Faint jingle bells can be heard in the distance, the elves are hard at work, and Mariah Carey is almost completely thawed out for the holidays. Major League Rugby teams are staying busy as we move into December, with a bumper week around the league that included the unveiling of all home and away kits for the 2025 season! NARDB’s ranking of the 2025 home kits can be found here, and the away kit ranking will be coming later this week. This article, however, will focus on the player announcements from last week, December 2nd to December 8th, 2024. It will add a bit more context and detail to each move, giving fans a better understanding of the roles these players may play in 2025, and keeping them up to date on all the roster changes. The summary graphic just about stretches onto two pages, and as always here is page one:
Returnees and Re-Signings
As you can see from the first page of the summary graphic above, the majority of last week’s player announcements were players returning to their 2024 teams. There were TWENTY re-signings announced last week across four teams, including 7 for Old Glory DC and 6 for Rugby FC LA.
Old Glory DC began their roster announcements for 2025 on December 1st, following an advent calendar type of reveal. Last week, they announced seven returning forwards from their 2024 pack. Beginning in the front row, the Flags announced the return of KoiKoi Nelligan, Martin Vaca, and Cali Martinez. A Washington DC native, KoiKoi Nelligan was drafted 34th overall by the San Diego Legion in 2022 out of the Army West Point rugby program, and traded to Old Glory shortly after in exchange for DC’s 1st Rd pick in 2023 (used to select James Rivers 10th overall). Nelligan has earned 15 MLR appearances for DC since 2023, including 13 in 2024 where he scored his first two MLR tries and set career highs across the board. Also returning at hooker is former Argentinian U20 player Martin Vaca, who scored 5 tries in 11 games (9 starts) in his debut MLR season in 2024, completing 114 tackles and amassing over 300m gained. Finally for the front row, the Flags confirmed the return of newly capped Canadian international prop Cali Martinez. Earning his test debut for Canada in a win over Romania in July, Martinez has earned 27 appearances since 2023, and was the highest drafted Canadian in MLR history when he was selected 3rd overall out of the University of British Columbia.
Moving into the second row, DC will have Tevita Naqali and Bill Whiteside returning next year. A MLR and Old Glory DC veteran, Fijian lock Naqali has scored 7 tries in his 54 appearances (51 starts) for DC since 2020, and is US-eligible through residency. He has over 550 tackles completed and 2,359m gained in posession in his career. 2022 Draftee Billy Whiteside also returns. Whiteside was selected 29th overall out of Lindenwood by New York, but did not feature in an MLR game for the Ironworkers. Following their withdrawal he joined Old Glory DC, earning his MLR debut and 12 appearances in 2024, including 4 starts and over 50 tackles. In the back row, Collin Grosse and Brady Daniel are both back for the Flags in 2025. Brady Daniel, the brother of DC standout and USA Eagle Cory, has 10 MLR appearances for Old Glory since 2022 including 7 in 2024 where he earned his first two starts and scored his first MLR try. Grosse, like Nelligan, is an Army West Poitn Alum and was drafted 15th overall by Old Glory DC in 2022. He’s scored 3 tries in 31 games (18 starts) across two seasons so far, completing an impressive 279 tackles.
Moving away from Old Glory DC to Rugby FC LA, who began announcing their 2025 roster back in November. RFCLA announced 6 returnees of their own, all in the back line with 5 of them deemed domestic players. Rory van Vugt will return for a second year with LA and 4th year in MLR after playing with Rugby ATL between 2020-2021 before joining the Highlanders. Kiwi wing/fullback van Vugt has 5 tries and 33pts in 25 MLR games (24 starts) in his career, and scored a career high 16pts for RFCLA in 2024. Also returning on the wing is English born Canadian raised draftee Jack Shaw. Shaw was selected 22nd overall out of Bishop’s University by Rugby ATL in 2022, and followed the franchise to LA after representing the RATLers in 2023. Shaw has scored 8 tries in 24 games (22 starts) in his career, recording over 1,000m gained already.
Moving to the centre, another Canadian draftee returns in the form of Seth Purdey. A schoolmate of Shaw’s at Shawnigan Lake School in British Columbia, Purdey attended UC-Berkeley where he was drafted 4th Overall in 2022, also by Rugby ATL. Purdey scored his first MLR try for LA in 2024, earning 10 of his 17 MLR appearances and 6 of his 8 starts. RFCLA will also have newly US-eligible Irish centre Will Leonard returning for 2025. A MLR veteran, Leonard has 70 MLR appearances since 2019 between New York (2019-2021), Atlanta (2022-2023), and LA (2024), starting 65 times and scoring 13 tries. Leonard qualified for domestic status on residency, and has amassed just shy of 4,000m gained in his MLR career to date.
From the centres to the half-backs, RFCLA announced the return of US-born Australian scrum-half Tasman Smith for his 3rd season in MLR. Born in New York, Smith played with the LA Giltinis in 2022 before spending 2023 in the Shute Shield while finishing his studies at the University of Sydney. he returned to LA in 2024 and has earned 30 MLR appearances in his career to date, scoring 2 tries and completing over 120 tackles including a high of 77 in 2024. At fly-half, RFCLA have MLR Draftee Matt Anticev returning for his sophomore season. the USA national team are in desperate need of the next fly-half, so the pressure is on the Dartmouth alum and 6th overall pick from 2023. Another ATL pick, Anticev earned 6 appearances and 2 starts for RFCLA in his rookie season in 2024.
