The 1928 Auckland Rugby League season was its 19th. Devonport United won the Senior A Championship for the first time under the Devonport United name, though they had won it twice before as North Shore Albions, before the North Shore merger with Sunnyside. Marist Old Boys won the Roope Rooster trophy for the first time. This was their second major trophy after winning the championship in 1924. They also went on to defeat Devonport to win the Stormont Shield.
Ellerslie United finished last in the first grade championship and as a result had to play a promotion relegation match with the winners of the B Division which was Grafton Athletic. This was the second consecutive year they had met in this match. Ellerslie won 15-13 to retain their place in the first grade. The Grafton club then decided to amalgamate with Kingsland Rovers who were also in the B Division to gain acceptance into the 1st grade competition for the 1929 season.
Season news and summary Club teams by grade participation Team1stB Div.2nd3rd Open3rd Int.4th5th6th A6th BSchoolsTotalRichmond Rovers10111111119Devonport United10121111109Ponsonby United10111100005Point Chevalier01001101105Otahuhu Rovers01010101015Newton Rangers10101000104City Rovers10001100104Northcote & Birkenhead Ramblers01010101004Akarana00000111104Newmarket00001001114Ellerslie United10010100014Māngere United01110000014Marist Old Boys10000001103Grafton Athletic01010010003Kingsland Rovers01010001003Remuera00101100003Parnell01010000002New Lynn00011000002Mount Albert United00010010002Glen Eden Rovers00010000001Browne Bros & Geddes00000010001Onehunga Convent00000000011Papatoetoe Primary School00000000011Total77614910698783
Senior competition The senior club season featured over 110 matches through various competitions and did not finish until late October when suburban cricket competitions had already begun.
Grafton Athletic won the Senior B Division competition going undefeated season after they had been relegated the previous season, though they were beaten in the promotion relegation match with Ellerslie meaning they would have to stay there for another season. Point Chevalier defeated Grafton Athletic in the Stallard Cup final which was the Senior B knockout competition. The season was notable for the number of teams which played sides from other areas. Ponsonby, Richmond, Parnell, and the Northcote and Birkenhead Ramblers all played sides from North Auckland and the Waikato. During the year Carlaw Park saw its 300th senior grade match played on it stretching back to its opening in 1921 while the senior competitions also saw its 1,000th game played (includes all official 1st grade matches and matches involving senior teams in the B Division - Norton Cup).
Mt Albert Club formed Mt Albert held their first meeting at St George's Hall in Mt Albert on the evening of 3 April. Ralph Wilson chaired the meeting and George Rhodes, chairman of the Auckland Rugby League was present. It was decided that they would form a club in the Mt Albert area though they did not decide on a name at this time. They would enter teams in the third and fourth grades. During the season Auckland Rugby League made a grant of £3 to Mount Albert for a dressing shed.
Newmarket Club formed In April it was reported that Newmarket was entering a team in the 6th grade competition. They club was to wear yellow and black. There was a fear that the club would rob the Parnell club of players but the league accepted the nomination anyway. The also then entered sides in the third grade intermediate grade as well as another team in the sixth grade in the B section. They also had a Primary School side which won the schoolboy championship.
Representative program It was a very busy season, with ten representative fixtures including matches against the touring England team. Ernie Asher, Edwin Vincent Fox, and Bert Avery were appointed selectors for the representative team for the season.
Annual general meeting At the annual general meeting of Auckland Rugby League it was noted that out of the 28 playing days during the 1927 season thirteen of them were played in wet weather; however, crowds were still good and they were happy with the growth of the game. Further developments at Carlaw Park were planned, consisting of "conveniences for ladies...extra accommodation... for players, and three more dressing rooms" at a cost of £60. There was a lengthy discussion about Ellerslie's application to join the A Grade. They had won the B Grade competition and defeated the last placed Grafton from A Grade. The annual general meeting was held at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce on Swanson Street.
Thistle Cup The Management Committee announced at the midway mark of the senior club season that the Thistle Cup would be awarded to the A or B grade team that had scored the most points in the second round of competition. If two teams were tied then the trophy would be awarded to the team which had scored the most points for the whole season.
Ground availability An ongoing issue for many clubs in Auckland was the availability of playing fields as the number of teams grew. During the season Northcote opened a new field at Stafford Park which is still in existence adjacent to State Highway 1 just north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Devonport also had a deputation present at the Devonport Borough Council meeting on 10 May to ask about the shortage of grounds in the area. The club asked for permission to use some of the spare cricket grounds for matches. Mayor E. Aldridge said there would be a ground available at Stanley Bay.
Rule changes After Round 5 the issue of time keeping in matches at Carlaw Park was raised at the weekly Management Committee meeting. The bell had been rung in the match between Richmond and Devonport at Carlaw Park before the ball was dead which was against previously arranged rules. Agreement could not be reached on whether the timekeeper or referee should be responsible for calling time. In the end it was decided that official timekeepers should attend the Referees' Association meeting for instructions.
