Old Glory Picks up Young Flanker Aidan King

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Nov 10, 2025 - 9:00am

Old Glory has announced the signing of flanker Aidan King, formerly of the NOLA Gold. The 23-year-old is coming in hot after an excellent rookie season that saw him just barely miss out on the Rookie of the Year award, but he will have to compete with a tough back row at OGDC.

Born in the US, King started playing rugby after his family moved to Brisbane, Australia. He worked his way up through the system there, eventually playing in and winning the 2017 Junior Gold Cup U15 tournament. He then returned to the United States to attend Penn State University, where he earned back-to-back MVP honors.

He was taken 6th overall in the 2024 MLR Draft by the NOLA Gold and immediately made an impact. Playing in 14 matches and starting in 9 of them for a total of 737 minutes played, he was being discussed as a strong contender for the Rookie of the Year award before Payton Wall jumped ahead with some late-season heroics.

However, if he wants to see the same sort of playing time in 2026 he will have to beat out some stiff competition. With established Eagles Ben Bonasso and Cory Daniel primed to take the starting spots, King will likely be competing to be the choice back rower on the bench. That spot has been filled the last three seasons by Collin Grosse, who also impressed in his rookie season and has since been the go-to reserve for Old Glory.

The competition between Grosse and King should be an interesting storyline, although they don't fit exactly the same mold. Grosse is a little taller and heavier than King and has tended to play blindside flanker, and more recently also at eight. Meanwhile King is much more of a true opensde flanker, which means we could see the two of them specialize on the their relative strengths.

The only remaining question mark in the back row is Lautaro Bavaro, the Argentine eightman. While he hasn't been confirmed, it's believed he will be returning and is almost certain to start if he does so. It's still possible that Old Glory will add more back rowers, but with rumors of a tightened salary cap and a reduced schedule, it seems more likely that no further back row players will be added to the 2026 roster.