KoiKoi Nelligan Re-Signed for 2025

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Dec 2, 2024 - 2:00pm

Old Glory has announced the return of hooker KoiKoi Nelligan for the 2025 season. The 25-year-old Bethesda, Maryland native graduated from West Point in 2022, where he was a captain and MVP in multiple sports. He also played four years of rugby in college, helping Army win a national championship in his senior year and setting a school record with 16 tries scored in the season.

Nelligan joined the professional ranks when he was picked up in the 2022 MLR draft. While technically drafted by San Diego, he was traded to Old Glory DC in short order when one of their picks, Jack Manzo, opted not to sign with the team.

Nelligan's first year at Old Glory saw him get an opportunity late in the season, starting in one match and coming off the bench in another. He showed plenty of promise in those moments, earning him an expanded role in 2024. He played 191 minutes accross 13 matches last year, all of them off the bench.

The question for 2025 will be how much Nelligan's role expands. Last season, Martin Vaca and Facundo Gattas switched in and out of the starting hooker position, each taking half of the 17 available starts. however, both only played a couple time off the bench, with that almost always being the purview of Nelligan.

The easiest explanation for this comes from Nelligan's domestic status. As an American player, he doesn't count against the 10 foreign player slots in the matchday roster, but the other two do. Last year, he wasn't good enough to merit a start over either of the other hookers, but they also weren't better enough than him to merit the use of a foreign slot to get them on the bench.

That, then, is the status quo for the 2025 season - Nelligan as the go-to bench guy. If he continues to improve as a player, we could see him surpass that role this year and grab some starting minutes. One has to imagine that's on his mind, and with his often electric play it's definitely possible we'll see him challenge his two South American teammates.