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
1 – 2 May
2 – 4 May	Morpeth	Won 13 – 6
3 – 9 May
4 – 23 May	North	Lost 13 – 8
5 – 30 May
6 – 6 June	South	Won 25 – 6
7 – 20 June	East	Won 19 – 3
8 – 27 June	Central	Won 9 - 5
9 – 11 July
10 – 1 August	Maitland	Won 20 – 10
11 – 8 August
12 – 15 August	North	Lost 3 – 0
13 – 22 August	South	Won 6 – 5
14 – 29 August	East	Lost 16 - 8
Final – 12 September		North 20 def East 6
Point Score	East 20     North 19     West 14     Central 14     South 6 Maitland 4    Morpeth 2

 

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
5 - 8 May	South	Lost 14 - 11
6 - 15 May	Central	Lost 19 - 2
7 - 29 May	North	Won 13 - 6
8 - 5 June		Bye
9 - 19 June	South	Lost 9 - 0
10 - 26 June	East	Won 32 - 20
Final- 3 July		North 13 def South 8
Point Score	North 13     South 11     Central 10     West 5     East 1

 

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
2 - 25 April	Central	Lost 19 -3
3 - 30 April	Waratah	Lost 9 - 2
4 - 7 May		Bye
5 - 14 May	Kurri	Lost 26 - 11
6 - 4 June	North	Won 3 - 0
7 - 6 June	South	Lost 25 - 3
8 - 11 June	Maitland	Lost 11 - 3
9 - 18 June	Morpeth	Won 8 - 0
10 - 25 June	East	Lost 13 - 8
11 - 2 July	Central	Lost 9 - 7
12 - 9 July	Waratah	Lost 12 - 6
13 - 16 July		Bye
14 - 23 July	Kurri	Lost 10 - 5
15 - 6 August	North	Lost 48 - 6
16 - 13 August	South	?
17 - 20 August	Maitland	Won 20 - 18
18 - 27 August	Morpeth	Won 27 -8
Grand Final24 September		South 8 def North 3
Point Score	South 29   North 26   Waratah 25   East 24   Kurri 21   Central 19   Maitland 18 West 12   Morpeth 6

 

 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
2 - 28 April	Waratah	Lost 31 -3
3 - 5 May	Central	Lost 10 - 5
4 - 7 May		Bye
5 - 12 May	East	Lost 16 - 10
6 - 19 May	Morpeth	Won 15 - 5
7 - 26 May	Kurri	Lost 25 - 6
8 - 2 June	North	Lost 23 -3
9 - 9 June	Maitland	Lost 17 - 2
10 - 16 June	Waratah	Lost 8 - 5
11 - 23 June	South	Lost 22 - 0
12 - 30 June	Morpeth	Won 3 - 0
13 - 7 July		Bye
14 - 14 July	East	Won 11 - 10
15 - 28 July	Kurri	Lost 23 - 5
16 - 4 August	North	Lost 35 - 3
17 - 11 August	Maitland	Lost 20 -7
18 - 18 August	Central	Lost 24 - 9
Final - 22 September		Central 11 def North 8
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
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