The 1918 Auckland Rugby League season was its 10th since its inception in 1909. It was again severely affected by the ongoing war with several hundred players serving overseas and 44 killed who were named in the annual report. North Shore Albions withdrew from the competition early in the season and on other occasions teams played short-handed. There was also a truncated representative program with only a trial match and one full Auckland representative match versus Canterbury, which was played at the Auckland Domain in front of 10,000 spectators.
The senior grade featured six teams. Ponsonby United won their second consecutive title with an 8-win–1-loss record. Ponsonby then travelled to Christchurch to play Sydenham for the Thacker Shield and they won 11 points to 0. City Rovers won their second Roope Rooster title with a 6–3 win over Maritime following their first win in 1916.
Senior games still regularly attracted strong crowds. The round 4 matches at Victoria Park drew an estimated crowd of 6,000. While 4,000 attended the round 5 matches, 5,000 the round 7 clash between City Rovers and Grafton Athletic at the same venue, and 6,000 witnessed the round 9 match between City Rovers and Ponsonby United.
At the season end many one-off matches were played between various teams. One of the more notable ones was a match between the Auckland Star staff and The New Zealand Herald staff. The game was won by the Auckland Star by 8 points to 4. These company type fixtures were to become a regular feature of Auckland Rugby League for decades to come.
News
Epidemic deaths
At the conclusion of the year the Auckland Rugby League took out an advertisement acknowleding the deaths of people associated with the game from the recent influenza epidemic. They included Matthew Winter Maddison of the Ponsonby club, and Montrose (Monty) Stanaway who had represented Auckland in 1915 while with the Otahuhu club before later transferring to City in 1917. And also H. Iles, Arthur Winnall, B Evans, P. Sheenan, and Francis Caulam also being mentioned along with "all others who have lost their loved ones".
Competition news
Club teams by grade participation
Maritime, Mangere, and Big Store football clubs form
The 'Maritime Football Club' applied to join the Auckland Rugby League with the nomination of a senior team. This was accepted by the league. They finished the season with a 1 win, 7 loss record.
The Māngere club applied for affiliation and the registration of 23 players at the Auckland Rugby League meeting on 17 April. This was granted by the league. They were to play in maroon and gold originally as requested but before the season started asked to wear blue instead.
The Big Store Football Club nominated a team to play in the league which was accepted and their colours of blue and white were approved.
New league rooms
At the conclusion of the season the league opened their own league rooms on Swanson Street. The rooms were used for the first time with the Auckland Rugby League executive meeting on 23 October. The rooms consisted of "a large billiard room and League office, and a room for clubs to hold their weekly meetings in". It was stated that players did not formerly meet "their fellow players during the summer time, but with this club now on a sound footing they will be able to meet each other and spend enjoyable evenings which should bring about a better feeling between the different teams".
Death of George Cook in World War 1
On January 14, 1918 George Cook died in France during World War 1. Originally he was a rugby player who played for many seasons for Horowhenua before moving to Wellington where he played representative rugby there too. He switched to rugby league in 1912 playing for Wellington and there gaining selection for New Zealand to play New South Wales. Cook moved to Auckland in 1913 and joined the Newton Rangers. He played in 9 matches for them and scored 33 points making him the second highest scorer. He was selected for Auckland and played in 6 matches scoring 4 tries. In 1914 he joined the Otahuhu Rovers club where he played 9 games and scored 29 points which was the 3rd most in the competition. Cook enlisted in the New Zealand Māori (Pioneer) Battalion in 1917. Cook died on October 12, 1918, from broncho-pneumonia while at the No. 7 Canadian General Hospital in the field in France. He was buried at Étaples Military Cemetery in Étaples, near Boulogne in north-west France.