MLR Weekly: Chicago Hounds Head Coach Sam Harris, Fantasy Ruckers Boss, Best Recap, John Fitzpatrick

CHICAGO, IL – The Major League Rugby season has found its stride and our MLR Weekly staff is huffing and puffing to keep you caught up. With that, Chicago Hounds Head Coach Sam Harris, Fantasy Ruckers’ Commissioner Ryan Ye and Rugby Morning’s John Fitzpatrick join host Matt McCarthy re:

-Harris’ Expectations for the Hounds
-Billy Meakes at #10
-Attrition worries vs NEED TO WIN
-Picking a lineup
-League Parity
-New World Rugby Laws
-Fantasy Rugby for MLR
-News & Updates
-TRN Play of the Week
-TRO Pick of the Week.

Watch… Listen/Download the Podcast version…

AND BE SURE TO SEE… This week’s The Rugby Odds.

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Next on mlr weekly Chicago hounds head coach Sam Harris fantasy Ruckers commissioner Ryan ye John Fitzpatrick of rugby morning and the best dang recap in Major League rugby yeah rugby wrap-ups mlr weekly brought to you by sheii auto stores it’s easy at sheii the pig and whistle New York City the world’s best

Rugby pun and lean and limber stretching your way to a healthier lifestyle [Applause] [Applause] hello again and welcome to mlr weekly as presented by rugby WP up Matt McCarthy New York City thank you for joining us once again it’s much appreciated and a quick note before we get into our show Brian Ray of America’s rugby news is unable to join us this week he’s taking

Care of some family stuff we hope everybody’s okay and we see him next week our thoughts are with you Brian uh we have on the show this week though we have Sam Harris the head coach of the Chicago hounds we have Ryan y the commissioner of the fantasy Ruckers

League we have the greatest recap in Major League rugby history we have our play of the week as per the rugby Network and we have our pick of the week courtesy of the rugby odds both but before we get to any of that we have our recurring segment rugby morning’s coffee

Break with John Fitzpatrick John how are you what do you got hey man I’m doing good I’m looking good too I got a haircut I waxed my back it looks like you got your eyebrows plucked we are looking like a spiy number hey you know what’s looking good how about the mlr

Standings through three weeks of play there are only two teams remaining unbeaten and guess what those two team the Houston SaberCats and the Seattle SeaWolves they’re going to meet on Friday night at Starfire Stadium to kick off week four we met are you going to stay up till 10 p.m. to watch that

Kickoff absolutely not and they need to move that start time up they need to do it at 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time 900 p.m. New York time make it a big deal call it Friday Night Lights sell the out of it and then we’ll watch but 10:30 no I

Don’t get it next well Matt despite giving up 68 points Anthem RC they did earn their first table of the Season virtue of their fourth try scored of the game which was a penalty try that was awarded to them in that Dallas Jackal match for

Matt you know I want to talk to you a little bit about your conversation you have with USA men’s Eagles head coach Scott Lawrence he was talking about developing domestic players particularly fly halfs we know that lucard is kind of bouncing around there in Chicago but

Outside of that you know you’ve got AJ mcy over in the Premiership what are we doing to to develop domestic American ply housee well as you mentioned in the interview uh on this very program thank you for bringing it up plug plug plug he said that we now have in the u20s five

Players that are at the 10th position which is pretty much a first and a very very good thing and as you mentioned we only have McGinty and really luk cardi but lucard is not getting the nod in Chicago we have Sam Harris waiting in the wings to come on this program so

I’ll ask him about that but um I got an idea you got you mentioned the anthem Shane Barry is currently playing fullback he can also play Fly half he’s Eagle uh eligible but Oscar CER who’s currently playing fly half could play 15 so you could flip those two and then

Double pretty much your your professional flyabs that are currently starting next hey man let’s talk about standout performers in week three you got to start with New England free Jack’s fullback Reese McDonald he tot it down again his fifth he leads mlr in try scores how about no

Gold Center Jordan Jackson hope he scored two tries as did the player of the week Old Glory DC Wing Axel Muller he scored two tries in his mlr debut you sound like an Old Glory fan and you got reason to be a fan but that confounded last 20 minutes where nobody scored and

The Old Glory had the 10-minute penalty to Patty Ryan at the end of the game and still still couldn’t muster up the points that had to be frustrating that certainly was frustrating Jason Robertson missed a couple makeable kicks that I think he would like to have back

