MLR Expansion / Dispersal Draft Summary

Major League Rugby completed a five round expansion / dispersal draft yesterday. Its purpose was to redistribute players from Austin and LA, while also giving new team Chicago a chance to fill out its roster. While the results were not publicly released, ARN has now confirmed the selections as seen below.

According to MLR, Chicago will now have an exclusive negotiation period of a week to sign ex-LA or Austin players, after which they can speak to other teams for another one-week window. If no deal is signed, their rights will remain with Chicago.

For players selected from teams competing in the 2023 season, Chicago will have two weeks to negotiate a contract. If no deal is struck between the two parties, the player’s rights will return to the original team.

Five rounds were completed with 55 players selected in all. The second round was 10 selections made entirely by Chicago, the other four rounds had 15 picks available with Chicago given five picks including the first two. Old Glory DC was the only team the chose not to participate in the draft.

Of the 55 selected, only 7 came from teams other than Austin or LA. Chicago picked 30 players in all, with four names called by Dallas and three each by Houston, NOLA, and Utah. The others picked two players. Existing teams passed on 15 selections in the final two rounds.

Domestic-eligible players who appeared for LA or Austin during the 2022 regular season and were either not selected or opted out include:

AUSTIN – Payton Telea-Ilalio (LH), Christian Ostberg (LO), Ronan Murphy (FL), Casey McDermott Vai (N8), Zinzan Elan-Puttick (FB)

LA – Les Leulua’iali’i-Makin (LH/TH), Zach Bonte (FL), Cyrille Cama (FL), Tas Smith (SH), Ryan James (WI)

Telea-Ilalio and Murphy have joined the American Raptors, who are set to compete in a revamped SLAR competition in the new year. Others could choose the same route. Players who opted out of the draft will be eligible to sign with MLR teams at the mid-point of the 2023 season.

 

ROUND 1

PICK	TEAM	PLAYER	POS	ORIGIN	ELIG
1	CHICAGO	Bryce Campbell	CE	Austin Gilgronis	USA
2	CHICAGO	Luke Carty	FH	LA Giltinis	USA
3	NOLA	Jordan Trainor	FB	LA Giltinis	NZL
4	DALLAS	Michael de Waal	FL	Austin Gilgronis	USA
5	HOUSTON	Hanco Germishuys	FL	LA Giltinis	USA
6	TORONTO	Lindsey Stevens	HO	LA Giltinis	CAN
7	CHICAGO	Billy Meakes	CE	LA Giltinis	AUS
8	SAN DIEGO	Faka’osi Pifeleti	LH	Austin Gilgronis	USA
9	ATL	Conner Mooneyham	WI	Austin Gilgronis	USA
10	HOUSTON	Dom Akina	CE	Austin Gilgronis	USA
11	NEW ENGLAND	Ben LeSage	CE	LA Giltinis	CAN
12	SEATTLE	Mason Pedersen	TH	Austin Gilgronis	USA
13	NEW YORK	Brooklyn Hardaker	WI	LA Giltinis	AUS
14	CHICAGO	Luke White	LO	LA Giltinis	USA
15	CHICAGO	Charlie Abel	TH	LA Giltinis	AUS

ROUND 2

16	CHICAGO	Cam Dodson	LO	Austin Gilgronis	ENG
17	CHICAGO	Hugh Roach	HO	Austin Gilgronis	AUS
18	CHICAGO	DTH van der Merwe	WI	LA Giltinis	CAN
19	CHICAGO	Nathan Den Hoedt	LO	LA Giltinis	AUS
20	CHICAGO	Luke Beauchamp	FL	Austin Gilgronis	AUS
21	CHICAGO	Mack Mason	FH	Austin Gilgronis	AUS
22	CHICAGO	Maclean Jones	FL	Austin Gilgronis	AUS
23	CHICAGO	Mark O’Keeffe	CE/WI	Austin Gilgronis	IRE
24	CHICAGO	Chris Mattina	FB	Austin Gilgronis	USA
25	CHICAGO	LaRome White	LH/TH	Austin Gilgronis	USA

