1928 Auckland Rugby League season
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.
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.
Point Chevalier defeated Grafton Athletic in the Stallard Cup final which was the Senior B knockout competition.
Ponsonby, Richmond, Parnell, and the Northcote and Birkenhead Ramblers all played sides from north Auckland and the Waikato.
Ralph Wilson chaired the meeting and George Rhodes, chairman of the Auckland Rugby League was present.
[1] During the season Auckland Rugby League made a grant of £3 to Mount Albert for a dressing shed.
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.
[6] 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.
[7] 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.
[8] 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.
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.
Tim Peckham, the representative halfback for Ponsonby, was suspended for 4 weeks following comments he made towards the referee in their loss to Newton.
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.
In Marist's win over Ellerslie representative tennis player Leslie Knott made his first appearance of the year after debuting the previous season.
At the Auckland Domain City beat Newton (6-3) who were missing Craddock Dufty, Trevor Hall, M Herewini, and Murray who were all injured.
Craddock Dufty was tackled into touch going for a try and the match ended a 5–5 draw with a replay required the following weekend.
For the second year in a row Ellerslie United and Grafton Athletic met in a match to decide who would play in the Senior A Division in 1929.
It was approximately the 21st ground in Auckland that had hosted an official senior club rugby league match.
Prior to the Round 11 matches Wirenui Mapi, the halfback of the Mangere team died after a short illness.
According to the writer in the NZ Herald this “was not the first time the spectators at Otahuhu had made trouble, and they were really the cause of the players getting out of hand”.
The championship was won by Richmond who finished 2 competition points ahead of Mount Albert though with many results not reported the standings do not reflect this.
On July 14 the newly formed Mount Albert side entered a team mid season and played 4 matches before the conclusion of the competition.
Browne Bros and Geddes were a side made up of the employees of a confectionery company which entered a team in the competition.
The North Island team fielded a large contingent of Auckland players including Craddock Dufty, Roy Hardgrave, Hec Brisbane, Maurice Wetherill, Stan Prentice, Frank Delgrosso, A. Scott, Lou Hutt, Wally Somers, and Jim O'Brien (Marist).
The two teams featured the following Auckland players (Probables): Craddock Dufty, Len Scott, Hec Brisbane, Allan Seagar, Tim Peckham, Wally Somers, Jim O'Brien (Marist), Trevor Hall, Alf Scott, (Possibles): J Beattie, Trevor Hanlon, and Bill Cleaver.
The entire Auckland Provincial team were Auckland club players aside from Joe Menzies The following Auckland players were selected in the New Zealand team to play the first test versus England at Carlaw Park: Craddock Dufty (Newton), Roy Hardgrave (Newton), Claude List (Kingsland), Len Scott (Devonport), Maurice Wetherill (City), Stan Prentice (Richmond), Frank Delgrosso (Ponsonby), Lou Hutt (Ponsonby), Wally Somers (Newton), Jim O'Brien (Marist), Reserves: Tim Peckham (Ponsonby), and Trevor Hall (Newton).