But Matt I think the biggest news of the week regarding okori DC has got to be the disciplinary decision that’s going to be coming down from mlr regarding ogc back row and Captain Jameson F on Schultz he received a red card in that game on a dangerous play against Chicago

Hounds Billy Meeks Jemma he suspended 10 games in 202 22 not at all last year in 2023 since then he has been a model citizen but Matt he awaits a verdict on whether not he’ll miss multiple games and I got to ask you Matt if he were to

Miss multiple games that’s going to have a big impact on Old Glory and the rest of their season I it will have an impact but I think that they are uh for the first time deeper team and they might be able to uh navigate that but you know V

On Schulz is going into that court and he’s got a record whe you know whether his probation had ended you still have that lingering so you know this that news will come out after the show is taped next hey I want to move on to some

Quick player news two things I want to announce rfcl they signed Brazilian International and former New York iron worker props hooker Wilton Rolo to a three-year deal mat that’s pretty big news he’s back in mlr he’s a great pickup because he can play all three front row positions and you won’t lose

Any anything with it and he’s a great guy in the clubhouse he’s one of my favorites I got to know him here in New York sorry to see him go but it’s great to see him come back after some success overseas a great pickup next hey how

About the Houston sa cats they signed 20 year-old American back row Aiden Kerr from their Academy team Houston making a commitment to play Young American talent Kerr is going to join his teammate you may recall 18-year-old Seth Smith who made his mlr debut a few weeks ago good

On Houston for making that signing good on Houston for making that signing and I’m loving the fact that people are going to those games and they’ve got an exciting team to watch so Houston SaberCats fans you have no excuses get your asses out to that Stadium next Matt

Another rugby news in Super Rugby Americas American Raptors they NAB their first win of the season the 2921 win over the cobras they placed three players on the first 15 including fullback Rus McQueen you may recall transferred from Scotland Matt big deal for the Raptors yeah you know get that

First W under your uh belt you got to get you got to you got to win one to win two right so and they beat Brazil which is always good those cobras next Matt you probably Saw World rugby they revealed some new plans to help speed up the game they got a number

Of changes here you’re a kudin which one do you not like I don’t I’m not crazy about the uh calling Mark on restart in other words you kick off you can just call Mark and that just stops the play stops the flow it also you know it defeats the purpose of speeding

Up the game and and for for what they’re doing across the board for the most part and they’re also going to implement the mlr scrum have protective rule or they’re talking about it at least and that happens in May next Matt one last thing shout out to Cal they beat number

One Navy over the weekend Navy’s first loss since April 2022 quite a run for the midshipman Matt that’s all I got we’re not done with you though John because we have a special segment today we have fantasy Ruckers commissioner Ryan y coming in to join

You and me to have a little bit Baner about what’s going on with this corrupt and off and controversial fantasy Ruckers league and now it’s time for the best recap in Major League rugby history with yours truly in New England the smartest scheduling in Major League rugby history

Took place last weekend as they did not schedule a game on St Patrick’s Day in Boston instead they had it on Saturday which meant everybody could party without guilt ironically Nola were the Sinners earning a yellow just six seconds into the match but the free Jacks failed to capitalize on the sin

Binning followed by Nola missing a gimme penalty goal but the gold cashed in when here he scores now say philon hey take the train not the bus scored for team Big Easy but the free Jacks came right back cashing one in Via wait for it an online bander Bank cha

Ching then Reese stop calling me Damien McKenzie McDonald turned Nola into gold us with his 57th stunning try of this short season another record Nola will Ru this one as they blew a two TR lead and left points on the board with missed kicks 2721 New England a Stones Throw from

Where they actually throw stones in Congress Old Glory DC and the Chicago Hound christened DC’s New Home the Maryland soccer Plex in Germantown and while we didn’t have anybody named schel on either roster to have some fun with we did have a captain named bana shs

Along with the likes of a boomer axle flesh and gross a brace that’s two tries folks each from Boomer and Muller excited the excellent crowd but deceiving wins played tricks on the home teams surefooted fly half Jason Robertson those misfires a mentioned Captain FS getting a worrisome red card

Which unofficially could mean a six-game suspension and a scoreless final 20 minutes had both teams dancing with their sisters that means a tie kids 2222 Final in Space City we had foul play which disallowed Houston’s First try but they came right back on a fortuitous quick tap and followed that

