As we move into mid-November, Major League Rugby teams continue to stay busy, locking up their 2025 standouts, and locking up stars from the glut of free agents resulting from a truly disastrous off-season. With a bit of luck, all the bad news is out of the way and only good news lies ahead, and this is encouraged by the Seattle Seawolves beginning their 2026 Player announcements last week!
Welcome back to NARDB’s Player Moves Summary Article series! Every week, these articles aim to keep fans up to date on all the player movement to, from, and all around Major League Rugby ahead of a very different feeling 2026 season. The Seattle Seawolves and reigning Champion New England Free Jacks have kicked off their announcements meaning that 5 teams are now active in the player market, with only the California Legion remaining quiet. Here is the summary of all the moves from last week:
Re-Signings
The Seattle Seawolves kicked off their 2026 roster announcements on 11th November when they confirmed the return of South African centre Dan Kriel for his 5th season in Major League Rugby in 2026, and his 5th with the Seawolves. The twin brother of Springboks centre Jesse Kriel, Dan joined the Seattle Seawolves ahead of the 2022 season, and has started all 60 of his appearances for the team in the 4 seasons since. A recipient of the 2023 S. Marcus Calloway Award for his work with Happy Bundles, Kriel has racked up 12 tries and over 3,500m gained in possession, as well as over 500 tackles made in defence, helping the Seawolves to four straight post-season appearances including two Championship Final appearances in 2022 and 2024. Maybe Kriel’s 5th season with the team will be 3rd time lucky in the 2026 Championship Final?
Continuing their busy few weeks, the Chicago Hounds announced the return of test capped Canadian international lock/back row, Mason Flesch, for his 3rd season with the team and 6th Major league Rugby campaign in 2026. Entering MLR in 2021, Flesch spent 3 seasons with the Toronto Arrows, earning 27 appearances (22 starts) for the Canadian franchise before they pulled out of the competition. He was selected by the Hounds in the dispersal draft and has started all but 1 of his 31 appearances in Chicago, scoring all 9 of his tries including a career high of 6 in 2025. Flesch also recorded a career high 165 tackles completed last season to take his career total to just under 500, and earned a pair of MLR Team of the Week selections as well as being named Player of the Week in Round 9. Currently touring with the Canadian national team for their November tests, Mason Flesch is the 3rd Canadian confirmed for 2026 and the 2nd for the Hounds alongside Lucas Rumball. Hounds fans will be hoping for another strong season from their big Canadian forwards in 2026.
On 14th November 2025, Old Glory DC announced their first re-signing of the week in 2022 MLR Champion Jason Emery, returning for his 5th season in the competition in 2026, and his 2nd with Old Glory DC. A versatile back, Emery represented Rugby New York from 2022 until their withdrawal in late 2023. He signed with Rugby FC LA following the dispersal draft, and covered their 10 jersey when the team suffered a series of injuries. Following the 2024 season, RFCLA traded Emery to Old Glory DC, who must’ve thanked their lucky stars when he stepped into the DC 10 shirt following a season ending injury to regular fly-half Jason Robertson, and did a solid job. He started 13 of his 16 appearances for the Flags, scoring 73pts from the tee with a 65.96% success rate and completing just under 100 tackles to help the team qualify for their 4th straight postseason. Jason Emery now sits on 211pts scored in his MLR career, and is currently the league’s 19th highest scorer. How high will he get in 2026?
Later that same day, Anthem RC confirmed the signing of English fly-half/centre Tom Pittman for their 2026 season. Eligible for the USA through his Massachusetts-born Grandfather John Hewitt Wilson (who represented Ireland at test level), Pittman’s signing for 2026 was initially announced by Anthem RC in April 2025 while he was playing with C’Chartres in the French Fédérale 1 (Tier 5). Pittman has previously played with the Jersey Reds (under ex-Chicago Hounds head coach Rob Webber) and Cornish Pirates in the English Championship, and since his initial signing with the Rising Stars he has earned his test debut for the USA as Eagle #592 against Spain in July 2025.
Intra-League Signings
Along with the Seattle Seawolves, the 3x Reigning Champion New England Free Jacks kicked off their player moves for 2026 after announcing their 2026 staff earlier last week. Their first announcement was the return of fan favourite, Mitch ‘Ironman’ Wilson after a year with Anthem RC in 2025. Born and raised in Australia until his family moved to the US when he was 15, Wilson entered Major League Rugby with the Free Jacks ahead of their inaugural season in 2025. He racked up 57 appearances for New England (51 starts) between 2020-2024 scoring 17 tries including a high of 7 in his standout 2022 season to help the Free Jacks to back-to-back Shields in 2023-2024. Wilson moved to Anthem in a high profile move ahead of the 2025 season, where he started 10 of his 11 appearances for the Rising Stars and added 1 try and 47pts with a success rate of 76% from the tee. He recorded over 700m gained for the 4th season in a row, and sits just above 3,600m gained in his career with 366 tackles made in his 68 career MLR games!
Wilson’s return to New England comes with a bit of a twist. NARDB understands that this move was deemed to have violated MLR’s Anti-Tampering policy and as a result, New England received a salary cap deduction and Anthem RC received the Free Jacks’ 1st Rd Draft Pick for 2026.
Heading to the Midwest, the Chicago Hounds continue their impressive run with the announcement that the team had signed USA capped scrumhalf Ruben de Haas for 2026. Coming off of a year with the NOLA Gold in 2025 and currently touring with the national team, Eagle #522 de Haas started 6 of his 13 appearances for the NOLA Gold in 2025, gaining just shy of 150m in possession as a 9. He also represented the Austin Gilgronis back in 2021, starting 4 of his 6 games with the AGs. De Haas initially joined the NOLA Gold on a 5-month loan from the Cheetahs in South Africa, but this loan expired at the same time as his 2yr deal with the Cheetahs making him a free agent, and the Chicago Hounds have taken the opportunity of signing an international calibre starting scrumhalf.