It was noted that the dead ball area on both fields at Carlaw Park had been reduced from 12 yards to 8 yards in accordance with the laws of rugby league.
A rule change came into effect during the season after the annual meeting of the English Rugby League. They decided that no forward at any time in the scrum could have both feet off the ground. Also forwards could not drop to one knee to attempt to hook the ball. The game in New Zealand would adhere to these rules.
Richard Stack benefit matches The opening weekend of the season saw four first grade matches played at Carlaw Park, though these matches were not part of the competition. The round was dedicated to Richard Stack (commonly known as Dick Stack) of the Newton Rangers who had suffered a broken leg in the Stormont Shield final the previous season and the injury was so bad Auckland Hospital staff were forced to amputate it. This meant that he was unable to continue in his profession and so the league fundraised so that he was able to start his own business. A total of £500 was taken at the gates with 10,000 spectators in attendance. The day also featured a program of boxing matches with the prizes donated back to Stack. After all the accounts were balanced it was worked out that the fund for Stack totalled £610 12/3. An oddity of the games themselves was the low scoring nature and that all four losing teams failed to register a single point. Given the timing in the season and the fact they were for charity and competition points they were largely treated as practice matches with the City Rovers side using 18 players. Jack O'Sullivan made his debut for Marist. He was a champion bantam weight boxer and his son went on to become the well known horse racing trainer Dave O'Sullivan and his grandson is Lance O'Sullivan, one of New Zealand's greatest ever jockey's.
Monteith Shield (First Grade Championship)
Monteith Shield standings
TeamPldWDLFAPtsDevonport United1290322414918Richmond Rovers1271414313215Newton Rangers1270514313814Ponsonby United1252515414412Marist Old Boys1251615417011City Rovers124081441648Ellerslie United123091021626
Monteith Shield fixtures Round 1 Round 1 saw the newly promoted Ellerslie upset Ponsonby 15 points to 8. This was Ellerslie's first ever match in the first grade. The season was ceremonially kicked off by Miss Peggy Rhodes, daughter of George Rhodes, the chairman of Auckland Rugby League Management Committee. Bill Hadley made his first grade debut for City alongside his brother Joe. Hadley switched to rugby union in 1931 and became an All Black in 1934 and played 25 games for them over three years. His older brother Swin Hadley was an All Black in 1928.
Round 2
Round 3 Tim Peckham, the representative halfback for Ponsonby, was suspended for 4 weeks following comments he made towards the referee in their loss to Newton.
Round 4 It was decided by Auckland Rugby League after the 3rd round that they would no longer play curtain-raiser matches by Senior A Grade teams at 1:30pm. This was due to players having difficulty getting to the ground on time as they often worked on Saturdays and had to travel from the outer suburbs. A recent example had been the Newton Rangers v Devonport match where several Newton players had arrived late and the match was so late kicking off that the second half lasted only 25 minutes instead of 40. Leslie Letton, a well known rugby player transferred from rugby union where he had been playing for Marist, and scored 2 tries for Ponsonby on debut in their 18–14 loss to Marist. He had only just left hospital days earlier after nursing a broken arm since the beginning of the season. He had played for Auckland B rugby team in 1927 and represented Waikato prior to that. Davis played break away for Ellerslie after having previously played representative league for Otago in the backs.
Round 5 In Marist's win over Ellerslie representative tennis player Leslie Knott made his first appearance of the year after debuting the previous season. Dick Moisley scored 4 tries on the other wing for Marist after spending the 1927 season in the forwards before playing the previous week at standoff and now being tried on the wing. For Ellerslie Robert (Bob) Crewther was playing his second game after having played for Marist the previous season. He had started the season playing for the Petone side in Wellington before moving back to Auckland. His brother Selby was in his second year for Ellerslie after previously having played with Robert at City Rovers. At the Auckland Domain City beat Newton (6-3) who were missing Craddock Dufty, Trevor Hall, M Herewini, and Murray who were all injured.
Round 6 The match between Richmond and Ellerslie was played at 9:30 in the morning on the Kings Birthday holiday as part of the celebrations.
Round 7 Following the conclusion of the first round, The New Zealand Herald published the individual points tallies of all the point scorers. This was the first time this had been done. Taylor of Richmond led the standings with 46 points, Len Scott of Devonport had 33, while Craddock Dufty of Newton was third with 26 points.
Round 8 Jim O'Brien the Devonport forward came out of retirement to rejoin their forward pack. he had debuted in the senior grade for Maritime in 1920 before joining Devonport in 1921 and playing over 70 games for them. He represented New Zealand once in 1925 and had played for Auckland 20 times from 1922 to 1927.
Round 9
Round 10 Jim O'Brien returned to the field for Marist after retiring at the end of the 1927 season. He had played for the All Blacks in 1922 before switching to rugby league in 1924. He had played for the New Zealand rugby league side in 1924 and would make the national team again later this season before going on to play 2 more seasons for the Marist side retiring finally in 1930.
Round 11
Round 12