Tag: Dallas Jackals

MLR Player Movement Summary: December 2-8, 2024

NARDatabase

James Deeley

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:

Player Moves Around MLR: December 2-8, 2024 (1 of 2)
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.

Player Moves Around MLR: December 2-8, 2024 (2 of 2)

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.

Be sure to follow NARDB and James on social media to stay up to date on player announcements as they happen. Follow @MLRStats on Instagram and/or Threads, either @JamDelay or @NARugbyDB on twitter/x, and @JamDelay or @NARDB on Bluesky.

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MLR Player Movement Summary: November 18-24, 2024

NARDatabase

James Deeley

Although it may seem like the player signings are beginning to slow down, that doesn’t mean that teams aren’t busy! This is a summary of all the player moves around Major League Rugby from last week, November 18-24, 2024. This article dives into a little more detail around each move, and is the best place to stay up to date on the off-season movement from MLR. As always, here is a graphic summarising the first page of moves:

Player Moves Summary: November 18-24, 2024 (1 of 2)
Re-signings and Retirements

Starting (as usual) with the re-signings, of which there were 11 across 4 teams last week. The reigning Champion New England Free Jacks announced another quartet of returnees for next season, ensuring that the 2025 Free Jacks will look very similar to the 2024 squad. Fijian try-machine Paula Balekana returns for a 4th season with the Free Jacks, and 5th in MLR. Balekana currently sits T-4th all-time for tries scored, level with Chicago Hounds’ Julian Dominguez on 31. He hs almost guaranteed to move ahead of 3rd placed Mikey Te’o next season following Te’o’s retirement, but how close will he get to Seattle’s Riekert Hattingh in 2nd place, currently on 42. Also returning for New England are Canadian MLR veterans Conor Keys and Cole Keith. 6’6 Ontario lock Keys has earned 65 MLR appearances (41 starts) between Rugby ATL (2020-2022) and the Free Jacks (2023-2024), appearing in 3 MLR Championship games (2021, 2023, 2024). New Brunswick native Cole Keith has made 74 MLR appearances (46 starts) since 2019, playing with the Toronto Arrows (2019-2022) before joining the Free Jacks. Finally, a third Canadian international Ethan Fryer is returning. Fryer has 13 appearances for New England since 2022, including 10 in 2024 where he set career highs in starts (4), Meters Gained (235m), and Tackles Made (46).

The Houston SaberCats announced four returnees of their own last week, all of whom are MLR veterans. Forward-turned-centre Dom Akina is back for a 3rd season with Houston. He has 10 tries in 52 games (37 starts) since 2020, scoring 7 of these and gaining 1,422 of his 2,391m gained in two seasons with the SaberCats. A pair of South African forwards are also back, in Marno Redelinghuys and Justin Basson. Both Redelinghuys & Basson are former Rugby ATL players, although not at the same time. Basson played with the RATLers between 2022-2023 before moving to Houston. He’s averaged 2 tries a season for 6 tries in 42 games (38 starts), and passed 150 tackles for the first time in 2024 (151). Marno Redelinghuys played with ATL between 2020-2021 and returns for a 4th season with Houston in 2025. He has over 500 tackles in 53 games (48 starts). Redelinghuys will be deemed a domestic player for 2025, freeing up a valuable international player slot for the SaberCats. Finally for Houston, newly capped USA Eagle #576 Pono Davis returns for Houston. Davis has 40 appearances across 3 seasons with the SaberCats, and earned a career high 4 starts in 2024, completing 127 tackles (also a career high, by 52!).

