby League allowed the Point Chevalier club to enter the first grade competition which meant that it was an even ten teams. There was no reserve grade competition as the war affected adult playing numbers once more. Several former senior players were killed along with others who had played or been involved in Auckland rugby league.

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. (October 2022)

The City Rovers won the Fox Memorial first grade championship for the 8th time in their history, however it was their first championship for 19 years after last winning it in 1925. Their titles prior to 1944 were in 1910, 1911, 1916, 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1925. City also won the Rukutai Shield for being in the lead at the conclusion of the first round of the championship. It looked as though their season might be derailed at the halfway point when they protested the suspension of Eugene Donovan who was sent off in a match against Richmond for back chatting experienced referee G. Kelly. City refused to play their round 12 and round 13 matches and lost by default as a result. The league then informed them that they were disqualified from the championship and would be awarded no further competition points regardless of their results according to rules laid out in their constitution regarding successive unfulfilled fixtures. They had a change of mind however and allowed them to compete for the championship. City won their last 5 matches to force a playoff for the championship with Mount Albert United who were level with them on 26 competition points. City won the match 17 to 7 to claim the title.

Ponsonby United won the Roope Rooster knockout trophy for the 6th time when they beat North Shore Albions in the final 19-13 on October 14. Both teams had had disappointing Fox Memorial seasons but Ponsonby had steadily improved in the second half of the competition, particularly after their coach, Arthur Kay came out of retirement to take the playing field.

City won their third trophy of the season when they defeated Ponsonby 15-11 in the Stormont Shield champion of champions match on October 21 to conclude the season. The Phelan Shield was not competed for owing to the length of the season.

Once again the representative season was relatively short, in part due to the length of the club season, but also because there were restrictions on war time travel, especially by rail. Teams needed to be given government permits to travel and the West Coast was unable to obtain one of these for an intended visit to Carlaw Park, and Wellington had the same issue. Auckland beat South Auckland (Waikato) 36 to 5 at Carlaw Park, however a weakened Auckland side with 4 clubs playing in Roope Rooster matches in the same day lost the return match in Huntly 12-10. Auckland Māori defeated Auckland Pākehā 18 to 13 in what had become an annual fixture at Carlaw Park on September 9. The North Island – South Island fixture was played for the first time since 1939 season before a crowd of 16,000 with the North Island winning 43 to 15 with 10 of the 13 North Island players from Auckland.

Prior to the annual meeting the 34th annual report was released. It stated that "from a financial point of view the league is making steady progress. The total assets are £10,785, from which must be deducted liabilities amounting to £1,519. Assets show and increase of £42, and liabilities a decrease of £416. The surplus for the season was £223". There had been an increase of £4320 in revenue due to better attendance at matches at Carlaw Park, and also through hiring the park out during the off-season to sports such as baseball.^[1] They had collected gate receipts of £3,972 from club games and the three representative matches "which compared very favourably with the best seasons".^[2]

The annual meeting was held on Tuesday, March 28 in the League Rooms on Courthouse Lane at 7:30 pm.^[3] At the meeting chairman Mr. J.W. Watson said "we are providing football for 1300 players every Saturday". He went on to say that the schoolboys' organisation had a very successful season with 30 teams in the competition. The organisation had "done splendid work for the boys. They had decided to set up a board of control to govern schoolboy football, which would be similar to the junior board of control". He went on to say that "there were 10 junior teams, with about 600 players. He urged the senior clubs to take a greater interest in the juniors. In the senior grade they had nine teams, with about 150 players. The large number of players in the game showed... how wide flung the activities of the Rugby League were". He also paid tribute to the work of the referees and believed that "after the war there would be a great swing to sport of all kinds. At present there were just enough playing grounds, and he considered the local bodies should provide more grounds for the future". Mr. Dickson made reference to the illness of the president and former chairman Mr. G. Grey Campbell, "and a unanimous vote of sympathy was passed, with wishes for a speedy recovery".^[2]

