Seasons 1925 to 1929
For a better quality page ( Colour, Photos etc ) click 1925 to 1929
1925
Two new clubs entered the 1925 Cornish Shield competition, Maitland and Morpeth. The points score table reveals that during the season the number of byes for each team varied e.g. West and Central had 4 byes, East, North and South had 3 byes and Maitland and Morpeth had 6 byes. With no points being allocated for a bye, Maitland and Morpeth ended up at the foot of the table, whilst West finished equal 3rd with Central behind East and North. The First Grade final was won by North, with a 10 - 6 win over East. The end of season knockout competition, called in 1925 the 'Morris Light" Cup (named after the Mayor of Newcastle) resulted in a 13 - 10 win for East over Central. West played in the Reserve Grade Final and were beaten 17 - 11 by Carrington. The West team was L Jacobson, P Quinlan, P Lawson (try), E Phillips (try), S Adams, J Wallace, F Sawyers (goal), H Devery (try), W Morris, W Slack, R Dobney, C Burke and G Larkin - nearly all thse players were from the Waratah area. West won the Kerr Cup for winning the Third Grade competition (see attached photo). On the representative scene, the first interstate clash, in Newcastle, between New South Wales and Queensland was played on 6 June, with a 56 - 23 win to Queensland. An International match was also held on 18 July, when New Zealand defeated Newcastle 29 -11 at Newcastle Sports Ground. What would 1925 bring for West? Would they be competitive? What would happen to the newcomers Maitland and Morpeth? - Well that's next week’s story.
Round
|
Opponent
|
Result
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1 – 2 May
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|
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2 – 4 May
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Morpeth
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Won 13 – 6
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3 – 9 May
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|
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4 – 23 May
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North
|
Lost 13 – 8
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5 – 30 May
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|
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6 – 6 June
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South
|
Won 25 – 6
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7 – 20 June
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East
|
Won 19 – 3
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8 – 27 June
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Central
|
Won 9 - 5
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9 – 11 July
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|
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10 – 1 August
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Maitland
|
Won 20 – 10
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11 – 8 August
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|
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12 – 15 August
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North
|
Lost 3 – 0
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13 – 22 August
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South
|
Won 6 – 5
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14 – 29 August
|
East
|
Lost 16 - 8
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Final – 12 September
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North 20 def East 6
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Point Score
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East 20 North 19 West 14 Central 14 South 6
Maitland 4 Morpeth 2
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1926
In 1926 the same 5 teams entered the Cornish Shield - North, South, East, West and Central. The 1925 Minor Premiers East, struggled in 1926, and ran last with just 1 draw to their credit against West. West had 2 wins during the 8 round competition - they defeated North 13 - 6 on 8 May, and defeated East 32 - 20 on 26 June. The final was played on 3 July at Newcastle Sportsground, and North 13 defeated South 8. In Reserve Grade, West were semi finalists, but they were beaten 18 - 10 by South. In the Reserve Grade Final East 6 def South 0. In the Third Grade Final North 8 def East 2. In the end of year Presidents Cup competition West again missed out on the finals. Indeed, in the last Presidents Cup game against South, all but 4 West players walked from the field (for whatever reason), so the match was called off with South leading 11 - 3. The Presidents Cup final in 1926 resulted in another win by North over South , this time by 15 points to 8. On the Representative scene there was a match played between Newcastle and South Sydney on 4 September. This match was billed as the "State Title", and was played at Newcastle Showground. A crowd of 3 500 were very excited when Newcastle 17 def South 13 to become "State Champions". 1926 was a not a good year for West, but 1927 would be worse - mainly because of the "Waratah Boys". How would the "Waratah Boys" impact on the competitivness of West? - Well that's next week’s story.
