Tag: NOLA Gold

MLR Player Moves Summary: October 28 – November 3, 2024

NAR Database

James Deeley

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:

Player Move Summary: October 28-November 3, 2024 (1 of 3)
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.

Player Move Summary: October 28-November 3, 2024 (2 of 3)
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.

Source: @sdlegion on Instagram
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.

Player Move Summary: October 28-November 3, 2024 (3 of 3)
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.

https://twitter.com/HoundsChicago/status/1852084895683649558
Source: @HoundsChicago on Twitter/X

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!

MLR Player Move Summary: October 14-20, 2024

NAR Database

James Deeley

The Major League Rugby Off-Season rollercoaster is well and truly off and running, with a second week in a row chock-full of new signings, resignings, and departures! Welcome to NARDB’s weekly off-season summary for October 14-20, 2024, keeping you up to date on all the roster moves around MLR ahead of the 2025 season. For the first time in the 2024/25 off-season, we have a multi-page summary graphic! Page 1 of this week’s summary is shown below:

MLR Player Move Summary: October 14-20 (1 of 2)
New Additions – Mexico Enters MLR and Warriors stay busy!

The San Diego Legion announced a League-first at the start of last week when they shared the news that they had signed Alejandro Pradillo for the 2025 MLR Season. Pradillo has played with the San Clemente Rhinos in the World Rugby Tens Competition, as well as with the Legion Academy side. He’s also a capped Mexican international and the first Mexican player to sign with a Major League Rugby side! Congratulations to ‘Bola’, and welcome to MLR!

A pair of players from the French Top 14 will also make their way over to the US for 2025, for different sides. The NOLA Gold announced the signing of capped French international back rower Kélian Galletier from Les Sang et Or. The Gold’s links to French rugby are baring fruit already, signing the long-time Montpellier player for 2025. Heading northeast from Perpignan to Lyon, the Utah Warriors announced the addition of capped All Blacks hooker and long-time Highlanders player Liam Coltman, who’s impressive resume includes representing New Zealand at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and even a memorable victory over the British & Irish Lions. Coltman joins from Lyon Olympique Universitaire (LOU) Rugby.

The Utah Warriors weren’t finished with the signing of Coltman, however. The Herriman-based team also announced the acquisition of a pair of test-capped Samoans, in fly-half/center D’Angelo Leuila and prop Aki Seiuli. Leuila is a 2021 NPC Champion with Waikato, played with the Moana Pasifika between 2022-2024, and represented Samoa at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. Seiuli has also played in Super Rugby, representing the Highlanders (alongside Liam Coltman) between 2014-2019, before moving to teh UK to represent the Glasgow Warriors then the Dragons in the URC, from whom he joins Utah. Seiuli earned his test debut for Samoa in the 2022 Pacific Nations Cup, which Manu Samoa won. Finally, to wrap up a busy week at Zion’s Bank, the Warriors announced the addition of 6’8 Irish lock Gavin Thornbury who joins following a short-term contract with the reigning Premiership Champions, Northampton. Thornbury is a Leinster academy product and former Ireland U20s player, who spent most of his pro career to date with Connacht in the URC and represented the Irish Wolfhounds in 2022.

MLR Player Move Summary: October 14-20 (1 of 2)
Re-signings A-plenty!

Both 2024 Eastern Conference Finalists began announcing their returning players from 2025. The Chicago Hounds announced the return of their inaugural season co-Captains Bryce Campbell (USA Eagle #497 and Hound #1) and Luke White (USA Eagle #561), as well as stand-out rookie Noah Brown. Campbell‘s agency, BSMI Rugby, announced that his contract runs through the 2026 season. White & Brown’s contract lengths are unknown.

The reigning back-to-back Champion New England Free Jacks also started the ball rolling on their re-signings, announcing the return of FIVE household names in Quincy. Club Captain and capped Canadian international Josh Larsen will return for 2025, as will scrum-half John Poland who missed a huge chunk of 2024 due to injury. I’m sure the fans at the Fort will love to see him back in the 9 jersey. Also returning for the champs is star fly-half Jayson Potroz, who led the league in scoring in both 2023 & 2024, and sits on 327pts scored in his MLR career, all for the Free Jacks. To round out the announcement are a pair of front rows. Fan-favourite Kyle ‘The Eagle’ Ciquera, who has featured for the Free Jacks in the joint-most MLR games in team history (tied with Mitch Wilson, more on that later…), and 2022 S. Marcus Calloway award recipient and capped Canadian international Andrew Quattrin, who will return for a 3rd year in New England.

