MLR Off-Season Update: New England Free Jacks

It will be a dramatically different New England Free Jacks that defends the Shield in 2026. The three-time champions have been hit hard by the league’s new import regulations, while other leading men have moved on to overseas contracts. At the time of writing only three starters from the 2025 Final have signed on, with most others already confirmed as departing.

Stalwart hooker Andrew Quattrin has moved to France, while abrasive flanker Jed Melvin is training with the Blues of Super Rugby. Star midfielder Le Roux Malan is now with the Sharks in the URC, and it will be a new No10 this season with ex-Utah playmaker Joel Hodgson hired to fill the boots of Jayson Potroz and his stand-in Dan Hollinshead. Livewire fullback Brock Webster has shipped off to Chicago.

Quattrin and Webster are two of 11 Canadian internationals on the list of outgoing. Only Piers von Dadelszen and Ben LeSage remain of the ‘Maple Jacks’. Canadian-eligible Cam Nordli-Kelemeti and Jack Reeves are also gone, while it appears unlikely that Lindsey Stevens will return. Having last played for Canada in 2022, the 30-year-old hooker is now potentially US-eligible under the union transfer regulation.

Veteran Canada lock and former club captain Josh Larsen is hanging up the boots to take up an assistant coaching position, with a focus on defense. Pingi Tala’apitanga is the new Forwards Coach, arriving from Bay of Plenty. The 38-year-old played professionally as a prop in Super Rugby and the French Pro D2. Dewald Senekal was returned to Italy with Benetton Treviso, while Pom Simona is now a full-time member of Auckland’s coaching staff.

Among a huge list of newcomers confirmed are Eagles prop pair Nate Sylvia and Maliu Niuafe, and US-born Australia u20 lock Ollie Aylmer. New Zealand Māori cap Jacob Norris joins fellow Bay of Plenty flanker Joe Johnston in Boston, one of three Steamers making the move along with developing hooker Sione Tupou and gigantic tighthead prop Filipe Vakasiuola.

Eagles eightman Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz was a high profile signing but there is now a question of when he might arrive after signing on as a medical joker with French club Narbonne. Former Free Jacks regular Mitch Wilson has returned to the club after a one-year hiatus with Anthem. One to watch is Nathan Salmon, a strapping 6’3″ (1.90m) winger who at just 20 years old already has two seasons of New Zealand senior provincial rugby behind him.

Draft picks Tevita Mapa and Remy Thomson have signed on, while academy product Filimone Manu was snatched back after Utah’s collapse. Adam Chadwick, Leon Best, and Jack Worobel will all play another season of collegiate rugby. Chadwick and Best are front rowers with Life University, and Worobel is a versatile lock or back row with the University of Vermont.

With 30 players now publicly revealed the bulk of New England’s squad is out in the open, but there is still room for a couple surprises. The club has yet to confirm if MLR’s 2025 Player of the Year Paula Balekana will return, or long-time No8 Wian Conradie – the league’s Forward of the Year in 2023.

* lists below reflect confirmed roster moves to date *

RETURNING (10)
Kyle Ciquera (LH, 7th season)
Tevita Sole (LH, 5th season)
Kaleb Geiger (HO/TH, 3rd season)
Piers von Dadelszen (LO/FL, 3rd season)
Joe Johnston (FL, 5th season)
Oscar Lennon (SH, 3rd season)
Harrison Boyle (FH/FB, 4th season)
Ben LeSage (CE, 4th season)
Wayne van der Bank (CE, 5th season)
Killian Coghlan (CE/WI, 3rd season)

ARRIVALS (20)
Nathan Sylvia (LH, San Diego Legion)
Cyrille Cama (HO, San Diego Legion)
Sione Tupou (HO, Bay of Plenty, NZ)
Maliu Niuafe (TH, RFC Los Angeles)
Filipe Vakasiuola (TH, Bay of Plenty, NZ)
Ollie Aylmer (LO, Gordon, AU)
Braemar Murray (LO, Miami Sharks)
Reuben Palmer (LO, Dunedin RFC, NZ)
Tayne Hemopo (LO/FL, Tasman, NZ)
Jacob Norris (FL, Bay of Plenty, NZ)
Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (FL/N8, Old Glory DC)
Alex MacKenzie (FL/N8, Urayasu D-Rocks, JP)
Tevita Mapa (N8/HO, Life University)
Ethan McVeigh (SH, Old Glory DC)
Remy Thomson (SH, Walsh University)
Joel Hodgson (FH, Utah Warriors)
Nathan Salmon (WI, Northland, NZ)
Mitch Wilson (WI/FB, Anthem RC)
Filimone Manu (WI/FB, AIC)
Line Latu (FB, Anthem RC)

DEPARTURES (24)
Malakai Hala-Ngatai (LH, Moana Pasifika, NZ)
Foster DeWitt (LH/HO)
Connal McInerney (HO, retired)
Andrew Quattrin (HO, Valence Romans, FR)
Cole Keith (TH)
Kyle Steeves (TH)
Kyle Baillie (LO, retired)
Sam Caird (LO, Canon Eagles, JP)
Conor Keys (LO, retired)
Josh Larsen (LO, retired)
Ethan Fryer (FL)
Jed Melvin (FL, Blues, NZ)
Emanuel Lai (SH)
Cam Nordli-Kelemeti (SH, Doncaster Knights, UK)
John Poland (SH, Young Munster, IR)
Dan Hollinshead (FH)
Jayson Potroz (FH)
Faletoi Peni (FH/CE, Moana Pasifika, NZ)
Le Roux Malan (CE, Sharks, SA)
Isaac Olson (CE/WI)
Jack Reeves (CE/WI)
Josiah Morra (WI)
Simon-Peter Toleafoa (WI/FB)
Brock Webster (WI/FB, Chicago Hounds)

2026 CONFIRMED PLAYERS