1913 Auckland Rugby League season
Karl Ifwersen switched from rugby union where he had been playing in Auckland and made his debut appearance for North Shore Albions.
While New Zealand representatives Graham Cook and Cecil King had moved from Wellington and made debut appearances for Newton Rangers.
In a match involving Ponsonby and Manukau in Onehunga, Charles Savory was accused of kicking an opponent.
Savory had been selected to play for New Zealand on their tour of Australia and as a result of the ban was unable to make the trip.
This was carried unanimously with Mr Angus Campbell appointed selector, and Morgan Hayward chosen to replace Savory in the side for the match with Wellington.
[1] Tragedy struck in May in a 3rd grade match between Ellerslie and Ponsonby when 26 year old Adolphus Theodore Bust was severely injured and later passed away as a result of his injuries.
None of the Ellerslie teams took the field the following weekend out of respect and the Auckland Rugby League bore the costs of the funeral.
[3] Eighteen regular season matches were played before North Shore Albions were awarded the title with a 5 win, 1 draw, 1 loss record.
Karl Ifwersen debuted for North Shore in their 13-0 win over Newton after switching from rugby union.
He had previously played rugby union in the Horowhenua, Manawatu, and Wellington areas representing all three provinces.
Jim Clark also made his debut for Ponsonby in their 31-5 win against Eden at Victoria Park and scored a try.
He had emigrate to New Zealand with members of his family not long prior and his father, Jack, was one of the England tour managers.
[11] In the Ponsonby match with North Shore Harry Fricker was ordered off for striking at Alfred Jackson.
George Cook's try for Newton provoked a huge response from the crowd after he raced away and leaped over the top of Ponsonby fullback, Montgomery to score under the posts.
It was complained that the match at Victoria Park was kicked off at 3:30 and concluded in near darkness while it should also have been played in front of the stand as there were between 4 and 5 thousand spectators crammed around the sideline with the game needing to be stopped at times due to them encroaching on the field.
[26] After North Shore had won the championship the league decided to play a knockout competition between the four remaining teams.
Several of the players including Bertram and John Denyer, Emmet Kenealy, Bond, and Bob Biggs had played for the recently folded Eden Ramblers who were based in the Avondale/Point Chevalier area.
The Ellerslie side withdrew from the competition following the death of 3rd grade player Adolphus Bust who was seriously injured during a match in May, passing away later that evening.
The first representative fixture of the season was played on 28 June against a Country selection at Victoria Park, Auckland.
Further matches were played against Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Canterbury, Wellington, and New South Wales.
George Seagar was not named in the original side to play but replaced Cecil King prior to kick off in the front row.
Bob Mitchell and Stan Walters joined the team in New Plymouth having left Wellington after the New Zealand match there.
Karl Ifwersen was supposed to also join but he had been injured in New Zealand's match so went directly back to Auckland.
The Taranaki forwards were said to have dominated the match and while the Auckland backs played brilliantly they failed to finish many chances.
[46] Those were Mansell, Cook, Woodward, Kenealy, Tobin, Seagar, Webb, Murdoch, Mitchell, Walters, Rukutai, and Denize.