Also getting in on the re-signing party were the Miami Sharks, who announced a pair of returnees in 50-time Los Pumas capped center Matías Orlando (a late addition for the Sharks in 2024), and the team’s leading scorer and Chilean international Santiago Videla, who finished with 74pts in the Sharks’ inaugural season, 1pt above Uruguayan teammate Felipe Etcheverry.

Inter-League Moves

On top of the SIX new additions from outside MLR, there was a bit of musical chairs within the league last week. The Seattle Seawolves added MLR veteran Siaosi “CC” Mahoni for 2025 from the Houston SaberCats. 2025 will be Mahoni’s 8th season in MLR, having represented the San Diego Legion from 2018-2021, and Houston from 2022-2024. Mahoni has 53 MLR games under his belt and 39 starts, and has recently been included in the USA Eagles squad for their November tests.

The New England Free Jacks also announced the signing of a pair of former Dallas Jackals following their withdrawal from the 2025 season. The back-to-back defending champs signed 2024 MLR Forward of the Year Jero Gomez Vara for their three-peat bid after selecting him 11th in the dispersal draft, an absolute steal. The Free Jacks also announced the signing of capped Canadian prop Kyle Steeves, who was selected 6th in the Dispersal Draft by the NOLA Gold. It’s unclear whether the Gold & Free Jacks were involved in a trade for Steeves, or if he chose to sign in New England as a Free Agent. Steeves joins a strong Canadian contingent at Fort Quincy.

Source: @NEFreeJacks on twitter/x
Departures and Unconfirmed Signings

The NOLA Gold continue to bid farewell to players who will not be returning to the team in 2025. The Gold announced their 6th & 7th departures of the off-season, Fintan Coleman & Dougie Fife. NOLA acquired US-eligible Irish forward Coleman in a trade with Old Glory DC in February 2024, and he earned 10 appearances for the Gold in the team’s best season to date. Capped for Scotland at both 7s and 15s levels, Dougie Fife has played in MLR for 4 seasons to date, with 2 seasons each with the New England Free Jacks (2021-2022) and the NOLA Gold (2023-2024), scoring 13 tries in 55 career MLR games (54 starts) to date, amassing over 3,000m gained in possession. It remains to be seen if Coleman and/or Fife will return to MLR in 2025.

On October 15th USA Rugby revealed the Men’s Eagles Squad for their end-of-year tests against Portugal (Nov 9th), Tonga (Nov 16th), and Spain (Nov 23rd). Within the squad announcement were some little easter eggs that look to have revealed some player moves that were not yet confirmed. For example, the New England Free Jacks had announced the departure of ‘Ironman’ Mitch Wilson back on October 11th, but his destination wasn’t yet known. The USA Squad has him listed as an Anthem RC player. Has the national team inadventantly leaked Wilson’s destination for 2025? This wasn’t the only surprise on the Eagles’ roster. Front row Alex Maughan was also listed as an Anthem RC player after representing Rugby FC LA in 2024 having followed the team from Atlanta, where the he had played for 4 seasons. A USA Eagle and North Carolina native, Anthem is a great fit for Maughan should this be accurate. Finally, the list of reserves looks to have leaked a 3rd new Anthem RC signing, with crossover athlete and former American Raptors lock Mikey Grandy also listed as an ARC player. I know that USA Rugby has a significant stake in Anthem RC and I’m sure this was unintentional, but they may want to check with the team before potentially leaking stuff!

Source: @nolagoldrugby on Instagram

Another chaotic week around MLR makes for another lengthy summary article. Thanks very much for reading, and keep an eye out for next week’s article summarising all the moves from October 21-27, 2024! NARDB is the easiest way to stay up to date on all the additions, departures, and general goings-on around the league.

MLR Player Move Summary: October 7-13, 2024

NAR Database

James Deeley

The 2024/25 Major League Rugby off-season seemed to explode into life last week, with a flurry of activity from a number of teams that made for a busy news week, a welcome change to the sparse announcements through September. This article will cover all the major moves from around Major League Rugby for last week, ensuring you don’t miss a thing! As always, here’s the graphic summarizing all of the confirmed moves from October 7th to October 13th, 2024:

Source: @MLRStats on Instagram
Dallas Dispersal Draft Fallout

As revealed by both NARDB and Americas Rugby News last week, the Dispersal Draft for Dallas Jackals players took place on September 25th, with no public announcement from MLR of either it’s taking place, or the results (despite a statement to the contrary). There were three trades on the day of the Dispersal Draft, but they didn’t appear on the MLR Trade Wire (which is notoriously slow to update) until October 9th, hence their inclusion on this week’s summary.