Staying in the Western Conference but moving to Texas, the Houston SaberCats continue their steady announcements for their 2025 roster. MLR veteran LaRome White will return for his 2nd season with the ‘Cats in 2025, his EIGHTH in the league. A 2018 MLR Champion with the Seattle Seawolves, White has 65 appearances under his belt between Seattle (2018), the Austin Gilgronis (2019-2022), the Chicago Hounds (2023), and the SaberCats (2024). He’s completed over 250 tackles in his career and has over 900m gained as a prop. Also returning to the Houston front row is SaberCats veteran Valdemar Lee-Lo. With the exception of 2022 that he missed due to injury, Lee-Lo has represented Houston in every season since 2020, earning 17 appearances to date and 7 starts. On the subject of injury, South African wing/fullback Gerrie Labuschagne will return for the ‘Cats after missing out on the entire 2024 season. Labuschagne scored 5 tries and 30pts in his 24 games (21 starts) between 2022-2024 and recorded over 600m gained in both seasons he featured for the SaberCats. Joining Labuschagne on the wing is Jeremy Misailegalu. A teammate of LaRome White with the Seattle Seawolves for their 2018 Shield winning season, ‘Missile‘ has 9 tries in 50 MLR appearances between Seattle (2018), the Utah Warriors (2019), Rugby ATL (2020-2021), and Houston (2024). He has over 250 tackles completed on the wing, and over 1,800m gained in his career.
Staying in the south but moving to the Eastern Conference, the Miami Sharks, like Houston, continue their steady announcements for 2025 with a further 3 returnees. USA Sevens man Chase Schor-Haskin returns for a second season in Miami after earning 10 appearances for them in their inaugural season. Schor-Haskin was drafted 6th overall in 2021 by New York before being traded to the NOLA Gold, representing them in 2022. He spent 2022-2023 in the USA Sevens program, returning to the league in 2024. The Sharks also announced a pair of depth pieces for their sophomore season in American Samoan prop Setu Vole and South African centre Josh McAdam. Raised in Hawaii, Vole was drafted 27th overall by the Sharks in 2023 out of Lindenwood, earning his MLR debut in 2024. US-eligible Saffa Josh McAdam attended Davenport University and trained with the Chicago Hounds in 2023 before playing with the USA Hawks later that year. He earned 4 appearances for the Sharks off the bench during their inaugural season.
Intra-League Moves
If you couldn’t already tell, the 20 re-signings and returnees took up a lot of the oxygen last week, but they weren’t the only moves. A handful of players are returning to MLR in 2025, but they’ll be wearing a different kit. This includes probably the biggest move of the week, with which we’ll start. Rugby FC LA announced the signing of 2021 MLR Champion, and 2021-2022 back to back MLR Back of the Year Billy Meakes from the Chicago Hounds for 2025. This move might have been jaw-dropping to the average fan, but to the hardcore MLR fanbase (such as those reading this article!), it was predictable. Meakes, who has 7 tries in 57 MLR games since 2021, represented the LA Giltinis between 2021-2022 under head coach Stephen Hoiles and Captain Dave Dennis. Fast forward to 2025, and Hoiles is the RFCLA Director of Rugby/HC, and Dave Dennis is Assistant Coach. More than that, Meakes (a new father) is an LA resident and even has a business there, Boulevard. Although an obvious move, this is a huge signing for RFCLA and Meakes, who will look to add to his 4,704m gained and 546 tackles back on the west coast.
In addition to the huge signing of Billy Meakes by Rugby FC LA, last week we learned who three more Dallas Jackals would be representing in 2025. The Houston SaberCats announced the signing of Woodlands, TX native Evan Conlon after selecting him 19th in the Dallas Jackals Dispersal Draft. Somewhat ironically, Conlon’s only appearance for the Jackals was off the bench in the Western Conference Semifinal, where Dallas stunned the 14-2 Houston SaberCats. With Conlon’s signing, the SaberCats have now signed all their picks from the dispersal draft. On that point, the Miami Sharks also complete the signings of their Dispersal Draft picks after confirming the signing of Marques Fuala’au having picked him 3rd. Fuala’au was drafted 3rd overall by the Dallas Jackals in 2023 and earned 16 appearances (3 starts) with the team in 2024, scoring 1 try and completing over 80 tackles. The Seattle Seawolves also confirmed the signing of one of their Dispersal Draft selections, newly capped Canadian international scrum-half Brock Gallagher. Selected 21st, Gallagher earned 15 appearances for the Jackals in 2024 including in the Western Conference Final against his new side, the Seattle Seawolves. Just before the 2024 playoffs, Alberta native Gallagher earned his test debut for Canada off the bench against Scotland. He earned his first test start last month against Romania.
New Additions and Retirements
Wrapping up this week’s MLR Roster Moves Summary, arguably the busiest team of last week, Rugby FC LA, announced the addition of Californian lock Mikaea Wynyard for 2025. A San Jose native, Wynyard has spent the last two years in the La Rochelle system in France, playing with their Espoirs team and being mentored by the likes of Australian Rugby World Cup Captain Will Skelton. Wynyard is no stranger to Major League Rugby as he was signed to a development contract by the New England Free Jacks for the 2022 season, but he didn’t feature for the MLR side.
At the other end of their career is another 2024 Dallas Jackal, Mitch Richardson. A fan favourite in Toronto with the Arrows, Richardson represented Canada as recently as last month, but called time on his professional career last week at the age of 28. Richardson scored 11 tries in 52 MLR games (43 starts), representing the Toronto Arrows (2019-2023) and Dallas Jackals (2024), he gained 2,122m in posession and completed 338 tackles. Richardson experienced two teams withdraw in as any seasons, but it is unclear if this had any bearing on his decision to retire.
That concludes this week’s summary of roster moves from last week. We’ve heard from all but one team so far, but maybe this week Anthem RC will begin their announcements. Which was the biggest move of the week for you? And are you happy with your team’s moves so far? Stay tuned for NARDB’s ranking of the 2025 Away kits coming later next week, and these summary articles released every Monday.
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