Stan Prentice
Stan Prentice was an Auckland rugby league player who represented New Zealand in 5 test matches from 1928 to 1935. He was Kiwi #192 when he debuted against England in 1928 when he played in all 3 test matches. He then played in 2 tests against Australia in 1935. Prentice played 131 games for Richmond Rovers, captaining them in the later half of his career. He also represented Auckland on 20 occasions, as well as 5 times for the North Island. He later coached Mount Albert United to the 1939 Fox Memorial title and also coached Auckland in 1939 and 1948 as well as being a selector of the side through many seasons.
Early life
Stanley Miller Prentice was born on 21 June 1903 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was the youngest child of James Prentice and Helen Prentice. James was born in Glasgow, Scotland, while Helen was born in Holytown, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Helen and James had 12 children; Elizabeth, Mary, James Roslin , Annie Grant, Henry William, James Roslin, Robert, Helen, George Albert, Thomas Gordon, and Victoria May and Stanley Miller Prentice.The family migrated to Australia from Scotland in 1883 before migrating again to Auckland, New Zealand in the mid to late 1890s.
Playing career
Richmond Rovers
Stan Prentice began playing for the Richmond Rovers club based in Grey Lynn, Auckland in 1924 aged 21. He played for the Richmond 3rd grade side and was said to soon show “outstanding ability”. In 1925 he played for the Richmond 4th grade side playing in the backline. They went through the season undefeated to win the 4th grade title. On 10 October 1925, he was part of the Richmond 4th grade team which played curtain-raiser to the Auckland v Queensland match at Carlaw Park. His side won 5–3 over Athletic.In 1926 Prentice made his debut for the Richmond senior side against Grafton on 24 April in a 23–3 win. It was said that “the colts, Davis, halfback, Prentice, five eighths, and Jenkinson, three quarter gave splendid exhibitions”.
Auckland selection and trial matches
During the 1926 season he would play alongside Kiwi Jim Parkes. Richmond were in their 5th season in the senior grade of the Auckland Rugby League and finished 5th of 8 teams with a 3 win, 8 loss record. Prentice played 15 matches and scored 7 tries while in the standoff position. Amazingly Prentice was selected in a series of trial matches to assist the selectors in choosing the New Zealand side to tour England and Wales in just his first season of senior football. In July he was selected for a trial match at Carlaw Park between an A and B Team as curtain raiser to the North Island v South Island fixture. His B Team went down 25–16, while a week later he played in the B Team's 30–28 win over an A Team side with the match being a curtain raiser to the Probables v Possibles. He missed selection for the tour but The Auckland Star reported at the time that Prentice was “unlucky to miss the Home trip”. Prentice then played for Auckland against the touring New Zealand side on 31 July and scored a try in a 52–32 win when Maurice Wetherill “whipped a scissors pass” to him and he scored “under the bar”. The two combined over and over during the match with “nearly every movement initiated by this pair”. After the match the scribes stated that Prentice “should have been in the team ahead of any of Webb, Delgrosso and Kirwan”, and “is one of the most promising backs seen in action for many seasons” Prentice was chosen for Auckland v Otago on 7 August in a match for the Northern Union Challenge Cup which Auckland won 14–4.Prentice then capped off a remarkable debut season by being part of the Richmond Rovers side to win the Roope Rooster which was their first ever senior grade trophy before representing Auckland against South Auckland. Auckland won the Northern Union Cup match 25–8. His final match of the year was in the 15-8 Stormont Shield loss to Ponsonby United.
1927 saw Prentice represent Richmond in 13 matches where he scored 2 tries. He played 3 matches for Auckland and was also selected to play for the North Island side for the first time in their regular fixture with the South Island. His first match of the season was for Auckland against the returning New Zealand side from Europe and saw Auckland win 24-21.
Richmond once again won the Roope Rooster competition defeating Devonport United 7-6. Against the same opponent earlier in the season Prentice was sent off for the first time in his career though it was unclear what for as several other players were also sent off after words with the referee. Later in the season Richmond won the Stormont Shield too though Prentice missed the match as he was suffering from influenza. His other representative matches for Auckland were against Canterbury, the combined West Coast/Buller side on 10 and 14 September respectively, and then in the final match of the tour against Wellington on 21 September. The matches were part of a Southern Tour and were played at Monica Park in Christchurch and Victoria Park in Greymouth. Auckland defeated Canterbury 24-13 and the West Coast/Buller 42–15. while their win over Wellington was by 41 points to 23. Then on 24 September he played once more for North Island against South Island. North Island were victorious 13–8 with Prentice's “straight running” said to be a noticeable feature. It was said that Prentice had “suffered considerably from a badly-broken nose” sustained in the later part of the season but he had a successful operation during the summer months and “no more trouble is expected from the injury” leading into the 1928 season.