Two of these three trades are completely administrative, with Anthem RC acquiring the 5th pick in the Dispersal Draft from Old Glory DC in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Space ($ amount unknown). ARC then flipped this pick to Rugby FC LA (who used it to select Vaughen Isaacs) along with 2025 Salary Cap Space ($ amount unknown) in exchange for the 2nd pick in the Dispersal Draft, which Anthem used to select Makeen Alikhan (who was playing for the Jackals on loan from English Premiership side Harlequins), it’s uncertain if Alikhan will return to MLR. The final trade is for an actual player. Old Glory DC picked up Argentine prop JP Zeiss with the 16th pick in the dispersal draft and immediately flipped him to the Seattle Seawolves in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Space ($ amount unknown). Zeiss has 46 MLR caps to date across 3 seasons, starting 44 times and scoring 5 tries. He’s also completed over 350 career tackles.

Short Term Stints Across the Pond

We learned of a pair of players headed over to the UK on short-term deals to hone their game. English Premiership side the Bristol Bears announced the return of 2024 MLR Champion and newly-capped USA Eagle Toby Fricker on a 3 month contract as injury cover, and towering Seattle Seawolves lock Isaia Lotawa is headed to RGC 1404 in Super Rygbi Cymru as part of a player exchange made by former RGC player and current Seawolf Huw Taylor.

Fricker joined the New England Free Jacks late in the MLR season, earning 6 appearances including all 3 of their Playoff games en-route to the 2024 Shield, a 11-20 victory over the Seattle Seawolves which Fricker started. Isaia Lotawa didn’t feature in the 2024 final, but came off the bench in Seattle’s Western Conference Final victory over the Dallas Jackals. Lotawa earned 5 appearances for the Seawolves in 2024 and has 9 to date, including 2 starts. Both Lotawa and Toby Fricker will return to MLR for 2025, so no need for fans to worry!

Source: @bristolbearsrfc on Instagram
New Faces

Following news on October 2nd that 17 players would not be returning for 2025, the Utah Warriors began re-filling the roster by announcing the addition of 5 young, local players including two of their three 2024 MLR Collegiate Draftees. 2nd Round Pick (16th Overall) Tielu Sagala and 3rd Round Pick (28th Overall Cole Semu are officially MLR-ers. Sagala won 3 state Championships each with the 7s & 15s side at BYU, while New Zealand born Semu, also a BYU alum, has represented the USA at U18, U20, and U23 levels already. Also added by the Warriors were Papa Matelau & Mason Barker (the brother of Warriors alum Zak Barker), both of whole have represented the USA at age-grade level, and Tesimale Niupulusu, a 290lb monster front row who has been impressive in both Rugby League and Union in the Utah area.

In addition to Utah, Old Glory DC announced their first acquisition for the 2025 campaign, picking up veteran Welsh center Steffan Hughes from the Dragons in URC, where he has played since 2022. Hughes joined the Dragons in 2022 on a short-term basis but quickly earned an extension and became the team’s Captain for the 2023/24 URC season. Hughes had joined the Dragons from his local URC club the Scarlets, where he had played since 2013, earning well over 100 URC appearances and won the URC Championship in 2016/17. He captained the side through the 2019/20 & 2021/22 seasons and will add valuable experience to the Flags squad in 2025.

Source: @OldGloryDC on Twitter/X
RFCLA Build New-Look Coaching Team

Following the announcement from on October 4th that former LA Giltinis Head Coach Steven Hoiles was returning to MLR as Director of Rugby and Head Coach of Rugby FC LA, the team continued to add to their coaching squad last week with another pair familiar names. 2021 MLR Shield-Winning Captain and former Wallaby Dave Dennis returns to LA, now on the sidelines as RFCLA‘s Senior Assistant Coach, and former Austin Gilgronis and Chicago Hounds Head Coach Sam Harris takes up a position as Attack Coach.

Dennis already has an impressive trophy cabinet as a player. A Super Rugby Championship with the Waratahs in 2014, two Premiership trophies in 2016/17 & 2019/20 as well as a European Champions Cup in 2019/20 all with the Exeter Chiefs, and a MLR Shield with the LA Giltinis in 2021. He’ll be looking to add a second Shield as a coach in 2025. Sam Harris is likely well known around MLR already, having led the Austin Gilgronis through the 2021-2022 seasons before moving to Chicago to lead the Hounds through their inaugural season and the majority of the 2024 campaign before being let go in Round 15. He holds a 29-1-31 record as an MLR head coach, but will coordinate the RFCLA attack in 2025.

