MLR Preseason a Work in Progress

The final stages of the of Major League Rugby preseason are fast approaching and with the regular season a little over two weeks away communications departments could afford to pick up the pace a little bit. This past weekend saw three matches take place, and there are five scheduled for this week.

Seattle, New Orleans, and San Diego were all in action against club sides. The Legion’s match against Life West was completely unknown to us until a couple hours before kickoff. It seems a strange way to attract fans, doesn’t it?

Overall the preseason picture has left a lot to be desired. New Orleans and New York each put centuries up on their opponents on December 15th. The Gold have played three matches with a combined score of 232-10. With the Dallas Reds up this weekend and a full-strength roster named, that ratio is going to become even more lopsided.

This past weekend’s matches saw the MLR sides outscore their opponents 195-0. Had the weather conditions been nicer those results would have been uglier.

There is a time and place for these kinds of fixtures but two weeks out from the regular season isn’t a good one. Not only is it sub-par preparation from a competition standpoint, it does little to build the appetite ahead of the main course.

Case in point January 2018 when the SaberCats welcomed more than 6,000 through the gates to watch a match against the Seattle Saracens. It started the New Year off with a bang. Utah then had over 9,000 show up in late March to watch them play Glendale.

Perhaps it was to be expected that this season’s exhibition offerings would feel rushed after the late completion of the regular season schedule, the shift from an April to January start, and the addition of two new teams. Rosters have also been building slowly which makes it difficult to put a team on the field in the first place.

Of course there are other constraints. Extra matches cost money and resources. Travel arrangements have to be made, players have to come into camp earlier, venues have to be booked. Suitable opponents need to be found. Where there is difficulty, however, there is opportunity.

MLR isn’t going to attract Premiership sides just yet but with all the discussion surrounding its challenges the English Championship remains largely an afterthought. Its own fixtures list has been wrecked with weeks separating league matches and a thoroughly un-engaging Cup competition.

A suggestion for the RFU to bring something different to the table might be for each MLR side to play three or four games against Championship sides on this side of the ocean in the winter months. MLR could then reciprocate by heading to England during the Championship preseason window in August.

Whether any kind of silverware is actually on offer would be up to the marketing gurus. At the very least it would provide MLR teams with decent opposition ahead of their season, and a chance to test potential newcomers before offering a contract (Glendale have effectively used this model ahead of this season). For the Championship it gives them something different for the fans to look forward to rather than the same old show.

The Free Jacks, notably, have put together a series of fixtures similar to this idea. They will play the reserve sides of the four Irish provinces – Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster – in Boston starting in mid-March. This is an ideal arrangement ahead of their full inclusion next year.

Whatever the solution, let’s all hope there is more compelling viewing ahead of the 2020 season. On the signing front things should be more stable with many imports this season signing multi-year contracts.

This weekend’s matches will see eight of the nine MLR teams taking the field. Houston return to Constellation Field for an evening match against Austin Elite tomorrow. Saturday sees Toronto playing New York indoors at Buffalo, and New Orleans taking on the Dallas Reds at Gold Stadium.

The Warriors officially begin their 2019 on Saturday as well and will also be playing indoors at the Zions Bank Field House where they will take on the Life West Gladiators. San Diego is up on Sunday at Torero Stadium against the Glendale Raptors.

Don’t expect match day rosters from each team, though New Orleans have already posted theirs. There doesn’t appear to be an MLR standard for releasing match day rosters but let us make this gentle suggestion to the teams out there – all weekend rosters should be public no later than noon ET on Friday. For games played on Friday night, noon ET on Thursday should be the accepted practice.

If MLR wants increased media coverage the teams have to do their bit. It’s hard to write a preview if we don’t know who’s playing! This was a major failing point of the league in 2018 and we sincerely hope teams adjust their communications strategy accordingly this season. Some need no prodding and hopefully NOLA’s exuberance in this regard is matched by others.

It’s not just about keeping the media happy, it’s about the role that match previews play. As new fans get to know their team better they want to know if their favorite players are in the lineup, and if the enemy is rolling out their big guns. Getting those previews out early means more things for fans to talk about around the water cooler at work on Friday afternoon.

On a positive note the new MLR website launched today. It is a significant upgrade on the previous version. The schedule is nicely arranged with broadcast options clearly noted. There are links to each team on the front page. Each team will have their websites overhauled to match, with Utah and New York the first to get the switch. Is the ‘Boston’ in front of the Free Jacks a misprint or intentional?

Of course we still don’t have complete rosters but they are much closer now than they were in mid-December. Austin and Utah are stragglers. At least for the Warriors we can now look forward to Media Day on Tuesday when they will unveil their squad for the 2019 season. Austin have been busy taking new profile photos which surely means more announcements are imminent.

Lastly – the rumor mill.

Glendale have today confirmed the signing of tighthead prop Marco Fepulea’i from Auckland. Expect them to announce another front rower – Canadian international Noah Barker – in the coming days. This leaves Eagles prop Chris Baumann out in the cold at the moment. Will he appear on the Raptors roster?

The Canadian contingent is ever-growing and there are another three currently on trial at Austin Elite. Whether any stick with the team remains to be seen, but Canada should have around 45 players all told in MLR this season. Austin have a number of players currently in camp still to publicly unveil.

New York confirmed John Quill this week, a major addition to their back row. Former Ireland u20 hooker Sean McNulty is one of the names yet to be plucked from the shadows, and more are on the way. With most of their incoming already identified, there may yet be room for a surprise or two.

Mateo Sanguinetti was a sneaky addition for the SaberCats. That makes four Uruguayans headed to Houston and ten across MLR. The odd man out at the moment is star hooker Germán Kessler, recovered from his knee injury but without a contract. The Arrows have wingers Leandro Leivas and Gastón Mieres signed up and only two senior hookers at the moment. Do they have room for one more?

When Utah confirms their roster in Tuesday two names to look for are former South Africa u20 prop Franco van den Berg and new Eagles cap Gannon Moore. One who won’t be, at least as a player, is Ben Nicholls. The flyhalf has hung up the boots to take up a coaching role.

The biggest question coming from the past week – where will Samu Manoa land? The giant forward has ended his Cardiff Blues contract early to return home to California. Utah would seem to make the most sense based on their needs and potential room on the roster. Of course he could just sit out club rugby for the next few months to prepare his body for the World Cup run-in. Watch this space…