One while the Sharks were short-handed via a yellow card but the Floridians wouldn’t quit and the match wasn’t over until Houston scored at death giving them the fivepoint bonus win and send a formidable Miami team home with nothing 319 final and that’s foul as in poultry in Utah the Warriors and SeaWolves

Locked horns in another one of those tough Western Conference matchups after conceding three points to Joel Hudson on a penalty goal Seattle controlled the match and kept the mountain men wanting more space but Jesse Hamilton set up Phil Bradford for a warrior try at death giving Utah a

Shot at an important losing bonus Point Hudson yabaa doed his way to the T from a very difficult angle only to see his attempt Clank off the posts in the 83rd minute no point no cigar this time Hudson will make that kick many times over 2313 Final on the frozen tundra of Lambo

Feeli the what what wait what ah wrong screen to Sunny Southern California and the Battle of the Five freeway San Diego and La renewed their mlr rivalry with cohorts guzzling guilis and everyone waiting for Gau I know it’s Gau on the pitch Dan Holland head gave rfca Ripa the early three zip lead

Indeed they paded the lead to 8-0 but an uncharacteristic miscon conversion and caress ball handling just before the half would prove as the legion chipped away behind Lincoln MC clutchy to take the lead Jam Stokes got La back within one point with one minute left but the

Legion held on 1918 final finally at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte North Carolina the home team Anthem and the Dallas jackals went at it in different shades of blue it’s not every day that you score 28 points points at home before another good home

Crowd and still lose by 40 but indeed it was The Day of the Jackal as 10 players scored a try a piece and Martin elos continued his excellent play 6828 final digs Lake A demented mole there need a great price on a new vehicle shei makes it easy easy price shows you our

Lowest prices on the mid-atlantic’s largest selection find your best price online or at any of our 31 Dealerships you need your cleats you need them tomorrow if you order today by 3:00 p.m. New York time or noon La time they can have them to you tomorrow young old male female if you’re playing on Turf if you’re playing on grass if you’re playing in the rain you’re

Playing in the heat they’ve got you covered rugby now.com go there Now and John now it’s time to bring in Mr Ryan y the commissioner of fantasy Ruckers Ryan welcome to mlr weekly hey what what’s up fellas it’s h good to finally be on the show we’ve uh we’ve heard a lot of you guys we obviously watch from a distance but it takes some

Uh uh big konas to to bring me on the show after what you guys have been experiencing in the world of fantasy mlr here on fantasy let’s not jump ahead yet just m m commissioner let’s explain to the folks at home what fantasy Ruckers is yeah well fantasy Ruckers is an

Attempt uh by us here to try to make fantasy rugby a reality in the mlr it’s been something that we’ve been working on for the past several years this this season that we’re in right now uh was the first time that we’ve been opened it

Up to uh kind of a group of public people here so we’ve had a had Fitzy here on our on our Squad here for quite some time Matt you came on board here last season and it’s been a fun ride here into to what is our now third

Season of fantasy rugby in nlr and now we could bring people up to speed is a you know rugby wrap-ups in this fantasy Ruckers League rugby morning I don’t you know John’s got his representation in there I owe you and all of Canada because you’re Canadian uh I owe you all

An apology because when I was on your program I said ABC anybody but Canada right and because it was following up on AB anybody but England but I got to apologize because ABC is always beat Canada it’s not anybody but K okay is that is that so

That’s you know a bold statement for the guy that’s sitting right now last in our fantasy rockers okay okay you know so right now technically uh Canada’s beating you Matt so obviously you don’t know the history of fantasy rugby did you know that the 1997 Roger that Clinton’s the 2004 roids

Rocket clemens’s and the 2014 doogies hosers were all 0 and three to start their fantasy rugby leagues and yet went on to win the championship did you know that how can other people get involved in this um I mean right now all of our leagues uh at least for our season long

Leagues are what you would think of as traditional fantasy uh kind of uh mlr where you draft a team that has been up close so you want to get in the waiting list here to sign up for the uh 2025 season but hey if you wanted a little

Bit of a taste of how fantasy mlr goes you can uh try our weekly challenge you pick a salary of $15 you have we have players that are valued based on their 2024 fantasy performances you try to pick a fiveman lineup that fits that salary and see where you uh Stack Up

With The Fanny scoring that we use I’d like to say i’ like to point out as a little disclaimer I’m absolutely tearing it up in the weekly challenge right now uh 30 points uh in the in the lead right now over over my brother so uh I think

