Another week deeper into the off-season, and it was busiest week so far in terms of player movement around Major League Rugby! This is your weekly player movement breakdown for last week, October 28th to November 3rd and for the first time this off-season, we have a three page summary to go through! Be sure to check the MLRStats instagram for the full summary. This article will dive deeper into last week’s moves and it’s going to be a long one, so buckle up! As always, the first page of the summary is below:
Trade Wire Playing Catch-Up
On October 30th, the MLR Trade Wire updated to reveal FIVE trades that dated back to October 9th, three whole weeks prior to the trade being made public. The MLR Trade Wire is an excellent piece of transparency between the league and fans but unfortunately, between it being notoriously slow to update and little inaccuracies, it seems MLR don’t value it as much as fans do. As mentioned, although these trades date all the way back to October 9th, they only became public knowledge on October 30th, hence their inclusion on this week’s summary.
These trades revealed the destinations for a number of Dallas Jackals players following the dispersal draft, starting with the acquisition on October 9th of US-eligible Argentinian front row Tomás Bekerman by the Miami Sharks in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown) to Anthem RC. Bekerman scored 5 tries in 14 games (2 starts) for the Dallas Jackals in 2024, before being selected 12th in the dispersal draft following the Jackals’ withdrawal from MLR. Given the strong South American influence in the Miami squad and staff, this move makes a lot of sense. Two days later on October 11th, the Houston SaberCats acquired Californian lock Javon Camp-Villalovos from the NOLA Gold in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown), after he was selected 17th in the dispersal draft. A third former Jackal was also included in a trade, as it was revealed that the New England Free Jacks had acquired Canadian prop Kyle Steeves, also from the NOLA Gold in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). The NOLA Gold had selected Steeves 6th in the dispersal draft and although the trade is dated October 13th, the Trade Wire didn’t update until October 30th, and the Free Jacks had already announced the signing of Steeves on October 17th, and he was included in the Player Moves Summary that week.
On top of trading their dispersal draft picks for Cap Space, the NOLA Gold acquired Tongan back row Tupou Ma’afu Afungia from the San Diego Legion in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). Afungia scored 5 tries in 25 games (22 starts) for the Legion since 2023, and set a career high for meters gained in 2024, with 692m. Also on the move is Samoan prop Fred Apulu, who earned 14 of his 19 MLR appearances for the Chicago Hounds in 2024, earning his first career start. Apulu is headed to the Utah Warriors after they acquired him in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). The Warriors weren’t finished shopping there, though. The final trade in this week’s summary saw them acquire Gabe Casey from the New England Free Jacks in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown). Casey was the first player in MLR history to be drafted twice, by the Toronto Arrows in 2022 and the Free Jacks in 2023, and earned his league debut off the bench last season. The MLR Trade Wire shows the date of this transaction as October 31st, but given that the Utah Warriors announced Casey’s signing on October 28th, this is clearly wrong.
Re-Signings: Free Jacks, Sharks & Legion Announce Returnees
The New England Free Jacks and Miami Sharks continue to announce returnees from their 2024 squads, and with the San Diego Legion beginning to announce their 2025 roster, we have a dozen players returning to their 2024 teams for the 2025 campaign.
The Miami Sharks announced the return of 2023 1st overall pick Rick Rose, and capped Canadian international center Guiseppe du Toit for their sophomore season in 2025. Both Rose and du Toit appeared in all 16 games for the Sharks in their inaugural season, starting 12 games & 6 games respectively, with Rose completing 117 tackles and du Toit carrying for over 260m gained in possession. The New England Free Jacks announced another quartet of returnees from their 2024 Shield-winning squad, including 2024 MLR Player of the Year Wayne van der Bank and 2022 MLR Champion Kaleb Geiger. Van der Bank gained over 1,300m in possession during 2024, scoring 10 tries in 17 games (16 starts) for the Free Jacks while completing 187 tackles on defence. Geiger added a try and almost 100 tackles in 14 games (1 start) in his first season in Quincy. Also announced as returning by the reigning champions were Oscar Lennon, who appeared in more playoff games for the Free Jacks in 2024 (3) than regular season games (2), and Jackson Thiebes, a Free Jacks original who has earned 27 MLR appearances for New England (22 starts) since 2020. Thiebes played between 2020-2021, before taking a couple of years out and returning for 2024.
The remaining returnees are all members of the San Diego Legion, who began announcing their 2025 roster on November 1st and look like they will be announcing 2-4 players every day between the 1st and the 15th of November (see below). The Legion announced the return of SIX front row players last week, starting with Nate Sylvia, a MLR veteran who has earned 76 appearances (33 starts) over 7 seasons with the Legion, scoring 4 tries total and completing well over 500 tackles. Next came Djustice Sears-Duru, a 64-time capped Canadian prop and 2019 MLR Champion who has earned 57 appearanced to date including 20 for San Diego (4 starts, 1 try) since 2023. Third was Payton Telea-Ilalio, a Californian prop who enjoyed a break-out year in 2024, earning 14 appearances (10 starts) and recording almost 300m gained in possession as a front row. Also returning is Australian hooker Hugh Roach, one of only 21 players in MLR history to reach 20 tries scored in the competition, doing so in 41 games (36 starts) since 2021, including 3 tries in 12 games for the Legion in 2024. Roach’s compatriot Darcy Breen also returns for his 2nd MLR season in 2025, having gained 298m in 16 games (7 starts) for San Diego in 2024, completing over 70 tackles. Finally, 2022 MLR Collegiate Draftee Oli Kane will return for a 3rd season with the Legion in 2025. Kane was selected 21st overall by San Diego out of USD in 2022, and has earned 4 MLR appearances to date. His development will continue under British & Irish Lion Alex Corbisiero.
