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Seattle Seawolves add South African halfback to MLR 2026 squad

Andre Warner of the Lions with the ball during the United Rugby Championship match between The Dragons and The Lions at Rodney Parade on May 21, 2022 in Newport, Wales. (Photo by Huw Fairclough/Getty Images)
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Another day, another signing for the Seattle Seawolves ahead of the Major League Rugby season for 2026.

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In the last week, the Seawolves have signed Sean McNulty and Rufus McLean three months out from the season, and have now added South African halfback Andre Warner.

Both are USA Eagles, with McNulty recently representing the National team in 2025 against Scotland, while McLean featured in the other two Test matches for the Eagles.

Warner, who has played 33 times for the Lions and 20 for the Bulls, joins the Seawolves after two seasons with Houston in Major League Rugby.

Warner signs for the Seawolves in the same week that they had also added former Blues and Crusaders fly-half Michael Brett to their coaching staff.

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Brett will take over the backs and the skills aspect for the Seawolves, bringing his playing experiences from all around the world to Major League Rugby.

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Brett will join Allen Clarke in the coaching staff, as well as former Blues and Maori All Black hooker Robbie Abel.

Clarke was full of praise for his new signing, who will add much-needed depth in his squad.

“Andre has an excellent understanding of the game. His speed of service, decision-making, and competitiveness are top level, ” Clarke said in a Seawolves statement.

“He’s a player I rate highly and we’re delighted to bring him to the Seawolves.”

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For Warner himself, he’s looking forward to playing for the Seawolves in Major League Rugby and is excited for the challenge.

“Grateful for the opportunity to join the Seawolves. I’m excited to learn, grow, and contribute to this special club.”

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GodOfFriedChicken 1 hour ago
Jamie Joseph pinpoints where Highlanders repeatedly fell short in 2026

I’m not saying to have them rely exclusively on high school talent but teams should be able to retain their top local talent rather than lose them to more regularly successful unions on a regular basis. Look at what’s happened to the Manawatu region, who lost the entire Whitelock family and Codie Taylor to Canterbury before any of them could even play a game there. Imports are part of the game but if it’s a top talent that was either raised in your region or already plays in your region at a position that’s not of surplus, you should have more ability to have their rights. Also on the note of Tupou-Ta’eiloa, he moved to Moana because he wants to play for Tonga i.e. the actual purpose of the team.

The salary cap in SRP is very poorly enforced, especially when you compare it to leagues like the NRL or most of American sport. There’s no salary floor, so a team like the Highlanders is regularly spending much less than their other NZ teams and the whole AB top-up system means that you can essentially pay a bunch of good players much less for their SR salary than they’re worth because the players get enough of an AB top-up that their SR salary doesn’t matter. Given that the ABs have eligibility rules that require them to play SR anyway, it shouldn’t be a massive stretch to slightly increase the salary cap but include AB salaries in there. It’s not being “penalised for doing things right”, it’s keeping teams from hoarding talent and making sure the competition stays fair. Happens in the NRL every time but if their systems are as good as advertised (like Penrith, who’ve had to let go of a star every year to a lesser team since their title runs), then they should be able to rebuild. There’s a reason why the NRL’s had nearly every team (except the Warriors, Dolphins and Titans) win a premiership while SR has become top heavy with a lot of one sided results - one competition lets you hoard talent and essentially lets you pay them with hidden money legally, the other makes sure players are paid what they’re worth for the team.



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