Round
|
Opponent
|
Result
|
1 - 17 April
|
Central
|
Lost 24 -8
|
2 - 24 April
|
East
|
Drew Nil All
|
3 - 1 May
|
|
Bye
|
4 - 3 May
|
North
|
Lost 13 - 0
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5 - 8 May
|
South
|
Lost 14 - 11
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6 - 15 May
|
Central
|
Lost 19 - 2
|
7 - 29 May
|
North
|
Won 13 - 6
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8 - 5 June
|
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Bye
|
9 - 19 June
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South
|
Lost 9 - 0
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10 - 26 June
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East
|
Won 32 - 20
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Final- 3 July
|
|
North 13 def South 8
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Point Score
|
North 13 South 11 Central 10 West 5 East 1
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1927
The end of the 1926 season brought tremendous upheaval to West. In 1926 there was serious discontent on the selection of the teams. To put it bluntly, the boys who lived closer to Warath thought that they did not receive a fair go at West. The
Newcastle Rugby League was anxious to keep the Waratah boys in Rugby League, so they granted Waratah Mayfield permission to enter a team in the 1927 competition. This meant a full scale exodus of players from West to Waratah Mayfield. West struggled to form a committee, but under Secretary Jim Papworth West had enough players to enter teams in the competition. However, there was a change in 1927. After a disastrous 1926, it was thought a change of colours would help, so in 1927 (and as it turned out, 1927 only) West chose the "New Lambton" colours of black and gold, after the Regent Bower Bird (pictured) that were in significant numbers in the area. (Hence, Regent Street, New Lambton). In addition to changing colours West also changed names - they called themselves Western United. One positive was that a young fellow by the name of Wally Prigg got his chance with West in 1927 - something that would not have happened without the exodus of players. Wally first represented Newcastle from Western United in 1927. West struggled with a lack of players - e.g. in Round 15 on 6 August West could only field 11 players in First Grade. On most weeks Reserve Grade players had to fill up the thin First Grade ranks. The 1927 First Grade competition was called the "Mullally Shield" , and new teams were Waratah / Mayfield, Kurri Kurri, Maitland United and Morpeth / East Maitland. West came 2nd last in First Grade, and were dismal in Reserve Grade. Waratah / Mayfield with 11 of their starting 13 from the 1926 West side, fell to North 7 - 4 in the final. North were then defeated 8 -3 by South in the Grand Final. South also won Reserve Grade - so it was a big year for the "red and whites". Would 1928 be as bad as 1927?
Round
|
Opponent
|
Result
|
1 - 23 April
|
East
|
Lost 16 - 3
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2 - 25 April
|
Central
|
Lost 19 -3
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3 - 30 April
|
Waratah
|
Lost 9 - 2
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4 - 7 May
|
|
Bye
|
5 - 14 May
|
Kurri
|
Lost 26 - 11
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6 - 4 June
|
North
|
Won 3 - 0
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7 - 6 June
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South
|
Lost 25 - 3
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8 - 11 June
|
Maitland
|
Lost 11 - 3
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9 - 18 June
|
Morpeth
|
Won 8 - 0
|
10 - 25 June
|
East
|
Lost 13 - 8
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11 - 2 July
|
Central
|
Lost 9 - 7
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12 - 9 July
|
Waratah
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Lost 12 - 6
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13 - 16 July
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Bye
|
14 - 23 July
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Kurri
|
Lost 10 - 5
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15 - 6 August
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North
|
Lost 48 - 6
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16 - 13 August
|
South
|
?
