George Iles

In 1922 he made an effort to establish Rugby League in the Tauranga area which failed however he did play matches for Tauranga and a Bay of Plenty league team who played against Auckland and the touring New South Wales team.

He was the son of Harriet and Albert Iles, whose parents had come to New Zealand in one of the First Four Ships, which brought settlers to Canterbury.

[2] Albert was a successful sportsman in his own right captaining the Sydenham Football Club in the 1880s and representing Canterbury and Southland for several years.

During the war years the Auckland Rugby League had deliberately played almost no representative matches.

Once again he was a prolific try scorer for Newton scoring 10 tries in total including tries in the Roope Rooster semi final against Ponsonby United, and the semi-final replay against the same opponents when the first match was abandoned near the end after Ponsonby fans encroached on the field and refused to move.

[9] His last ever match in an Auckland jersey was played against Hawke's Bay at Eden Park on 9 August with 9,000 in attendance.

It was said "of the Tauranga team the Isles [sic] brothers, three quarters, played well, and if supported by other members of the back division, would have made things a bit more awkward for the visitors.

[18] In September Iles made a return to Eden Park, this time in a Bay of Plenty rugby jersey where they were defeated 17–34 by Auckland.

[20] During the 1921 Kusab Cup he played in matches against Mercury Bay,[21] Te Puke,[22] Whakatane in the semi-final, and Rotorua in the final.

[23] Iles greatest achievement of the year was on 16 August when he was selected to play for Bay of Plenty against the touring Springbok team.

[26] They made efforts to organise a game with the newly formed Rotorua league team.

[31] A game against the touring New South Wales was also arranged which was a remarkable achievement in itself given that rugby league was not even played in the area until a month earlier.

New South Wales won the match 29 points to 5 with Borell scoring a try and Joseph Rogers kicking a goal for the local team .

[32] On 30 September Tauranga again made history by playing in the first ever rugby league game in Te Puke.

George Iles captained the Bay of Plenty side and they performed well only going down 27–33 to an Auckland team which featured a large number of New Zealand international players such as Clarrie Polson, Wally Somers, and future Kiwi's Lou Brown, Neville St George, and Jim O'Brien.

In September Iles went on the attack again, this time in response to the suggestion by rugby supporters that league players were being paid.

[36] These efforts to grow the game in the area, while somewhat remarkable, ultimately proved futile and Iles returned to the rugby union field the following season.

On 2 August Karl Ifwersen brought down a team from Auckland from the Grammar Old Boys, College Rifles and Ponsonby clubs to play against a Tauranga XV captained by George Iles.

[43][44] At the end of the rugby season he joined the Tauranga Rowing Club, being elected a member on 26 September at their AGM .

In July 1929 George Iles brother Arthur (who was a councillor in Tauranga from 1925 to 1938 deputy mayor at one point)[50] wrote a letter to the Bay of Plenty Times defending his brother as a player and coach in the Tauranga representative team.

Arthur Iles said that he had been covering football in Tauranga for 10 years and "has no recollection of ever noticing Mr Phelan in attendance at any annual general meeting of the Rugby Union".

[54] Despite being 35 years of age by this point Iles was heavily involved in a 17–0 win playing with his "characteristic cleverness" .

[56] Iles played again in the defence against Taupo on 24 August which they won 27–11 and again in early September against Opotiki.

[57][58] They drew the match 6–6 with a penalty after the full time bell which meant they retained the shield for the summer as it was the last challenge of the year .

[60] His coaching career did not begin well with the team losing the match 3–6 to Te Puke, and the Hurinui Apanui Shield in the process.

Iles was a member of the Athletic Football Club from 1929 onwards with his older brother Arthur on the management committee.

[68][69] They were based on Willow St., Tauranga with depots in Te Puke, Whakatane, and Taneatua and acted as agents for Wilson and Canham.

The funeral was also attended by various members of Bay of Plenty organisations including the mayor of Tauranga and representatives of all the football clubs and over two hundred telegrams were received from all over the country.