New Zealand debut (v Great Britain)
The 1928 season saw Prentice make his New Zealand debut against the touring Great Britain. He had begun the season playing 7 matches for Richmond before being selected to play for Auckland against South Auckland on 16 June. Auckland won the match 22–3 at Carlaw Park though Prentice was taken to Auckland Hospital after once again breaking his nose. The injury wasn't serious enough to keep him from playing the following week for Richmond against Newton Rangers and then on 11 July he played for the Auckland Possibles side in a trial match. His side beat the ‘Probables’ 24–14 with Prentice scoring 2 tries. Prentice scored 2 more tries in a match for Auckland where they thrashed Canterbury 66–26 in front of a large crowd of 15,000 at Carlaw Park on 21 July. Four days later he played for Auckland against South Auckland and they upset 19-17 by the travelling team. His form had been good enough to warrant selection for the North Island side. The North Island romped to a 44–8 win and Prentice's halves partnership with Maurice Wetherill was lauded. The Auckland Star wrote “one confidently expects that Prentice and Wetherill will be the New Zealand … five-eighths pair for the first Test, seeing that they combine perfectly, and can each play their respective parts to a nicety. There is nothing showy about Prentice's play, but he has a wonderful defence, and habitually does the right thing without trying to do too much”. The prediction proved correct, as on 2 August Prentice was named to make his debut for New Zealand in the five-eighths alongside Wetherill. Frank Delgrosso was selected to play inside Prentice at halfback.The First test was played at Carlaw Park on 4 August. An enormous crowd of 30,000 packed into the ground to see New Zealand triumph 17–13. Early in the match “Prentice electrified the spectators by lifting Sloman, the English fifteen stone front row man, clean off his feet”. The Auckland Star wrote that Prentice produced “superb defence and glorious tackling took all on the principal that the bigger they are, the better they fall, and not once in the game did he fail New Zealand”. While the writer for the New Zealand Herald said “for tackling no one could wish to see a better exhibition than that given by Prentice, at second five-eighth. His all round play stamped him as one of the best backs on the side”. He had perhaps got under the skin of the Great Britain players as near the end of the match New Zealand received a penalty for a player “deliberately kicking Prentice… when at least ten yards away from the ball”. On 11 August Prentice played for Auckland against the Great Britain side but this time went down 26-15 before 25,000 spectators at Carlaw Park.
He then played in the 2nd test at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin before a crowd of 9,000. He was once again in the five-eighth position along with Wetherill. New Zealand a violent match 13–5 with Burgess being sent off and several players suffering facial injuries due to being struck by opponents. At one point “Prentice and Bowen were cautioned for rough play” after “fighting on the ground” with Frank Delgrosso being carried off the field on a stretcher as a result of this ‘incident’. Early in the match Prentice intercepted a pass and ran half the length of the field but nothing resulted in the play, a short time later he “put in a brilliant run and play was taken to the English twenty-five”. Then near halftime Prentice made “a brilliant run…to the line, but he was pushed out at the corner”. He was described as being in “great form” during that first half. The Otago Daily Times stated that “probably the best back on the New Zealand side was Prentice, who put in no end of clever work”. After the match Prentice required four stitches to “patch up an ear wound”. The third test was a more mild affair with Great Britain winning the match 6-5 and thus won the series 2–1. It was played at English Park in Christchurch before a crowd of 20,000 with the police turning away 3,000 more five minutes before kick off with the ground at capacity. Prentice and Wetherill were said to have been “both as game as pebbles and as clever footballers as are found in the game were peculiarly impotent against Rees and Parkin”. Prentice early in the match made a “fiery tackle of Gwynne…when England was looking a bit likely”. He had also followed up a kick well and tackled Sullivan in possession which forced a scrum. New Zealand gained a penalty which Craddock Dufty kicked to give New Zealand a 2–0 lead. Late in the match with the score at 6-5 Prentice was hurt in a tackle but was able to complete the match and it was whistled over a short while later. Prentice then returned to Auckland and finished the season playing 4 further matches for Richmond including the Labour Day tournament final loss to Marist Old Boys 12–5.