Source: @RugbyFCLA on Instagram
Steady Stream of Departures in New Orleans

On October 2nd the Utah Warriors announced the departure of 17 players that raised the eyebrows of many around the league, and it seems the Warriors were not the only team going through significant roster changes ahead of 2025. Throughout last week the NOLA Gold announced the departures of 5 players in total, one almost every day. Rodney Iona, Augusto Böhme, Maciu Koroi, OJ Noa, and Sam Klimkowski were all thanked for their contributions to the Louisiana team individually.

No doubt the names to stick out from this list will be Rodney Iona and Maciu Koroi. Iona has scored 4 tries and 128pts in 23 games (all starts) across 2 seasons for the Gold, and Koroi has earned 33 MLR appearances for the Gold over 3 seasons, starting 7 times and scoring 3 tries. Chilean international hooker Böhme and Samoan back rower OJ Noa both joined the Gold for the 2024 season and both earned 9 appearances, helping the Gold to finally end their MLR Playoff drought. Ohioan prop Klimkowski was drafted 13th overall by the LA Giltinis in 2021 and played with the NOLA Gold Academy side in the fall of 2022, finally earning his MLR debut for the Gold in 2024, when he featured in 4 games, starting 1.

These moves were not included on the Player Move Summary graphic as we are not yet sure of the destination of any of these players. It’s possible we could see them suiting up for another MLR team in 2025, for example. If/when I hear of any of these players signing with another team, the move will be included on that week’s graphic. It’s worth keeping an eye on NOLA to see if they continue to announce more departures this week, and who they bring in to replace these names.

Source: @nolagoldrugby on Instagram

A far longer summary article for a far busier week around Major League Rugby to start October. It seems like the off-season is really picking up, and we could be getting many more announcements over the next few weeks. Watch this space for summary articles each week, or follow @MLRStats on Instagram and @JamDelay & @NARugbyDB on Twitter/X.

Major League Rugby’s All-Time Top 10 Meter Eaters!

NAR Database

James Deeley

Last week we took a close look at Major League Rugby’s All-Time leading try scorers. This week, it’s time for the ‘Meter Eaters’, MLR’s all-time Meters Gained Leaders! Different to Meters Ran (which totals all meters ran by players with the ball), Meters GAINED only accounts for forwards running, and gaining ground. MLR’s All-Time Meter Eaters are as follows:

As you can see from the leaderboard, which includes the average Meters Gained per Game (MGpG) of each player, only 9 players have passed the 4,000m mark. Of those 9 players, only 3 players in MLR history have passed the 5,000m mark. At the top of this list is long-time NOLA Gold center JP du Plessis who has gained 5,849m in his 84 MLR games to date and 3 seasons with over 1000m gained. Du Plessis is roughly 120m ahead of San Diego Legion & Utah Warriors legend Mikey Te’o, who hung up his boots following the 2024 season after 7 seasons, in 4 of which he recorded over 1000m gained. 3rd place is Seattle Seawolves stalwart Riekert Hattingh with 5,221m gained and two 1000m+ gained seasons, the final player over the 5000m mark and MLR’s leading forward in this category.

Of the remaining 6 players that sit between 4,000m & 5,000m, 3 represented the Chicago Hounds in 2024 including back-to-back Back of the Year Billy Meakes (2021-22, the only player in this list with a MGpG over 80), and USA Eagle & 2023 MLR Runner-up Nate Augspurger. The Seawolves’ newest acquisition Mika Kruse is also in this group, having amasses the majority of his 4,218m gained with the Utah Warriors between 2021-2024. The New England Free Jacks’ Fijian flyer Paula Balekana is the final player over the 4,000m milestone, just behind the only other forward in the Top 10 in NOLA Gold‘s 2024 Captain and USA Eagle Moni Tonga’uiha.

Source: @chicagohoundsrugby on Instagram

Bringing up the rear of the Top 10 is Rugby FC LA‘s Irish center Will Leonard, just shy of 4,000m on 3,963m after amassing much of his total with Rugby New York (2019-2021) and Rugby ATL (2022-2023). Leonard is almost guaranteed to pass 4,000m if he returns for 2025, as are a number of big names that are sat on the outside of the Top 10, hoping to break in. The likes of Leonard‘s former ATL teammate, and current Anthem RC standout Te Rangatira Waitokia (3,937m), and a trio of other Chicago Hounds in Julián Domínguez (3,745m), Bryce Campbell (3,715m), and Luke White (3,665m) will be hoping to see their names on this list following the 2025 season.

MLR’s all-time Top 10 Meter Eaters leaderboard is primed to be an entertaining race during the 2025 season with plenty of movement. This will be one of the many sub-plots around MLR’s 2025 season, and keeping an eye on this and other All-Time Top 10 leaderboards could provide fans with an additional level of entertainment to the quest for the Shield next season!