Our expertise goes to show itself Ryan you and your brother have put in an IM an immeasurable amount of work to get this thing off the ground people you don’t understand this ain’t easy and they’re doing it on their own dime and their own time and it’s actually very

Cool well done sir no I I greatly appreciate I mean Fitzy was there right at the get-go when we were on our Excel spreadsheet days um and we were literally tallying up uh some stuff while me spending my Saturday and Sunday evenings without a life just literally watching games and Counting tackles and

Counting uh passes uh and and meters so uh We’ve long past days we’ we’ve upgraded a little bit uh we have a website now the fantasy rockers.com even if you’re not a league member you can go on there and check out some of our our nice fantasy stats that we got on there

Uh it’s been it’s been a fun journey I want to give a shout out to Alistar kers poool uh fitsy knows him well uh co-host on the Glorious rugby podcast um he’s been a huge help with our website and also got to give a shout out to our our

Third host as well Devon Vandy vandero he’s been our uh guinea pig in terms of what fantasy mlr supposed to bring teach people the sport get people involved in rugby and North America and uh Vandy has has grown a lot uh from not knowing the

Sport at all to now being what we would say a pretty good expert all right on that note I want to thank Mr ryane the commissioner of the fantasy Ruckers league and Mr John Fitzpatrick of rugby morning don’t go away we’ll be right back with Sam Harris the head coach of

The Chicago hounds this I wouldn’t like to be at the bottom of that if you’re in New York City and want to watch some great rugby have some great food and some great times go to the world’s best rugby of the pig and whistle on West 36th Street this is the rugby odds where an unlikely punded panel of a word Smith a WWE legend a rugby star and a super model scour the globe seeking Best Bets and bad behavior are you not entertained [Applause] Hey us fans you can tune into every match live on Flo rugby how do we know that because we’re on there all all the time and we are back with Sam Harris the head coach of the Chicago hounds Sam welcome back to mlr weekly thanks man always a pleasure and

An honor to be on this show you have the best center in the league playing fly have in Billy Meeks right I know that you were an athlete that could play multiple positions in a rugby match rugby league Union whatever I I think just just on this one know we spoke to

Um Billy just the the the way that I saw his game going you know uh getting a little bit older in the tooth as well um plus just his communication and his and his calmness Under Pressure uh I think it landed to him moving to 10 I think

He’s got a good good passing game kicking game uh is adequate but we don’t really need it with our game plan as much you know he’s four games into his transition and and I think he’s doing a really good job I think Billy ATT 10’s a

A great uh addition for us you know getting one of the best players in the league getting him more touches than than not so so that was the reason for my decision my ambition to to keep him there and to give him an actual crack at it rather than you know practice at

Preseason for five weeks and then um and then only give him two goes at it so yeah you got your home opener if I’m not mistaken coming up and it’s against the the reigning Champs so it doesn’t get any easier for you guys do you feel any pressure with with this

Match yeah we got we got the reigning Champs at the stadium where they won the championship last year so it’s it’s obviously a place of um Good Vibes for them and and they’ll be looking to come home come back to this stadium and as you said we’ve played three away games

To start the season every game has been another team’s home opener and uh season opener and we’re really looking forward to coming back to our fans and putting a really good performance as you said it’s a tough assignment against a really good New England team um but they’re not unbeatable you know

And and I think we’re slowly building towards um you know the game plan that we want to play in our DNA and and then on top of that you know I think speaking to the your question about pressure you know we’re we’re 11 one1 at the moment

And yeah yeah there is pressure but that’s that’s the kind of pressure that that I Revel in and so does this team and and we’re really looking forward to the challenge I I I I can’t imagine what your what your head was where where you’re where you’re going in your head

During the last moments of the Miami match that had to be oh my God I’m I’m sitting watching the game and I’m like I I can’t take this that had that had to be tough and you were sitting on your couch with a roof over your head I was

Like a I was drenched in rain and and hoping that I didn’t get hit by lightning but um fair play fair play to Miami they came out and really gave it to us and they’ve done so to every team and and they a really good team had a

Really good forward pack very very confrontational and um and they bring it yeah in the dying stages we were I thought we should have had the game wrapped up by then I think if a couple of referee decisions went our away we probably would have um but we didn’t and

