Shay Kerry

English-born New Zealander Shay Kerry played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Toronto Arrows for his entire MLR career.

Kerry began his professional rugby career in NZ with Bay of Plenty, but has spent the vast majority of it flipping between England and France. He moved back to England to player with the Worcester Warriors in the Premiership for the 2013/14 season., then moved to France to play with Oyonnax in between the Top14 and ProD2, before moving to Narbonne in the Federale 1. Kerry returned to England for the 2019/20 season, representing Ampthill in the Championship, before moving to the Jersey Reds for 2020/21 then back to France with Rouen Normandie in the ProD2.

The Toronto Arrows announced the signing of Kerry in April 2023, part-way through the MLR season for that year. He earned 6 MLR caps (5 starts), racking up over 150m gained and 51 successful tackles in an injury-riddled season. On 17th November 2023, the Toronto Arrows announced the return of Shay Kerry for the 2024 MLR season. Unfortunately, the Arrows withdrew from MLR in late November 2023, and Kerry has not returned to MLR.

Mika Felix

USA-Eligible New Zealand prop Mika Felix played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2024. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (2022) the Chicago Hounds (2023), and Anthem RD (2024).

Felix played with the USA U20 team in 2020, and toured with the USA Falcons to Montevideo, Uruguay in 2022. He spent the 2022 MLR season with the Austin Gilgronis but did not appear in a MLR game for the AGs prior to their disqualification and subsequent cessation of operations in August 2022.

Mika Felix earned his MLR debut during the 2023 season after signing with the Chicago Hounds for their inaugural campaign in the competition. He earned 5 appearances in total including his first start, and on 10th November 2023, the Chicago Hounds announced the re-signing of Mika Felix for 2024.

 

Conor Young

Canada-Eligible Australian prop Conor Young played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2025. He represented the New England Free Jacks (2023) and Rugby FC LA (2024-2025).

The NSW native represented Canada at U20 level in 2015, the same year he started playing for the Southern Districts in New South Wales’ Shute Shield competition. He also appeared a handful of times for the Greater Sydney Rams in the NRC. Young has played in Scotland’s Super 6 competition, representing the Southern Knights. In September 2022, the New England Free Jacks announced the signing of Conor Young ahead of the 2023 MLR season. He earned 4 MLR caps for the Free Jacks during their Championship-Winning 2023 season, and was chosen to represent Canada, which he did 5 times in 2023.

In early December of 2023, the Free Jacks announced that they had re-signed Conor Young for the 2024 MLR season, however on December 19th, the New England Free Jacks traded Conor Young to Rugby FC LA in exchange for 2024 Cap Considerations (Unknown). Young’s signing with LA was confirmed when they revealed their entire roster on 21st December 2023. Young earned his first MLR start for RFCLA in 2024, totalling 8 starts and 15 appearances for LA in their first season following relocation from Atlanta. He earned a MLR Team of the Week selection for his performance in Round 9.

On November 28th, 2024, Rugby FC LA announced the re-signing of Conor Young for the 2025 MLR season alongside fellow Canadian international, Andrew Coe, although Young did not feature for LA in 2025.

achievements

Isaac Bales

Iowa native Isaac Bales played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2025. He represented Rugby ATL (2022-2023) and the Miami Sharks (2024-2025).

Bales attended Glenwood Community School and captained the Full Armor Glenwood Rams. He attended the University of Louisville, playing rugby throughout and graduating in 2021. He declared for the 2021 MLR Collegiate Draft and was selected 12th Overall by Rugby ATL. Following his successful draft, he captained the USA Rugby South team in 2022.

Bales has had awful luck with injuries. a knee injury sidelined him for his rookie MLR season in 2022, but he returned to play for the Rugby ATL academy team, Pathway 404, during their Fall season that year. He earned his MLR debut the following season in 2023, earning 3 appearances for the RATLers off the bench. Later in 2023 Bales was selected to tour South America with the USA Hawks, and play for the USA Academy. Injury struck again while playing for the academy, however. This second injury ruled him out of the entire 2024 season, for which he had signed with the Miami Sharks.

Bales has been working his way back from injury again in preparation for the 2025 season, and on December 11th, 2024, the Miami Sharks confirmed the signing of Isaac Bales for the 2025 Season. Bales managed to earn his Sharks debut off of the bench during the 2025 season, helping them to qualify for the post-season for the first time in team history. With the Sharks withdrawing from the 2026 MLR campaign, Bales’ future is currently unknown.

achievements
  • MLR Draftee: 2021 – 1st Round (12th Overall) – Rugby ATL

D’Shawn Bowen

Ontario winger D’Shawn Bowen played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Toronto Arrows, the only Canadian club in MLR.

