Tevita Naqali Signs for Seventh Season

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Oct 24, 2025 - 12:00pm

Fijian-born lock Tevita Naqali has re-signed with Old Glory for a seventh season. The 29-year-old has been a stalwart with OGDC since the inaugural professional season in 2020.

It's easy to throw around terms like "stalwart", but one of Naqali's defining features is just how consistently he has performed for Old Glory over the years. He has played in 71 of the team's 89 matches, starting 64 of them, for a total of almost 5000 minutes played. He's also been a decent scorer, picking up 9 tries in total in his career.

In many ways, this consistency comes from the way he has grown with the team. While the league has improved year-on-year, he has improved right with it. He joined in his early 20s with limited professional experience and has kept up with the growing league through multiple coaching changes and roster shake-ups. He's one of only four players to have been on squad every year since the OGDC joined MLR.

While Naqali was born and raised in Fiji, he has lived continuously in the US since joining Old Glory. He has often followed up MLR seasons by joining D1 or American Premiership clubs for a chance to play more rugby in the offseason. He qualified for the United States on residence grounds ahead of the 2025 season and was quickly pulled up into the national team, debuting for the Eagles over the summer and earning 6 caps.

His domestic status is a huge boon for OGDC as well, allowing them to play him much more often without worrying about using a foreign player slot. This is evident in the numbers: from 2021-2024, he played about 800 minutes in 12 appearances a season, which jumped to over 1000 minutes in 17 appearances in 2025. A lot of those extra minutes came off the bench, as his domestic status allowed the coaches to use him as a reserve in situations that would have seen him simply left out in prior seasons.

While it remains to be seen which other locks are signed for the 2026 season, it's almost certain that Naqali will have a spot in the starting rotation. Already one of the better locks in the league, his domestic status will only make him more valuable in 2026.