The following officers were elected: Patron, Mr. J.B. Donald; vice patron, Mr. J.F.W. Dickson; president Mr. George Grey Campbell; vice presidents, Sir Ernest Davis, Messrs J. Donald, C. Drysdale, H. Grange, R.J. Laird, W.J. Lovett, MP Frederick William (Bill) Schramm, W. Wallace, J.L. Coakley, T.G. Symonds, G.T. Wright, R.H. Wood, H. Walmsley, Joe Sayegh, Richard (Dick) H. Benson, Allan J Moody, H.W. Gray, B Brigham, N. Kyle, L.H. Heard, F.J. Osborne, J.R. Simpson, R. Newport, Joseph Patrick Moodabe; trustees Messrs J.W. Watson, Edward John (Ted) Phelan, A. Stormont; chairman Mr. J.W. Watson; deputy-chairman, Mr. Edward John Phelan; auditors, Messrs Garrard and Bennett; honorary solicitor, Mr. H.M. Rogerson; delegate to New Zealand Rugby League, Mr. R. Doble; club delegates to board of control Messrs Jim Clark, T. Davis, W.J. Probert and D. Wilkie; honorary secretary Mr. Ivan Culpan; honorary treasurer Mr. R. Doble.^[4] In October Mr. T. Davis resigned from his position on the board of control. Mr. F.T. McAneny was appointed in his position for the remainder of the season.^[5]

Ten teams were nominated for the senior Fox Memorial championship: Manukau, Richmond, Ponsonby, Newton, Marist, City, North Shore, Otahuhu, Mt Albert, and Point Chevalier. All of these teams had taken part in the previous season with the exception of Point Chevalier who had applied to join. The Auckland Rugby League at their board of control meeting on March 28 decided to ask the club to send two officials to the next board meeting to give information as to the playing strength of the team.^[4] The application of Point Chevalier was accepted to participate in the preliminary round which would begin on April 15. They were to play the curtain raiser to the principal match on the main field at Carlaw Park against Otahuhu. As there would now be 5 senior matches per round one would need to be played away from Carlaw Park each week and in the first round of preliminary games the Richmond match with Marist was scheduled for Grey Lynn Park.^[6]

At the May 10 meeting of the board of control it was recommended by the Senior Club Officers Association that during the 1944 season senior clubs should be allowed to play first juniors (second grade players) as seniors and vice versa without the requirement for them to be regraded. The recommendation was accepted.^[7] At the May 24 meeting it was suggested by the Referees Association that teams in the early games at Carlaw Park remain on the field at halftime and not retire to the dressing rooms. The reason was that the games were late to kick off in the second half. The request was declined with Mr. R. Doble stating that this procedure had been attempted years ago and was not a success then. It was decided to enforce the rule about getting players out in time.^[8]

With there being ten teams and five matches in each round it meant that one match would have to be played away from Carlaw Park each weekend. The grounds used were Devonport Domain (5), Grey Lynn Park (4), Walker Park in Point Chevalier (4), Fowlds Park in Morningside (3), Sturges Park in Otahuhu (1), Ellerslie Domain (1), and Onehunga School (1).

At the June 21 meeting of the board it was suggested that the second round of the competition be split into two as some teams were well out of contention already, Pt Chevalier had 1 win and 7 losses while Newton had lost all 8 of their matches. Mr. R. Doble said "that a keen second round was assured, but there were some teams hopelessly out of the competition". Mr. J. Clark suggested that the senior officers' association should be consulted before any change was made and it was decided to defer any decision until after the final matches in the first round were played.^[9]

Horace Hunt, the North Shore captain was awarded a gold medal donated by Mr. J.F.W. Dickson for the most sportsmanlike players.^[10] Hunt had been connected to the North Shore club since 1926 when he was in his teens. He captained the North Shore reserve grade side when they won the inaugural reserve grade championship in 1931. He began playing in their senior side in 1932 when they won the championship. He had retired in 1939 and played a season of soccer before returning to the North Shore league side which had been depleted by the war effort. When Verdun Scott left for the war in 1941 Hunt took over the captaincy and North Shore won the championship for the 6th time. He also played cricket for the R.V. club in the city and Suburban senior competition and had represented Auckland in the Plunket Shield as wicket keeper four times in 1930 and 1931.^[11]

At the board of control meeting on October 11 a letter "was received from the Point Chevalier club in reference to an increase in the transfer club fee from £2 to £10. It was decided that the time was not opportune to amend the existing regulations".^[12]

