Well, at least it was missing until it popped up for sale online recently.
It stood as the symbol of supremacy in Dunedin club rugby league from 1925 until it dropped out of circulation early this century. It is one of more than a dozen Otago Rugby League trophies whose whereabouts are best described as undefined.
New Zealand Rugby League Southern Zone general manager Steve Martin said they were very keen to get back a trophy that went missing sometime after the 2003 season.
Martin said a sharp-eyed member of the public spotted it advertised for sale on Trade Me last week.
The item was withdrawn on Saturday afternoon after questions were raised about the listing with the online auction platform.
"But we couldn’t get through Trade Me to find out who it was because of privacy issues ... so the problem we’ve got now is we don’t know how to get to the person to say, ‘Hey, we’d love to get the cup back into action’."
Martin said Otago Rugby League was prepared to recompense the person who posted the item for auction.
Bidding had reached $160 before it was withdrawn.
Martin brought the story to the attention of the Otago Daily Times in the hope it would enable the return of the trophy, which "has a rich history".
The Ellis Cup was awarded to the winners of the Otago club competition and was first played for in 1925 — a year after the formation of Otago Rugby League.
It was donated by Dunedin businessman Arthur Ellis. Otago Rugby League went into recess between 1935 and 1952. The sport resumed in the city in 1953 and Athletic claimed the trophy that year.
It was last awarded to South Pacific in 2003 then went missing.
Rugby league stalwart Carey Clements has done a "a bit of detective work" and believes the Ellis Cup, along with 12 other trophies, was held in storage at the Provincial Hotel in Dunedin.
Clements believes when the hotel passed into new owner ship, the trophies were sold off by the new owner rather than being returned to Otago Rugby League.
"I was able to ask the person on Trade Me a few questions before the auction was with drawn on Saturday afternoon," Clements said.
"They said they bought it from a dealer in Central Otago.
"I also went to the Trade Me offices on Friday afternoon in Wellington to see if we could get the auction stopped and get the contact details of the person that was selling it.
"But under the Privacy Act, they refused to give them out.
"But it is never a cup that should have been owned by anybody. It is a cup that should be owned by the body and there [are] a number of other cups which have gone missing as well that have been around for a long time.
"It would be really nice, because of the long history of the game in Dunedin, if these cups could be returned."
Trade Me policy and com pliance manager James Ryan said its trust and safety team have been looking into the listing since "it was brought to our attention".
"We can’t say much as we take our members’ privacy seriously. But we can say the listing was withdrawn.
"We’ve been in touch with the seller and Otago Rugby League and we are investigating this case."
