1922 Auckland Rugby League season
The 1922 Auckland Rugby League season was the 14th season of competition, with 68 teams across the grades. City Rovers won the first grade championship for the fifth time, while Ponsonby won the Roope Rooster. City Rovers also defended the Challenge Shield, holding it against Petone, Tongariro, and Huntly.
Bill Davidson, aged 22, set a new record for points in an Auckland club season with 116 for City Rovers. He, along with his brothers Ben and George, scored 186 of City’s 339 points, a team record for a season. City finished with 443 points in all official games, including Roope Rooster and Shield matches.
The Auckland representative team was very busy, playing ten matches. Bill Davidson led the side in scoring with 37 points. The season also featured an Auckland Province match against New South Wales and an Auckland B game played in Cambridge.
Off the field, the season saw several administration and ground developments. The junior management committee discussed modernising Carlaw Park’s equipment and turf handling, with improvements funded by gate receipts from club and representative fixtures. The money raised allowed ground improvements to begin after the season.
Several club changes occurred. The Maritime club renamed themselves Athletic, changing colours to royal blue with a gold band. In 1926 they would later become Grafton Athletic. Richmond Rovers joined the Senior A Grade, making the eight-team competition more balanced and producing 56 matches—the most ever at that time. Richmond finished seventh. New clubs included a Third Grade side formed by Central Mangere (initially named Ihumata; later corrected to Ihumātao) and Coromandel Old Boys, a third grade side that competed from 1922 to 1925.
Key player stories included George Davidson’s move to City, after seeking a transfer from Maritime/Athletic; and a notable game where City’s supporters saw a strong performance by Ben and Bill Davidson, with Bill contributing several conversions. The season also featured dramatic matches at Carlaw Park, with heavy attendances and some injuries, including City forward Harry Francis breaking his shoulder (a benefit concert was held later that year for him).
City finished the season as champions, with consistent displays from the Davidson brothers. They scored heavily across the campaign, and the club’s total points remained a record for the season. City’s strong performance helped them defend the Shield three times and win the overall honors.
In the lower grades, Ponsonby United won the junior championship, remaining undefeated and beating Kingsland Rovers 9–3 in the final on September 23. The knockout competition saw Mangere defeat Newton 19–11 in the final at Manukau. Several teams started late or withdrew during the year, leaving some results unreported and the standings incomplete.
The representative program included a landmark match on September 2, when Auckland’s defense of the Northern Union Challenge Cup ended with a 21–20 defeat to South Auckland at Carlaw Park. A few days later, on September 16, Auckland staged a high-profile game against the touring New South Wales side at the Auckland Domain in front of about 20,000 spectators, but went down 45–25. The touring Australians and the New South Wales side faced Auckland after the Māori team had returned from Australia, with many Auckland club players pulled into the representative squads. Remarkably, 12 of the 13 Auckland players who took the field scored points in the match against New South Wales, and Frank Burge starred for the visitors.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:59 (CET).