Over the weekend, Anthem RC announced the acquisition of Californian prop Payton Telea-Ilalio for his 4th Major League Rugby campaign in 2026. A Rudy Scholz Award winner while at St. Mary’s College, Telea-Ilalio entered MLR ahead of the 2022 season, with the Austin Gilgronis. He scored 2 tries and started 2 of his 5 appearances for the AGs before the team was disqualified and folded in the offseason. Telea-Ilalio spent 2023 with the American Raptors in the South American SLAR competition, before signing with the San Diego Legion once the Raptors shut up shop. He spent two years with the Legion, earning 27 appearances in total and scoring an additional 2 tries, and earned a career high 13 starts in 2025 when Telea-Ilalio also completed a career high 133 tackles, which more than doubled his career total in MLR. Internationally, Payton Telea-Ilalio earned his test debut for the USA Men’s Eagles against Samoa in November 2024 as Eagle #580, and most recently toured with the Eagles for their 2025 November tests, where he was a reserve for all 3 tests. Relatively young for a front rower at 27, Payton Telea-Ilalio adds yet more test experience to an Anthem side desperate for that elusive first victory.
New Signings
The Seattle Seawolves certainly set out to make waves with their first batch of player signings, and announced the MLR’s first incoming player on 14th November when they confirmed the signing of capped Scotland international and Olympic Silver Medallist Mark Bennett for 2026! Bennett is a veteran of Scottish rugby. He represented the Glasgow Warriors from 2011-2017, claiming the 2014/15 Pro12 title before moving to Edinburgh Rugby from 2017-2025 (playing under former Free Jacks Head Coach Scott Mathie) and earning over 100 top-level appearances in the Scottish capital. Internationally, Bennett represented Scotland at both U18 & U20 levels before earning his test debut in November 2014. He appeared in all of Scotland’s 2015 Six Nations games and represented his country at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, earning a World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year nomination the same year. Bennett has earned 29 test caps for Scotland to date, with his most recent coming in 2022. Welcome to MLR, Mark!
Departures
Thanks to the shift in Major League Rugby’s focus on ‘domestic’ talent, another of the League’s international starts has pursued an opportunity overseas. On 14th November 2025 the Hollywoodbets Sharks of the URC announced the addition of former Free Jacks centre and 3x MLR Champion Le Roux Malan for their 2025/26 season. Namibian born, South African raised Malan came through the Sharks system after playing with Paarl Boys High School and progressed through their age-grade sides before joining the New England Free Jacks ahead of the 2022 MLR season. A capped Namibian international, Malan scored 17 tries and 89pts in his 59 games (51 starts) across 4 seasons with the Free Jacks, amassing over 3,400m gained in possession and just shy of 475 tackles completed, proving integral to each of New England’s 3 Shields between 2023-2025, scoring tries in both the 2023 and 2024 Championship Final. Very best of luck in the URC, Le Roux!
Retirements
Rather unusually, last week there were two players whose retirements were confirmed, and yet these two players will remain in Major League Rugby with the teams they represented in 2025, both transitioning to coaching roles after hanging up their boots. Even more unusual is the fact that these two announcements came minutes apart on the very same day! Lets dive into them.
Just about first was the announcement by Old Glory DC centre Steff Hughes, who confirmed on instagram that he was hanging up the boots. Minutes later however, the Welsh centre was announced as Old Glory DC’s new Attack and Backs coach for the 2026 MLR season. A former Wales U20 player and Pro14 (now URC) Champion, ex-Scarlets and Dragons centre Hughes started all 15 of his appearances for Old Glory DC during 2025, scoring 1 try and gaining just under 400m in possession, while completing 88 tackles in total. Hughes is already familiar with Old Glory DC Head Coach Simon Cross already, having worked with him during his time at the Scarlets and played under him again last season. DC fans will be hoping that this relationship continues to work with them both now in coaching roles. Congratulations, Steff!
Coming just minutes after Old Glory DC’s announcement regarding Steff Hughes, the reigning Champion New England Free Jacks confirmed their staff for the 2026 campaign. 2025 MLR Coach of the Year Ryan Martin returns to the surprise of nobody, but he will be assisted by Free Jacks veteran and test capped Canadian international Josh Larsen, who has also transitioned from playing to coaching ahead of 2026. Josh Larsen entered MLR with the Austin Elite (later Gilgronis) in 2019, the same year he represented Canada in the Rugby World Cup in Japan. He scored 2 tries in 13 games (all starts) for Austin before joining the New England Free Jacks as Free Jack #1. From 2020-2025, Larsen helped the Free Jacks secure back-to-back-to-back MLR Shields, scoring 4 tries in his 65 appearances for the team, of which he was the Club Captain. Larsen scored 6 tries in his 78 MLR games total (58 starts), recording 65 tackles in 14 games in 2025 to take his career total to over 812, one of only 16 players ever (at time of writing) to pass 800 tackles completed in MLR. Josh Larsen has already been involved in coaching with the Free Jacks academy, so we wish him the best of luck in his full-time move from playing to coaching!
Wrapping Up
Another bumper week of Player Moves around Major League Rugby that saw 5 active teams of the 6 remaining for 2026! 3 re-signings across 3 different teams, a pair of player retire and join the coaching staff of their MLR teams, 3 intra-league moves, two new faces enter the league, and the departure of a 3x Champion for an opportunity abroad! All that, and the California Legion are still silent. Maybe in next week’s Player Moves article, they’ll give us something to talk about!
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