The Miami Sharks continue to sprinkle a few re-signings into the mix, confirming the return of former Welsh international Kirby Myhill, and newly capped USA Eagle Tomas Casares. Hooker Myhill scored a try in his 7 games (6 starts) during the Sharks’ inaugural season, gaining over 220m. Casares scored 2 tries in 8 games (6 starts) in 2024, including a game-winner against the team that drafted him 17th overall in 2022, the New England Free Jacks. Casares earned his test debut as USA Eagle #583 just a few weeks ago when he came off the bench in a hard-fought 21-17 victory over Portugal. Finally for re-signings, the San Diego Legion announced the return of US-eligible Fijian forward Cyrille Cama for 2025. a MLR Champion with the LA Giltinis in 2021, Cama set career highs across the board for San Diego in 2024, with 3 tries in 16 games (2 starts), racking up 289m gained and completing 60 tackles. As one Legion player returns, another hangs up their boots. MLR Veteran and USA Eagle #564 Chris Mattina announced his retirement on instagram after 6 seasons in MLR. Mattina scored 6 tries and 120pts in 56 games (43 starts) between Rugby New York (2019-2021), the Austin Gilgronis (2022), Chicago Hounds (2023), finishing his career with the San Diego Legion (2024).

Intra-League Moves

Last week saw five players move to new teams within Major League Rugby, including a trio of Dallas Jackals following the withdrawal of the team from MLR in September. 2024 All-MLR Second XV scrum-half Juan-Dee Oliver signs with the Houston SaberCats after the team selected him 30th, the final player selected. Oliver scored 5 tries and 55pts in 13 games (all starts) for the Jackals in 2024, and was a standout when Dallas stunned the SaberCats in the Western Conference Semifinals. Also selected in the Dallas Jackals dispersal draft was Argentinian fly-half Martin Elias. Selected 25th and signed by the Miami Sharks, Elias was the Jackals’ all-time top scorer with 1 try and 116pts in 23 games (all starts) since 2023, and will fit in nicely with the Sharks’ strong South American influence. The Miami Sharks didn’t stop with Elias, however. The Florida team also announced the signing of Argentinian centre Tomás Cubilla, who was not selected in the dispersal draft, instead signing as a Free Agent. Cubilla has earned 11 MLR appearances for the Dallas Jackals since 2023, including 8 in 2024 where he scored all 5 of his MLR tries to date and amassed over 600m gained.

The NOLA Gold had a case of revolving doors last week. The Louisiana team announced the signing of Irish born USA Eagle #537 Luke Carty from the Chicago Hounds. A 2021 MLR Champion with the LA Giltinis, Carty has scored 1 try and 177pts in 45 games (31 starts) since 2021, representing the Giltinis until 2022, before being selected in the dispersal draft by the Chicago Hounds. Following the departure of Rodney Iona, Carty will fill that gap nicely. On the subject of Rodney Iona, just as the Gold were welcoming Luke Carty to the team, the Seattle Seawolves announced the signing of Iona’s NOLA & Samoa teammate OJ Noa for their 2025 squad. Noa scored 1 try in 9 games (all starts) for the Gold in 2024, running for over 520m gained.

New Faces

To wrap things up, two teams announced new signings from further afield than Major League Rugby. Also signed by the NOLA Gold for 2025 is 29yo Kiwi centre Isaac Te Tamaki who joins from the Southland Stags in New Zealand’s National Provinicial Championship. A capped former All Blacks Sevens player, Te Tamaki has played with Southland since 2018 with a season in France with Valence Romans Drôme in 2023. He earned his 50th Southland appearance in 2024, where he played alongside a number of familiar MLR names including Nic Souchon, Michael Manson, and Shneil Singh. Staying in the Southern Hemisphere, the final move of the week saw the Seattle Seawolves announce the signing of South African prop Njabulo Gumede. Gumede came up in the Blue Bulls system, also playing for Valke and the Pumas in the Currie Cup before joining the Griquas for 2024. A former Junior Springbok, Gumede will link up with former Pumas teammate Malembe Mpofu in Seattle.

Thus concludes a far more digestable summary when compared to the last few weeks. It seems that the ‘first wave’ of teams (Free Jacks, Legion, SaberCats, etc.) are coming to the end of their announcements, but with Rugby FC LA starting their announcements on November 25th, and both Old Glory DC & Anthem RC staying quiet, the ‘second wave’ could start any moment. This doesn’t even include the teams going steady with announcements like the NOLA Gold, Utah Warriors, and Miami Sharks!