The Arrows announced the signing of the Toronto local in March 2023 (a few weeks into the season) from Rugby Canada’s National Men’s Sevens program. He earned 10 appearances (8 starts) and scored 5 tries including a hattrick on his home debut against the Rugby New York Ironworkers in Round 8, the 2nd hattrick in Arrows history. He finished 2nd on the team for tries scored, racking up over 500m gained. Although already an experienced international sevens player, he earned his first international XVs caps following the 2023 season for Canada’s August tour to Fiji & Tonga.

On 11th October 2023, the Toronto Arrows announced the return of D’Shawn Bowen for the 2024 MLR season. Unfortunately, the Arrows withdrew from the league unexpectedly in late August 2023. Bowen signed with the Vancouver Highlanders for their exhibition season in 2024, but has not returned to MLR

Achievements
  • MLR Player of the Week: 2023 – Round 8
  • MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 8

Dewald Donald

South African prop Dewald Donald played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2026. He represented the Seattle Seawolves for his entire MLR career.

A native of Pretoria and local of Centurion in the province of Gauteng, Donald attended Afrikaanse Hoer Seunskool between 2014-2018, playing rugby for the school for his entire time there before attending the University of Pretoria. Donald had entered the Blue Bulls system in 2016 and played with the U16 side, progressing through the U18 & U19 sides. Donald represented the Springboks at U19 and U20 levels while also earning a U21 Currie Cup title for the Blue Bulls in 2020. He earned his senior Currie Cup debut for the Blue Bulls in 2021.

Donald signed with the Seattle Seawolves for the 2022 MLR season and has represented them in ever season since. Through his first three seasons in Seattle, he has started 7 of his 18 games and scored 1 try, while completing 80 tackles on defence including a high of 50 in 2024 when the Seawolves advanced to the Championship Final before falling to the New England Free Jacks. This was the 2nd time that Donald has finished as a MLR runner-up with the Seawolves after they also fell to the Rugby New York Ironworkers in 2022. Donald did not feature in either Championship game, however. On January 14th, 2025, the Seattle Seawolves included Dewald Donald on their full 2025 roster, and he earned another 4 appearances for the Seawolves off of the bench that year to take his career total to 22. Almost exactly a year after he was announced by the Seawolves for the 2025 season, the team confirmed that Dewald Donald would return for his 5th season with the team in 2026.

achievements

  • 2024 MLR Runner-Up: Seattle Seawolves
  • 2022 MLR Runner-Up: Seattle Seawolves

Takaji Young Yen

Utah-born, New Zealand raised prop Takaji Young Yen played in Major League Rugby between 2023-2024. He represented the Utah Warriors for his entire MLR career.

Young Yen played 4 games with the Provo Trappers in the 2022 Crossroads Cup, a Warriors-backed development tournament. The Trappers won the 2022 tournament and Young Yen clearly impressed, as the Warriors signed him to a MLR contract in December 2022 ahead of the 2023 MLR season. He earned 2 caps for the ‘big club’ in the 2023 season and earned a call up to the USA Eagles, where he earned his first full international cap in a Rugby World Cup Qualifier against Romania.

On  11th October 2023, the Utah Warriors announced the return of Takaji Young Yen for the 2024 MLR season, along with fellow Utah Pathway product Jesse Hamilton.

Achievements:

Alex Lopeti

California native Alex ‘Ale’ Lopeti played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2026. He represented the NOLA Gold (2022-2025) and the California Legion (2026).

The younger brother of Seattle Seawolves player Tavite Lopeti, Ale had been playing with the Austin Gilgronis academy side (the Outlaws) in the fall of 2021 before signing with the Gold ahead of the 2022 MLR season. He earned his MLR debut and a total of 4 caps during his debut season. The Gold re-signed him ahead of the 2023 season, where Lopeti added another 6 caps to his resume including his first MLR start and first MLR try. On the back of his performances through his sophomore seaosn, Lopeti was selected as the Gold’s Most Improved Player for the 2023 season.

On 24th December 2023 (Christmas Eve), the NOLA Gold announced the return of Ale Lopeti for the 2024 MLR season, where he more than doubled his career highs for appearances (from 6 to 14) and tackles completed (38 to 88) while also scoring two tries to bring his career total to 3. He came off the bench during the Gold’s first ever playoff game in 2024, a defeat to the Chicago Hounds in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. On December 26th, 2024, the NOLA Gold announced the return of Ale Lopeti for the 2025 season. Lopeti enjoyed a career year despite a disappointing year for the NOLA Gold in 2025. He earned 11 of his 13 career starts, and earned a career high 15 appearances to take his career total to 39 appearances, all for the Gold. Lopeti scored 4 tries (another career high) on 126m gained, and recorded over 100 tackles made for the first time in his career. Unfortunately, the NOLA Gold missed out on the postseason, and withdrew from MLR completely during the 2025/26 offseason.

Following this withdrawal, Alex Lopeti returned to his home state of California, and on 24th February 2026 he was announced by the California Legion ahead of their inaugural season.

Achievements