|
17 - 20 August
|
Maitland
|
Won 20 - 18
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18 - 27 August
|
Morpeth
|
Won 27 -8
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Grand Final24 September
|
|
South 8 def North 3
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Point Score
|
South 29 North 26 Waratah 25 East 24 Kurri 21 Central 19 Maitland 18 West 12 Morpeth 6
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1928
In 1928 nine teams entered the Mullally Shield - the First Grade competition run by the Newcastle Rugby League. The teams were North, Kurri, South, West, Central, Morpeth, Waratah, Maitland and East. West won 4 games - they beat East 16 - 10 on 12 May, they beat Morpeth 15 - 5 on 19 May (on a roll don't you reckon?), they beat Morpeth 3 - 0 on 30 June, and they beat East 11 - 10 on 14 July. Of course, with these results, West failed to make the semi finals in First Grade. In Reserve Grade West only won a few games, and also failed to make the semi finals. One good thing was that the colours of the Regent Bower Bird retreated to the forests of Blackbutt, and the Rosella was on the wing again displaying their now familiar red and green colours. Another bright spot was the success of West's Under 20's team who finished Premiers after losing only 1 game during the season and scoring 199 points for, and 22 against. Players in this Under 20 team were Jim Williams, J Middlemas, L Turnbull, R Griffin, J Chapman, B Spruce, J Green, E Maddison, R Gearing, A Nesbitt, B McKillop, S Dodds, Ned Pringle, H Walls, C Noake and H Patrick. 1928 was a lean year for West. Would West improve in 1929? Well, that's next week’s story
Round
|
Opponent
|
Result
|
1 - 25 April
|
South
|
Lost 27 -11
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2 - 28 April
|
Waratah
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Lost 31 -3
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3 - 5 May
|
Central
|
Lost 10 - 5
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4 - 7 May
|
|
Bye
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5 - 12 May
|
East
|
Lost 16 - 10
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6 - 19 May
|
Morpeth
|
Won 15 - 5
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7 - 26 May
|
Kurri
|
Lost 25 - 6
|
8 - 2 June
|
North
|
Lost 23 -3
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9 - 9 June
|
Maitland
|
Lost 17 - 2
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10 - 16 June
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Waratah
|
Lost 8 - 5
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11 - 23 June
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South
|
Lost 22 - 0
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12 - 30 June
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Morpeth
|
Won 3 - 0
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13 - 7 July
|
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Bye
|
14 - 14 July
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East
|
Won 11 - 10
|
15 - 28 July
|
Kurri
|
Lost 23 - 5
|
16 - 4 August
|
North
|
Lost 35 - 3
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17 - 11 August
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Maitland
|
Lost 20 -7
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18 - 18 August
|
Central
|
Lost 24 - 9
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Final - 22 September
|
|
Central 11 def North 8
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Point Score
|
???
|
|
1929
1929 saw 9 teams enter the Mullally Shield competition. In finishing order the teams were Waratah, South, North, Kurri, East, Central, West, Morpeth and Maitland. In finishing 7th West won 6 games, lost 10 and drew 12 all with Kurri on 29 June, and 10 all with Minor Premiers Waratah on 20 April. The Grand Final was played at Waratah Oval with North defeating Waratah 10 -5 in a close fought game. West fared slightly better in Reserve Grade running 6th in the Crawford Cup. Thus 1929 was really no better than 1928. Nothing really to report in the Juniors except that Harry Harding played on the wing in West Under 18's. Harry (pictured) went on to be the popular President of the Western Suburbs Rugby League Football Club from 1958 to 1975. 1929 was another lean year for West. Could they be semi-finalists in 1930? Well, that's next week’s story
Round
|
Opponent
|
Result
|
1 - 13 April
|
Kurri
|
Lost 34 - 10
|
2 - 20 April
|
Waratah
|
Drew 10 all
|
3 - 27 April
|
Central
|
Lost 5 - 3
|
4 - 4 May
|
East
|
Lost 17 - 6
|
5 - 18 May
|
North
|
Lost 30 - 13
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6 - 1 June
|
Morpeth
|
Lost 10 - 5
|
7 - 8 June
|
Maitland
|
Won 10 - 8
|
8 - 15 June
|
|
Bye
|
9 - 22 June
|
South
|
Lost 30 - 4
|
10 - 29 June
|
Kurri
|
Drew 12 all
|
11 - 6 July
|
Waratah
|
Won 18 - 13
|
12 - 13 July
|
Central
|
Won 11 - 7
|
13 - 27 July
|
East
|
Won 16 - 9
|
14 - 3 August
|
North
|
Lost 28 - 15
|
15 - 10 August
|
Morpeth
|
Won 23 - 8
|
16 - 24 August
|
Maitland
|
Won 5 - 4
|
17 - 31 August
|
|
Bye
|
18 - 7 September
|
South
|
Lost 16 - 12
|
Grand Final 5 October
|
|
North 10 def Waratah / Mayfield 5
|
Point Score
|
Waratah 29 South 27 North 26 Kurri 24 East 20
Central 18 West 17 Morpeth 13 Maitland 6
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