A reminder that NARugbydb.com is the only place to find weekly movement summaries this off-season, providing a easy way to stay up to date with all the movement of the Major League Rugby off-season. Be sure to follow James and NARDB on Social Media, @MLRStats on Instagram & Threads, @JamDelay and/or @NARugbyDB on Twitter/X, and @JamDelay & @NARDB on Bluesky. Also make sure to check out the Youtube Channel, NARStats!

Jump into the sales at shopmlr.com before the #MLR2025 gear comes out! Use code ‘MLRSTATS’ at checkout for 15% off your order!

Dallas Jackals Dispersal Draft Results

NAR Database

James Deeley

In an article from two weeks ago on this site, I mentioned that Major League Rugby had held the Dispersal Draft for Dallas Jackals players on September 25th, 2024 following the announcement on September 19th that the Jackals were withdrawing from the 2025 MLR season. We have heard nothing since then, and the MLR Trade Wire was only updated with trades from the 25th TWO WEEKS later, on October 9th.

While fans have been left out in the cold for the last few weeks, NARDB has obtained the results of this Dispersal Draft and is very happy to finally share these with you. The results of the 2024 Dallas Jackals Dispersal Draft are as follows:

No.TeamViaPlayer
1Sam Golla
2Makeen Alikhan
3Marques Fuala’au
4Nic Benn
5Via Old Glory DCVaughen Isaacs
6NOLA rugbyKyle Steeves
7Darius Law
8Sam Tuifua
9Jason Tidwell
10Dewald Kotze
11Jero Gomez Vara
12Tomas Bekerman
13Lucas Bur
14Ronan Foley
15PASS
16Old Glory DCJP Zeiss
17NOLA rugbyJavon Camp-Villalovos
18Jonah Auva’a
19Evan Conlon
20PASS
21Brock Gallagher
22PASS
23PASS
24PASS
25Martin Elias
26PASS
27Old Glory DCKieran Farmer
28NOLA rugbyPASS
29PASS
30Juan-Dee Oliver
31PASS
32PASS
33PASS
Results not confirmed – Players are not forced to sign with the team that selected them. Any Jackals players not featured above were either not selected, or opted out.

There are a number of things to mention regarding these results. They are not 100% confirmed, but have been verified with a number of sources so until (if) we hear something official, this is what we know. The MLR Trade Wire is notoriously slow to update, so I would not be surprised if we see a flurry of trades from the days immediately following the Dispersal Draft (confirmed to have taken place on September 25th, 2024). Indeed, three trades from the day of the draft were posted yesterday (October 8th), as mentioned at the start of this article.

Just because a player is picked by a team does not force that player to sign there. We have seen with previous dispersal drafts that players picked are often traded to more preferable teams (in the players’ mind). Whether this be because it is closer to a players’ current location or family, or a player feels that they may get more game time with another organization. It may also come from the teams, who could have just picked up players rights to use as assets to flip for Cap Space, draft picks, etc. We already have a player from this dispersal draft on the move. Argentinian prop JP Zeiss was picked 16th by Old Glory DC and, according to the Trade Wire, was traded from the Flags to the Seattle Seawolves on the same day he was picked by DC.

Source: MLR Trade Wire

There are also some things of note among the 33 (22 if you exclude the 11 ‘PASS’ selections). Firstly is the wasted pick by Rugby FC LA in selecting Lucas Bur 13th. Bur has already signed a contract to play with the Sitav Rugby Lyons in Italy, and it’s unlikely he will return for the 2025 MLR season. Anthem RC continue to stock up on promising young USA-eligible talents like Sam Golla (already a capped Eagle), Jason Tidwell, and Canada-born, UK raised USA U20 back row Makeen Alikhan. Alikhan joined the Jackals for the 2024 season on loan from Harlequins of the English Premiership, so it’s still unclear whether he will stay in MLR for 2025.