We and we came away with a win with a lot of adversity in terms of lots of things didn’t go our away that day and um yeah with the with the kickoff being delayed and we had a yeah there was a lot of things but we we came away with a

Win four points and pretty happy with the effort so you know we’ve got some geography to cover in the United States a lot of folks overseas don’t get the travel aspect of this and the length of the season is 16 matches in the regular season do you weigh in attrition into

Going into the lineup or do you have to treat every single game as though you have to we have to put our best side out for this one or do you what’s your philosophy on that great question I think um we probably underestimated going from Miami then to Utah Salt Lake

City the the next week and we tried to lighten the load of of the week but I I just don’t think we got it right and we came out a bit flat against Utah probably a game we should have win but didn’t and uh and you know that kind of

Put us in a position where then we go to DC who just beat New England so we got to put our best team against them then we’re coming up against New England the former Champs and then we got Seattle straight after that so and then we got

Noah who’s who’s looking like a really good team as well um Pro probably one of the formed teams of the comp so far with a very very strong scrum so I think all things considered we need to uh yeah we need to go into all of those games uh

With our best team and put our best foot forward and then and then after that we could maybe come up for air and and and go into the our bye in week nine um freshening up but but yeah for the next four weeks we have to we have to put our

Best foot forward and you mentioned DC I think you have to kind of be relieved almost to come out of there with the tie and the point cuz you had the late B with with Patty Ryan so you know that that you’re coming coming out on the

Road with a with a tie that’s that’s not so bad yeah nobody wants to have a draw and it never feels as good as it should really but um but coming out that DC team is a serious team they’ve got a a very good coach very good football pack

They definitely know who they want to do who they want to be and what they’re trying to achieve and you coming away from three games with with six points on the table is not a bad result well now you’re one one and one you know again we

Mentioned that earlier but that’s a good start to the season specifically for a team that’s starting three games on the road you’re coming home now what’s the style of play would you say if you have one that Chicago fans can look forward to yeah like I think we want to embody

What Chicago people like to see and I think that’s a that’s a toughy in your face rugby team and and I think we”ve got more cattle to do that with than we had last year and I think we’ve got we’ve got a really good forward pack um we’ve

Got very good set piece we haven’t got rewarded for that set piece in the first three games like like we probably should have and I thought we would have um but I think once we start to establish uh our dominance in the forward pack then things will open up for the backs and

And we do have speed to burn on the edges so um yeah I think a tough gritty team that that loves to get amongst it up front and and you’ll come away from SeatGeek Stadium your wounds cuz you and and you probably don’t want to come back here next year what are your

Expectations at the very least I want to put us in a position to be there in the finals and then you know then Anything Can Happen obviously uh attrition like injuries play a role but sort of referee decisions all that stuff but as long as as long as we’ve um given ourselves a

Chance to to compete at the final stage then I’ll be I’ll be happy with that all right Sam Harris welcome to Spring and thank you for coming on thanks Matt always a pleasure mate and now for our Major League rugby play of the week brought to you by the rugby

Network in Quincy Massachusetts the free jaacks tarnished the Gold’s record but New Orleans salvaged a key losing bonus point with as difficult a conversion you can make by Reese B after an exciting 80m try touch down by Jordan Jackson H looking for that he’s got it the anthem

Getting their fourth try to win their first ever point on the mlr standings board history means something here The saber cats clawing their way to a try on the final play and snatching the five bonus Point win keeping them perfect at 3 and0 in the ultra competitive West and

The major league rugby play of the week brought to you by the rugby network is re Bas conversion up in Quincy giving Nola the losing bonus point in what will be a very tight Eastern Conference now it’s time for our trro the rugby odds mlr pick of the week with WWE Hall of

Famer returned rugby Advocate John Bradshaw lafield and King gift a Bao the adventor of words I think Seattle at home uh is almost unbeatable and so I’m going to take Seattle over those good old boys from Texas I got to take a look at that Dallas versus gold game of

Course I’m going to pick the gold shocker shocker shocker gold putting their stake down inside Dallas on that note we are out of time I want to thank John Fitzpatrick of rugby morning Sam Harris of the Chicago hounds Ryan y of the fantasy Ruckers and thank

You for tuning in please check out our other shows including the critically acclaimed the rugby odds the College rugby wrap-up hit that subscribe button on YouTube sign up for our Weekly Newsletter tell a friend about us and please join our American Red Cross Blood Donor team