In their round 12 win over Richmond the City side had Eugene Donovan ordered off the field for insulting the referee. Eugene was the brother of fellow City player Alan Donovan and senior referee Jack Donovan. They had a fourth brother who was killed in the war. The Auckland Rugby League decided to force Donovan to apologise to the referee to avoid suspension and after he failed to do this he was unable to play. The City club decided to default their match against Manukau despite efforts still being made at 2 pm on match day to solve the issue. They were due to play the feature game on the number 1 field at 3:10 pm. The City club supplied the Auckland Star with the following statement "in the game between Richmond and City, played at Carlaw Park on Saturday, July 8, Eugene Donovan, of city, was ordered off for alleged back-answering to the referee, Mr. G. Kelly, ten minutes after the commencement of the game. The City five-eight, Salaia, had just scored a try, and E. Donovan was retiring back to the halfway line, along with A. Leatherbarrow, when he passed a remark to his team mate. ‘If city's tries are not clear cut this chap won't allow them'. "The referee overheard the remark, and said ‘any more of that and you will go off'. Donovan replied that he was talking to his team mate, and the referee said that he did not care who he was talking to. "E. Donovan then replied that he would talk to his team mate anytime he wanted to. The referee then ordered him off. "These remarks can be corroborated by other City players. After the match the referee and Donovan were ordered to appear before the judicial committee or the control board, when conflicting evidence of the two men concerned was given, at the conclusion of which Donovan was ordered to apologise. This he refused to do as he claimed that he had told the truth and to apologise would be a confession of guilt. He then left the room. "Questioned by the City club officials, E. Donovan declared that he had told the truth and that he would rather hang up his boots than apologise for an offence he had not committed. A special meeting of the senior team and club officials was called before the game (Manukau and City last Saturday). It was unanimously resolved that the club endorse the attitude of E. Donovan".^[13] It was also noted later that referee G. Kelly had not asked for an apology. City then defaulted for a second consecutive Saturday when they refused to play their match against Marist on July 22 at Carlaw Park. Following round 13 the suspension of Donovan was lifted however as the City club had defaulted on two successive Saturdays, under the league constitution were disqualified from the championship.^[14] The controversy rolled on however as the city club found out after Watson's statement after their meeting to the press that they would receive no competition points for any of their remaining matches. And they also disagreed with the implication that Donovan had apologised to the referee. "This is contrary to fact and cannot be substantiated".^[15] It was then announced on August 12 that City would in fact be allowed to accrue competition points over the remainder of the season.^[16]

In October at the board of control meeting various speakers strongly urged the need to stimulate junior football in Auckland. Chairman Watson said "clubs which do not make an effort to foster junior football are doomed to extinction". He went on to add that "the real work of the league clubs was to foster juniors, and pointed to clubs like Richmond. Otahuhu, and Mount Albert, now strong numerically and financially. The Point Chevalier Club was coming to the front through its encouragement of junior football". The chairman of the Schoolboys' Control Board, Mr. Maurice Wetherill said that "the board had functioned well, and its members were keen to help school league football. It was felt that they did not get the publicity that they should. They were up against stronger opposition than any other branch of the league code. An effort to interest headmasters of schools had, up to a point, been successful. At the Mount Albert school the code had received splendid support, and there they had had use of what was regarded as the best all-weather ground in Auckland". Mr. H. Howe, the deputy-chairman of the Junior Control Board, said "they had had the best season for years, and in the third and fourth grades there had been brilliant football. If the senior teams gave more attention to the juniors there would be no necessity to look for players from the rugby union. Ivan Sumich was an example of a young player who had risen from the league juniors". Mr. L. Rout, secretary of the Schoolboys' control Board said there was a wonderful opportunity for league football in New Zealand… in Auckland they had gone a log way with schoolboy football, but they would have to go further. He hoped to see the code taken up by all the schools, and would like to see it carried into the secondary schools. The success of Sumich had been mentioned, but there were dozens of others, and one could point to Ron McGregor, of the Richmond club. Fifty percent of the senior players came from the schoolboy ranks.^[17]

During the annual meeting in March, chairman Watson said that "during the off-season the management committee and trustees had decided to make improvement to Carlaw Park and, once building restrictions were eased, it was proposed to cover, in portions, the terraces on the main ground. The erection of specially-designed gates at the entrance to the park in the form of a war memorial was also intended". ^[2] At the June 7 board meeting it was decided to provide a permanent place in the grandstand for any disabled soldiers.^[18] At the July 5 meeting chairman Watson said that "despite bad weather there has been a considerable increase in the gate takings at Carlaw Park this season", and added that it had been the biggest revenue for the past four seasons.^[19]

At the board of control meeting on May 17 the issue of ground availability was raised. Chairman Watson said "that for years the increasing shortage of playing grounds in the different suburbs had been pointed out, and the difficulty was being faced by all codes". He went on to refer to "the number of playing grounds lost through being taken over by the Armed Forces".^[20]