The Seattle Seawolves grab a pair of Canadian internationals in Brock Gallagher & Dewald Kotze, which is no surprise given their proximity to the border. Kotze will serve as a nice replacement for Peter Malcolm who announced his retirement earlier this year, and Gallagher earned his test debut for Canada in the Pacific Nations Cup in August/September. Gallagher also gave an explosive interview on The Fantasy Ruckers podcast, discussing just how in the dark the Dallas Jackals players were to the team’s troubles.

It’s a slight positive to see that although MLR is losing the Dallas Jackals, many of the players could return to MLR next season for different teams. It’s doubly good news to see that Darius Law, a Life University alum and the Jackals’ sole selection of the 2024 MLR Collegiate Draft, was picked up by the San Diego Legion and will have another chance to make the MLR in California. On the other hand, it’s surprising to see Canadian internationals Mitch Richardson & Liam Murray not selected. Richardson (and fellow Toronto Arrows teammate Nic Benn, selected 4th by the Utah Warriors) has gone through 2 dispersal drafts in as many seasons and although he missed the 2024 playoffs and the PNC after suffering an injury playing for Canada in the July tests, he deserves a spot on a MLR roster in 2025 should he want one. My understanding is that both Richardson and Murray opted out of the Dispersal process.

It’s been two weeks since the Dallas Dispersal Draft took place, and as with other Dispersal Draft before it, fans have had to rely on leaks to find out the results. In fact, we haven’t even received confirmation from MLR that it took place at all. Why? What’s so important about this Dispersal Draft (or any dispersal draft for that matter) that MLR has not made the results, or the date it took place, public? Could it be because MLR is aware that many of the players selected in this draft may not end up on the teams that selected them? Maybe it’s because MLR doesn’t want to raise the issue of a team withdrawing? The cynical view is that MLR just doesn’t care to tell you. It’s the off-season, teams (and probably the league) are running on skeleton staff and some players aren’t even in the country!

I care. Fans care. Especially Dallas Jackals fans that want to know where their favourite players might be playing next season. Especially those hardcore fans that are reading this far into an article in the depths of the off-season. It’s an awful situation to have a team withdraw and leave players and staff in the lurch, but the Dispersal Draft was an opportunity to look forward towards MLR2025, begin to get fans excited again, and show that MLR cares about the fans and players. With new signings beginning to be announced by the likes of the Seattle Seawolves and Old Glory DC, the public release of these results could have marked the start point of the hype train for next season. We all want to see this league grow and succeed, and all want to come along for the ride. Instead, it’s a missed opportunity that has damaged fans’ trust in the league.

Player Moves around MLR: September 23-29, 2024

NAR Database

James Deeley

After a few weeks with very little to no news around player movement for the 2025 MLR season, the last week of September saw a relative flurry of activity! With still no confirmation regarding the Dallas Jackals dispersal draft, let’s jump in to what we do know.

The week began with an announcement from Anthem Rugby Carolina announcing that they had acquired 2024 Rookie of the Year Junior Gafa from the New England Free Jacks on a permanent basis in exchange for quite the haul. I won’t dive into that trade here, as I wrote an article doing just that earlier in the week. Anthem RC announced this trade on the 24th which is why it’s included in this Player Move summary, despite the MLR Trade Wire stating this transaction was from September 21st (see below).

