Halfbacks and Centers - 2025 Position Previews

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Feb 6, 2025 - 5:10pm

While scrumhalf remains pretty stable, Simon Cross has put a lot of offseason focus and recruitment energy into the flyhalf and center positions. An area of relative weakness, or at least inconsistency last season, it's now likely to be an area of strength for the team. The bet here is that the effects of improving the midfield will be felt throughout the back line and the team as whole, tightening up the defense and adding some structure and creativity to the attack.

For this guide, I've divided the players are divided into four categories:

• Starters - proven top-level talent who will be expected to be in rotation of players starting most matches
• Challengers - players who have experience but will have take a step forward to break into the starting rotation
• Projects - players who are inexperienced at a professional level and whose playing time this season will be limited unless they take a big step forward
• Cover - other players who can play the position if needed

Scrumhalf

The returning starting duo of Ethan McVeigh and Connor Buckley look set to remain the starting duo of 2025, with the competition between them likely to remain fierce. McVeigh comes in with a slight edge, having been rewarded for his success last season with a debut for the USA Eagles in the summer. However Buckley is not to be underestimated, with a strong desire to make the Eagles himself after being a reserve last year.

Both will face a challenge from the returning John Lefevre. The Virginia native came back to Old Glory after a stint with the American Raptors, having played for OGDC in 2022 and 2023. As a quality 7s player, he brings a dynamism and speed that earned him the starting spot in Colorado.

Coming out of the draft is US-eligible South African Aidan Ridgeway. Unlike the other draftees, Ridgeway should be available for most or all of the season, making him a serious contender to get some minutes. How long it will take him to adjust to the level of MLR remains to be seen, and with a solid depth of American talent ahead of him at scrumhalf, he may need to find time elsewhere in the lineup.

There is no clear cover for the scrumhalf position. Almost any player in the back line could cover it well enough in an emergency, and with four players available it's unlikely that cover would be needed anyway, provided the team avoids a Toronto Arrows scenario.

There's only one player leaving the team, but it's a name most fans will know. Danny Tusitala was essentially the only scrumhalf for OGDC in the team's first four years, starting all but one match and playing 93% of all scrumhalf minutes. Then, last year, Ethan McVeigh and Connor Buckley joined the team and managed to completely sideline Tusitala. The pair combined 92% of the minutes played at scrumhalf, leaving Tusitala with just 8% of the minutes. He has departed the club and is now looking to sign with a different MLR club.

Flyhalf

Jason Robertson came back to DC after two seasons in France and immediately reaffirmed his status as Old Glory's best ever flyhalf. He looks set to be the first choice again in 2025, with no direct competitors to the position.

There are a couple of young players who could break into the squad. Kieran Farmer has been training with the team, and is an interesting prospect for the 10 jersey. He signed with Houston as a teenager in 2017 and has been floating around the MLR scene ever since. As a 26-year-old he's still reasonably young, and if he can earn some minutes at the position he would be that rare breed, a US-eligible flyhalf. We could also see Aidan Ridgeway get a try at flyhalf, a position he played at times in college. While he is projected to be a scrumhalf in MLR, domestic flyhalfs are few and far between, which may mean he earns a look.

The main cover for the position comes from the other Jason on the roster, Jason Emery. The New Zealander is effective across the back line and has played his fair share of flyhalf in his lengthy career. While he will primarily play at center, we are practically guaranteed to see Emery at 10 at some point or another this season as the tight schedule will require rotating players.

In the case that both Jasons are unavailable and neither Farmer nor Ridgeway are ready, we would most likely see one of the other experienced backs step into the role, such as Steff Hughes or Damien Hoyland. We could also see Owen Sheehy called up, since he played the position in college.

There are two flyhalfs leaving the team this season. Canadian Gradyn Bowd joined the team in 2023 and took control of the starting spot, but was relegated to covering a mixture of flyhalf and fullback off the bench last season. The team is also dropping Mike Weir, a 2022 draftee who only played once for OGDC in the last two seasons and spent most of his time playing at the amateur club level.

Center

Center is the position that's recieved the most love from a recruitment angle in the offseason. After having just three center last year, head coach Simon Cross has brought in three new centers to bolster the squad. And they aren't just normal MLR-level guys - all three are top-end talents who should be top performers next season. That gives the team a solid rotation of centers.

Inside center is likely to be covered by returning USA Eagle Tommaso Boni and new signing Jason Emery. Boni quickly became a fan favorite last season as a bruising ball carrier and will reprise his role as a physically dominant option in the midfield. Emery, meanwhile, will bring a little more speed and flair to the position, while also likely acting as a second flyhalf.

At outside center the regular options will be Welshman Steff Hughes and Scottish international Nick Grigg. Hughes was described by coach Cross as "the best defensive 13 [he's] ever seen" and should bring a lot of stability to the back line. Grigg, meanwhile, should bring attacking prowess having been capped by Scotland in both 7s and 15s.

The challenger to this rotation will be John Powers. Originally a wing/fullback, Powers was moved to center last season and was asked to pick up a massive amount of playing time given how new he was to the role. This season he is likely to spend more of his time learning from the players ahead of him. However, given how many of the centers will require foreign player slots, Powers could see more minutes than you might expect from the range of talent available.

While the depth of the center position implies that they won't need any cover, the most likely to do so is Damien Hoyland. He covered the position for two matches last season.

One of the biggest departures of the offseason came from the centers, with Old Glory's all-time leading try scorer Willie Talataina leaving the team. An electric playmaker who joined the team in 2022, Talataina chose not to return to the club in 2025.