ROUND 3

26	CHICAGO	John Ryberg	WI	LA Giltinis	USA
27	CHICAGO	Julian Dominguez	WI	Austin Gilgronis	ARG
28	NEW YORK	Cristian Rodriguez	SH/FB	LA Giltinis	USA
29	SEATTLE	Jake Turnbull	LH	Austin Gilgronis	USA
30	NEW ENGLAND	Djustice Sears-Duru	LH	LA Giltinis	CAN
31	HOUSTON	D’Montae Noble	WI	LA Giltinis	USA
32	ATL	Christian Poidevin	FL	LA Giltinis	USA
33	CHICAGO	Caleb Strum	WI	Austin Gilgronis	USA
34	SAN DIEGO	Corey Thomas	LO/FL	LA Giltinis	CAN
35	TORONTO	Kyle Breytenbach	LO/FL	Austin Gilgronis	USA
36	UTAH	Sam Peri	LO	LA Giltinis	USA
37	NOLA	Mason Koch	HO	Austin Gilgronis	USA
38	DALLAS	Tom Mitchell	FB	LA Giltinis	ENG
39	CHICAGO	Sidney Shoop	SH	Austin Gilgronis	USA
40	CHICAGO	Kahanu Koi	SH/WI	LA Giltinis	USA

ROUND 4

41	CHICAGO	Christian Alvarez	SH	Austin Gilgronis	USA
42	CHICAGO	Nick Taylor	CE/FB	Austin Gilgronis	CAN
43	DALLAS	Andrew Tuala	LH/HO	LA Giltinis	SAM
44	DALLAS	Langilangi Haupeakui	N8	LA Giltinis	USA
45	UTAH	Pele Cowley	SH	Austin Gilgronis	SAM
46	TORONTO
47	CHICAGO	Robbie Coetzee	HO	Austin Gilgronis	RSA
48	SAN DIEGO
49	ATL
50	HOUSTON
51	NEW ENGLAND
52	SEATTLE
53	NEW YORK
54	CHICAGO	James Vaifale	WI	NOLA Gold	USA
55	CHICAGO	Jeffery Steele	LH/TH	Utah Warriors	USA

ROUND 5

56	CHICAGO	Tommy Clark	FL	Seattle Seawolves	USA
57	CHICAGO	Kainoa Lloyd	WI	San Diego Legion	CAN
58	NEW YORK
59	SEATTLE
60	NEW ENGLAND
61	HOUSTON
62	ATL
63	CHICAGO	Joaquin de la Vega Mendia	FH/FB	Rugby ATL	ARG
64	SAN DIEGO
65	TORONTO
66	UTAH	Khalid Cannon	LO	Austin Gilgronis	USA
67	NOLA	Will Chambers	CE/WI	LA Giltinis	AUS
68	DALLAS
69	CHICAGO	Austin White	WI/FB	Rugby ATL	USA
70	CHICAGO	Cian Barry	SH	Dallas Jackals	USA

 

SELECTIONS BY TEAM

CHICAGO (30) – Jeffery Steele (LH/TH), LaRome White (LH/TH), Charlie Abel (TH), Robbie Coetzee (HO), Hugh Roach (HO), Nathan Den Hoedt (LO), Cam Dodson (LO), Luke White (LO), Luke Beauchamp (FL), Tommy Clark (FL), Maclean Jones (FL), Christian Alvarez (SH), Cian Barry (SH), Sidney Shoop (SH), Kahanu Koi (SH/WI), Luke Carty (FH), Mack Mason (FH), Joaquín de la Vega Mendía (FH/FB), Bryce Campbell (CE), Billy Meakes (CE), Mark O’Keeffe (CE/WI), Nick Taylor (CE/FB), Julián Domínguez (WI), Kainoa Lloyd (WI), John Ryberg (WI), Caleb Strum (WI), James Vaifale (WI), DTH van der Merwe (WI), Austin White (WI/FB), Chris Mattina (FB)

DALLAS (4) – Andrew Tuala (LH/HO), Michael de Waal (FL), Langilangi Haupeakui (N8), Tom Mitchell (FB)

HOUSTON (3) – Hanco Germishuys (FL), Dom Akina (CE), D’Montae Noble (WI)

NEW ENGLAND (2) – Djustice Sears-Duru (LH), Ben LeSage (CE)

NOLA (3) – Mason Koch (HO), Will Chambers (CE/WI), Jordan Trainor (FB)

ATL (2) – Christian Poidevin (FL), Conner Mooneyham (WI)

NEW YORK (2) – Cristian Rodriguez (SH/FB), Brooklyn Hardaker (WI)

SAN DIEGO (2) – Faka’osi Pifeleti (LH), Corey Thomas (LO/FL)

SEATTLE (2) – Jake Turnbull (LH), Mason Pedersen (TH)

TORONTO (2) – Lindsey Stevens (HO), Kyle Breytenbach (LO/FL)

UTAH (3) – Khalid Cannon (LO), Sam Peri (LO), Pele Cowley (SH)