Source: MLR Trade Wire

As well as this big trade between Anthem RC and the New England Free Jacks, last week saw a trio of MLR players hang up their boots. Ben Fry, a former Wales U20 back row who represented the Dallas Jackals for his lone MLR season in 2024. Fry’s season was heavily impacted by injury, although he still made an impact with 2 tries and over 375m gained in 6 games (all starts). Nick McCarthy, the Michigan-born Ireland U20 scrum-half and UAS Eagle earned 16 MLR appearances (13 starts) for the Chicago Hounds in their best MLR season to date in 2024, starting both playoff games as the Hounds gave the Free Jacks a run for their money in the Eastern Conference Final. It’s worth stating that McCarthy has the honour of being the first player to ever win test caps for a major rugby nation as an openly gay man, what an inspiration! Finally on the retirements front is McCarthy’s teammate, Leinster legend who represented Ireland at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and owns a minority stake of the Chicago Hounds with his brother Rob, Dave Kearney, who announced his retirement in an interview with the Irish Independent. Kearney, who turned 35 mid-way through 2024, seems to have taken a chance to paly for a team he co-owns, and started 8 of his 9 MLR appearances.

Player Move Summary: September 23-29, 2024

Last but by no means least, the Seattle Seawolves announced an addition for the 2025 season, 6’6 South African lock Malembe Mpofu! 28yo Mpofu joins the Seawolves from the Airlink Pumas in South Africa’s Currie Cup competition, where he was playing alongside former Toronto Arrow and Rugby Canada scrum-half, Ross Braude. Mpofu helped the Pumas to their first ever Currie Cup championship in 2022, earning his debut in Round 1, and helped them return to the final one again the following season, finishing as runners up to the Free State Cheetahs in 2023.

Player move summaries like this will come out almost every week of the MLR off-season, assuming there are moves to cover. Stay up to date with all the movement around MLR with NARDB!

Source: @SeawolvesRugby on Instagram

MLR Holds Dallas Jackals Dispersal Draft

NAR Database

James Deeley

On September 25th, 2024, Major League Rugby held it’s 3rd dispersal draft in as many seasons following the news on September 19th that the Dallas Jackals were withdrawing from the 2025 MLR season, becoming the 5th team to withdraw from the competition since 2022.

The dispersal draft functions very similarly to the Collegiate Draft, with teams drafting in reverse order of where they finished in the 2024 season. As the bottom team during the season, Anthem RC drafted first and the Champion New England Free Jacks drafted 11th, with the order repeated until no more Jackals players are available. As with the Collegiate Draft, teams are free to trade dispersal draft picks and no doubt we will see these appear on the MLR trade wire in about a week.

Now, just because a player is selected by a team in the dispersal draft does not mean they will play for that team. For example during the Dispersal Draft for NY & Toronto last year, star winger Nate Augspurger (who had moved from San Diego Legion to the New York Ironworkers in what would’ve been a high profile move…if it were ever announced) was selected by the NOLA Gold, but traded to the Chicago Hounds shortly after. I would expect to see a flurry of trades in the weeks that follow this Draft, as teams and players pivot to find teams and locations preferable to them.

For Dallas fans waiting to hear where their favourite players are headed, or fans of other teams waiting to hear what new players their team has looted from the Jackals wreckage, I wouldn’t hold your breath. In the previous two dispersal drafts, no results have been published by MLR and instead fans have had to wait for the information to leak (which it inevitably does), or for teams to announce the newly acquired players themselves. While some may argue that this is because the events surrounding the need for an dispersal draft (a team withdrawing) is something that MLR does not want to highlight, it’s worth pointing out that in the past MLR has not even published the results of expansion drafts for new teams joining the league, such as Chicago or Miami.

The Dallas Jackals have not yet folded like the other four teams to withdraw from competition (Austin Gilgronis & LA Giltinis in 2022, and the Toronto Arrows and NY Ironworkers in 2023) and are instead “continuing to evaluate a controlling interest transfer”, which essentially means a sale. As a fan who has lost an MLR team, I remain hopeful that a sale can take place even if the rumor is that this would result in the team relocating. Losing the Arrows has decimated support for MLR in Toronto and I’m one of the very few Arrows fans who still follows the league closely. I hope this doesn’t happen in Dallas, and with MLR’s HQ there, it should be in their interest to bring a team back.

For now, we wait to see if the results of this draft are made public, either by MLR themselves, or another source. You can watch my reaction video to the League’s announcement below, or by clicking here.