During the season the All Golds Old Boys Association organised matches on Sundays at Walker Park in Point Chevalier. They had initially established themselves as the New Zealand Rugby League Old Boys Association before changing their name due to not having any official affiliation with New Zealand Rugby League. The matches attracted very large crowds ranging from 2 to 4,000 and featured players who had played on Saturday or rugby players which caused considerable concern for Auckland Rugby which sought to ban any of their registered players for taking part. Auckland Council had given permission for the matches and provided extra tramcars to meet the demand.^[21] On the morning of July 14 Auckland Rugby League chairman Watson released a statement saying "the organisation carrying on Sunday football at Walker Park is not connected with the Auckland Rugby League". And continued "it should be understood that the league is not in favour of organised Sunday football and considers that the competition at present being played on Sundays is not in the best interests of the game. We feel that there is room in Auckland for only one competition, and that should be the one conducted by the official body".^[22] The Auckland Council then prohibited the playing of football at Walker Park, Point Chevalier on Sundays after passing a resolution on July 14. Protests had been received from two churches (Point Chevalier Presbyterian Church and Point Chevalier Baptist Church) and five residents in the vicinity of the park. The Auckland Transport Board had also asked the council for their attitude on the games. Their regular services had become so overcrowded taking spectators to the matches that ordinary passengers were unable to ride. The council decided to inform the New Zealand All Golds Old Boys Association Social Club that "the holding of organised football on Walker Park on Sundays constituted an entertainment for which the consent of the council was required under section 313 of the Municipal Corporations Act.^[23]

At the May 17 board of control meeting the appointments were made for the three Auckland selectors for the representative season. They were Robert Doble, Jim Clark, and Jack Kirwan.^[24] It was originally intended to play a match against South Auckland (Waikato) in early June however advice was received from Huntly that the government had asked the miners to work on Monday, June 5 which was King's Birthday, and it "was considered the match should be postponed until a later date".^[25] Auckland received requests for matches at Carlaw Park by South Auckland, West Coast, and Wellington. However Auckland had difficulty in scheduling the matches due to war time travel restrictions with permission needing to be obtained from the government.^[26] In late June the league received advice that railway travel permits were not going to be granted for the West Coast team. The West Coast union decided to apply for permission again at a later date.^[27]

Jim Clark was appointed the manager of the side prior to their first match with South Auckland.

Despite no coverage of lower grade competitions the Ellerslie United club advertised the opponents and venue of their lower grade sides throughout the season and so the following lists of teams in those particular grades have been compiled. On October 21 Newton beat Point Chevalier 28-8 to win the third grade knockout competition. On the same day the Point Chevalier senior schoolboy side won the seven-a-side knockout competition which was at Carlaw Park.^[82] They were awarded a Bantam Rooster which had been taxidermied and was donated by C.P. Moore. It was mounted on a stand holding wooden footballs and the idea for it had come from the Roope Rooster competition. Eight teams were involved with the players weighing less than 5st 7lb.^[83] The fourth grade knockout final was won by Otahuhu when they defeated Ellerslie 15-8.

Auckland played 2 matches against South Auckland. Ralph Martin (Manukau), Ron McGregor (Richmond), F James (City), and Don McLeod (Marist) were the only players to play in both matches. It was planned during the season to play the West Coast and Wellington representative sides but they were unable to gather permits to travel on the railways in war time conditions. Auckland Pākehā and Auckland Māori played each other once again in a fixture that had become regular since 1936 when larger numbers of Māori players began playing in Auckland, thanks in particular to the Manukau club which recruited many Māori players from out of Auckland. Auckland Māori won which meant they had now won 6 of the matches, with Auckland Pākehā winning 4, and 2 draws. The other representative fixture played in Auckland was the North Island v South Island match which had not been played since 1939 due to the outbreak of war and difficulty of travel. Ten of the 13 North Island players were from Auckland.

At 3 May board of control meeting the following transfer of players to senior clubs was approved; J. Matthews (Marist to City), I. Te Weti (City to Marist), Robert Grotte (City to Ponsonby), R. Humphries (Avondale 4th grade to North Shore), W.C.S. Miller (Mt Albert to Pt. Chevalier), A. Potter (Newton to Pt. Chevalier). The South Auckland Rugby League notified that the following players had been transferred to Auckland Rugby League; W.L. Werohia, N. Dowling, and T. Shaw. Richmond requested that Owen Payne he regraded from senior to first junior as, despite playing several senior games the previous season he only weighed 9 stone 4 pounds and had no intention of playing senior grade this season. W. Woods of City was also regraded to first junior.^[139]

At the May 10 meeting E. Neale of the Richmond senior team was graded to first junior. The following transfers were approved:- R. Hodge (Manukau seniors), William Bridger, Owen Charles Elliott (Newton seniors), J. Mills (Otahuhu seniors).^[7]