Inter-League Moves and Familiar Faces
The Utah Warriors were involved in many of the inter-league moves from last week, on both sides. The Warriors announced five new signings including Fred Apulu who was mentioned above. First was Nic Benn, a capped Canadian international raised in Australia, who the Warriors picked 4th in the Dallas Jackals dispersal draft (his 2nd dispersal draft in as many seasons after joining Dallas following the Toronto & NY dispersal draft in 2023). Benn missed much of 2023 due to injury but had a strong 2024 for Dallas, scoring 5 tries in 16 games (15 starts) including two in their nailbiting Western Conference Final defeat to the Seattle Seawolves. The Utah Warriors also announced the signing of Sione Latu, a Utahn flanker and Warriors pathway product who spent the 2024 season with Anthem RC, completing 77 tackles in 13 games (8 starts) during their inaugural season, Latu will return home to Herriman for 2025. A familiar face to LA or NOLA Gold fans, the Utah Warriors also announced the signing of Jordan Trainor, an New Zealand fullback who represented the LA Giltinis (2022) and NOLA Gold (2023), earning 23 MLR appearances (22 starts), scoring 5 tries and 29pts and amassing over 1,800m gained in possession. Trainor spent 2024 with Northland in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship.
Also involving the Utah Warriors but instead on the leaving side, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of test capped prop Paul Mullen for 2025. A MLR veteran and Eagle #525, Mullen has earned 72 appearances in MLR (49 starts) since 2018, including 57 for the Warriors between 2021-2024. News of Mullen‘s departure was announced by the Warriors on October 2nd. The final inter-league move saw the Chicago Hounds sign USA Eagle Faka’osi Pifeleti from the San Diego Legion. A 2x MLR Runner-up with the Legion (2019 & 2023), 59 of Pifeleti’s 72 MLR appearances came with the Legion between 2018-2021, and again between 2023-2024. It’s not clear whether the Hounds acquired Pifeleti via trade or signed him as a free agent, so keep an eye on that transactions page!
Including Jordan Trainor signing with the Utah Warriors, three players are returning to MLR after a year or two playing elsewhere. The San Diego Legion announced the return of US-eligible hooker Shilo Klein, who scored 2 tries in 15 games (4 starts) for the Legion in their record-breaking 2023 season, before being selected for the Blues wider training squad for the 2024 Super Rugby season. Also returning to MLR is Canadian speedster Brock Webster, who is capped at both 7s and 15s levels for Canada and scored 3 tries in 5 games (all starts) for the Toronto Arrows in 2022 before returning to the Canadian sevens program. The New England Free Jacks added Webster to their already strong Canadian contingent for 2025.
New Signings and Retirements
On the subject of Canadian Sevens, along with Brock Webster the New England Free Jacks added Josiah Morra for 2025. Morra has played with the Canadian Sevens side since 2016 and is capped for the Canadian 15s. He was included in the Canada squad for the 2024 PNC and their November tests, and also featured for the Ontario Arrows when they defeated New England in the Free Jacks’ first ever match.
Continuing with the Canadian theme, the NOLA Gold announced the signing of towering Alberta lock Kaden Duguid. The 6’8 Duguid, brother of professional players Tyler and Abby, joins the Gold after playing with the Vancouver Highlanders during their 2024 exhibition season, and has played a number of seasons in the French Fédérale 1. Duguid earned his test debut with Canada during the 2024 PNC, and was included in the Canada squad for their November tests.
Heading back to California, the San Diego Legion announced the addition of two new faces to their 2025 roster, hooker Liki Chan-Tung and prop Brook To’omalatai. Hawaiian born Australian Liki Chan-Tung represented the Wallabies at U20 level and joins from the Gungahlin Eagles in the ACTRU Premier Division. 31yo Brook To’omalatai is a late bloomer, playing club rugby for much of his career but he represented the Canterbury NPC side in 2023, and earned his test debut for Samoa in the 2024 PNC against the United States, where he caught the eye of the San Diego Legion.
In addition to acquiring Faka’osi Pifeleti from the Legion, the Chicago Hounds added a trio of new signings for next season, including a pair from the English Premiership. English-born South African fly-half Tim Swiel will join the Hounds from Saracens, having previously represented the likes of Harlequins and Newcastle in the Premiership, the Stormers and Edinburgh in the URC, and the Sharks in Super Rugby, as well as a stint in Japan. As if Swiel wasn’t enough experience, the Hounds also added England-capped utility back Ollie Devoto. Devoto is a 2x Premiership Champion and Champions Cup winner with the Exeter Chiefs, and has close to 200 appearances between Bath (2012-2016) and the Chiefs (2016-2024). Continuing their European recruitment, Scottish lock Hamish Bain will also join the Chicago Hounds, joining from Vannes after helping the French Pro D2 side win promotion to the Top 14. Bain was also part of the Jersey Reds team that won the 2022/23 Championship season under former Hounds Head Coach Rob Webber.
Finally, following the announcement by the Utah Warriors that he would not be returning for the 2025 MLR season, South African lock Louis Conradie announced his retirement on Instagram at the age of just 28. Conradie made 8 appearances (3 starts) for the Warriors during their tough 2024 season.
And there (finally!) concludes the summary of all player moves around MLR for last week. With the off-season showing no signs of slowing down, expect more moves and longer articles as we breka down all the moves. Summary graphics and accompanying articles are published on Mondays on this site and on our instagram page, @MLRStats. Also be sure to follow my personal twitter/x @jamdelay for any schedule changes/news items. Thank you as always for reading, especially if you got this far!