At the May 17 meeting the following players were registered:- F.S. Wells (Point Chevalier), Thomas John Kerr (Newton), Walter Bidois (Newton), Jim J. Fogarty (Otahuhu), Melville Halford Middleton (Otahuhu), and James William Russell Mitchell (Point Chevalier). ^[24]

At the May 24 meeting the following transfers were approved:- G Carey (Richmond to Mount Albert seniors), J Sullivan (Ponsonby to Newton seniors), D.A. Hutchinson (City to Newton seniors), G. Montgomery (Mount Albert 3rd grade to Point Chevalier seniors). The following players were registered:- J.J.H. Harding (Point Chevalier), T.H. Wakefield (City), Cecil Henry Blincoe (Point Chevalier), R.G. Kidd (Marist), G.G. Smith (Marist), A.S. Byers (Point Chevalier).^[8]

At the May 31 board meeting the following players were granted transfers:- Ernie Pinches (Mount Albert to Richmond seniors), Cyril Henry Bloomfield Wiberg (Marist to Mount Albert seniors), C.S. Clarke (Marist to Mount Albert seniors), J.F. Scarlett (Richmond to Manukau seniors), Reginald Carl Martin (Otahuhu to Manukau seniors). The following players were registered:- Ernie Pinches (Richmond), G. Davidson (Newton), J. Hapeta (Newton), P.W. Caddick (North Shore), and C.S. Clarke (Mount Albert).^[100]

The June 7 board meeting saw the following players registered :- R. Towgood (Pt Chevalier), Francis William Goffin (Point Chevalier), and Reginald Carl Martin (Manukau).

At the June 14 meeting Harold Raymond Gee was granted a transfer from Mount Albert to City. While G. Cunningham was registered with City seniors and W.A.J. Grove with Point Chevalier seniors.^[26]

On June 21 C.S. Clarke was granted a transfer from Mount Albert to City, T. Waihi from Ponsonby to Newton, G. Te Haara from City to Newton, and T. Tonga from Ngāruawāhia to Manukau. The following players were registered:- Derek Hudson Hardwick (Ponsonby), C.J. Honey (Ponsonby), B. Gallagher (Newton), G.C. Sorby (Newton), F.J. Pritchard (North Shore), and J.C. Gurnick (Newton).^[9]

On June 28 Aubrey Thompson of Manukau was granted a transfer to the Richmond club. The following players were registered:- W. Rogers (Manukau), H. Cassidy (Newton).^[27]

On July 5 W.F. Bicknell was registered with Point Chevalier, and J.H. Catterall was also registered with Point Chevalier.^[19]

On July 12 H Brady was cleared to play for Otahuhu after previously having played for Newton. Colin Cowley was granted a transfer from Mount Albert to Richmond, and L. Pinfold from Richmond to Mount Albert.^[140]

On July 26 H. Te Weri asked for a transfer from Marist to Mount Albert as he had not been selected for 5 weeks and desired to play for a club in a lower position.^[88]

At the August 16 meeting John Anderson was granted a transfer from Marist to Point Chevalier, although he requested to be transferred back around the same time and was granted a transfer at the beginning of the 1944 season. Anderson was a New Zealand representative and one of the most prolific point scorers in Auckland club rugby league history. W. Briggs was also granted a transfer from Ponsonby to Newton. The following players were registered:- K.H. May (North Shore), A. Puriri (Manukau), R. Neil (Newton), J. Porter (Newton), G. Parahi (Manukau).^[141]

At the August 23 meeting D. Muru's registration with Newton was approved, as was A.J. Hogan's with Point Chevalier, and G.A. Woolley's with Newton.^[142]

On August 30 P.A. Maconaghie was registered with North Shore, F. Cocks with Ponsonby, T. Pokawa with Manukau, and M.C. Smith with Newton.^[143]

On September 6 D. Walker was granted a transfer from Richmond to Point Chevalier. D. Tate was registered with North Shore.^[144]

On September 27 the following transfers were approved:- W.G. Simpson from City to Otahuhu, and William George Davidson from Newton to Marist. The following were registered:- G.J. Blake (Point Chevalier), Arthur L. Read (North Shore), C. Lane (Mount Albert), G. Mitchell (Newton), H.J. Walker (North Shore), and J.W. Priest (North Shore).^[145]

On October 14 the following player was registered:- Hubert (Bob) James Borich with Mount Albert. The application of John Anderson from Pt Chevalier to Marist, and Leo R. Davis from Richmond to Mount Albert were deferred until next season.^[146]