Charles Elton to Return Saturday Against Anthem to Win-Starved Seawolves

The Seattle Seawolves battle Seattle Rugby Club in a pre-season match on February 7, 2025. The Seawolves are looking for a return to form on Saturday after starting the season 1-4-0. Credit: Punkus Arnett/Seattle Seawolves

After almost 11 months, one of the Seattle Seawolves’ best players is back in action. Charles Elton, a 6-3, 234-pound Kiwi flanker, led MLR in tackles in 2023 with 272 in 17 games, all starts. However, on May 3, 2024, against Anthem RC – his ninth game of 2024 – Elton suffered a season-ending injury. 

This Saturday at Starfire, Elton is returning to face Anthem RC once more. Anthem is one of MLR’s newest sides, coming into existence in 2024. Unlike all other MLR teams, Anthem is a partnership between MLR, USA Rugby, and World Rugby that has the express goal of developing players for the USA Men’s Eagles – an international side that historically has not made much of a splash. But with MLR’s goal of bringing rugby to America and the Eagles’ goal of seriously competing in the 2027 and 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cups, the partnership was born, playing in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In MLR play, however, Anthem have not yet performed well. The team went 0-16 in 2024, with the closest match being a 33-29 loss to RFC Los Angeles on May 18, 2024. In 2025, Anthem is still winless, but improved, with their last three games being close losses – 32-31 against the Miami Sharks on February 28, 26-22 to Old Glory on March 8, and 46-45 to the Houston SaberCats on March 22. 

For the Seawolves, who uncharacteristically sit in the basement of the Western Conference with a 1-4-0 record and 10 table points, Saturday’s match against Anthem is an unequivocal must-win. The return of Elton will be a boon, as will the return of Dan Kriel – who has not seen any minutes since the opening 40-26 loss to the San Diego Legion – to inside center. Kriel, who has been with Seattle since 2022, has had two 1,000-meter seasons in 2022 and 2023 and has scored 11 tries in 49 games.

In addition to Kriel, much of the backfield will look like it did in Round 1 of the 2025 season, with JP Smith at scrumhalf, Rodney Iona at flyhalf, Mika Kruse getting the start at outside center, and Divan Rossouw as the fullback. However, unlike the opening match, Seattle will sport two smaller, faster wings – Ina Futi and Toni Pulu.

Moving to the forward pack, Elton’s counterpart at flanker will be Olajuwon Noa, while the eightman will be Riekert Hattingh. Isaiah Lotawa and Rhyno Herbst will be the pair of locks, while the front row will consist of Cam Orr – who has the team lead at 3 tries in 2025 – at loosehead prop, Kerron van Vurren at hooker, and Juan Pablo Zeiss at tighthead prop. The starting forward pack for this game weighs 2,032 pounds (922 kilograms).

The available subs for Saturday’s match will be hooker Dewald Kotze (#16), props Njabulo Gumede (#17) and Mason Pedersen (#18), lock CC Mahoni (#19), flanker Devin Short (#20), scrumhalf Brock Gallagher (#21), flyhalf Eddie Fouché (#22), and wing Malacchi Esdale (#23).  

Despite Anthem’s struggles, they have several standout players of their own. Two of the rare non-American Anthem players – Namibian flyhalf Cliven Loubser and tighthead prop Joe Apikotoa – both have caps with their respective national teams, though neither will be available for Saturday’s game. 

As far as the US-eligible players go, wing Jason Tidwell had something of a breakout season with the Dallas Jackals in 2024, playing in 16 games (seven starts), scoring three tries, and making 604 meters and 50 tackles. Fullback Mitch Wilson spent five seasons on the New England Free Jacks before joining Anthem for 2025. Over 60 games and 52 starts in his MLR career, Wilson has 17 tries, 11 conversions, and three penalties for 116 points, as well as 3,106 meters and 339 tackles. Center Junior Gafa was the 2024 MLR Rookie of the Year, with four tries, 1,062 meters made, and 127 tackles in 13 games, all starts. In five games this season, he already has two tries, 234 meters gained, and 40 tackles. 

Perhaps Anthem’s best American player is wing Conner Mooneyham, an integral Seawolf during the 2023 and 2024 seasons who started all four Eagles matches of the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup – where Mooneyham scored two tries in a 28-15 win against Canada. However, Mooneyham will not be in the available Anthem roster on Saturday.

Tidwell, Gafa, and Wilson will all three be on the Anthem starting XV on Saturday – Tidwell at left wing, Gafa at inside center, and Wilson as the fullback. At outside center will be Erich Storti, the first overall pick of the 2024 draft out of St. Mary’s College who has scored 2 tries, gained 174 meters, and made 35 tackles in four games (all starts) in 2025. Tidwell’s counterpart at right wing will be Toby Fricker, a loan from the Free Jacks who has an Eagles cap as well as 12 appearances and four tries with the Bristol Bears of the English Premiership. Anthem’s scrumhalf will be Karl Keane, a former Seawolf backup scrumhalf who played in nine games in 2023 before becoming Anthem’s starting nine in 2025. Rounding out the backs is flyhalf Cameron Gerlach, who is seeing his first Anthem start after being traded from RFCLA on March 7, 2025.

Moving to the forwards, the Anthem back row pairs flankers Albert O’Shannessy – a US-eligible New Zealander selected out of college by the New York Ironworkers in 2023 but who switched to Anthem after the Ironworkers folded – and Makeen Alikhan, who saw playing time with the Harlequins of the English Premiership before being loaned to the Jackals in 2024 (making 308 meters, 148 tackles, and three tries in 13 games and 10 starts) and joining Anthem after the dissolution of the Dallas side. The eightman will be Michael Ma’afu, in his second season with Anthem. The locks will be rookie Alejandro Martinez-Tapia and third-year MLR player and capped eagle Sam Golla. At loosehead prop is Dan Hanson, who played at University of Louisville before joining Anthem in 2024. His tighthead companion is Alex Maughan, who has been in MLR since 2019, playing for the NOLA Gold and Atlanta/RFCLA before joining Anthem for 2025. The hooker will be Connor Robinson, who played two seasons with the Jackals before joining Anthem for the 2024 season. Anthem’s forward pack weighs 1,952 pounds (885 kilograms). 

Anthem’s available subs will be hooker Ethan Howard (#16), props Jake Turnbull (#17) and Stephan Bernal-Wendt (#18), lock Rhys Mitchell (#19), back row man Colin Turner (#20), scrumhalf Ishma-eel Safodien (#21), and centers Mateo Gadsen (#22) and Ernest Freeman (#23).  

The Seawolves come into the match with several advantages. The most obvious is that Seattle has a track record of success and many more proven players than Anthem. Another advantage for the home team is the forward pack – not only does Seattle’s pack clock in at 70 pounds heavier than Anthem’s, but the Seawolves are also one of the best teams on the scrum, only losing one home scrum all season. Seattle also has a strong maul, which it should be able to utilize well against Anthem due to the aforementioned size advantage.

However, Seattle will have to utilize these advantages well. While some of the early-season cohesive struggles appear to be on the mend, the Seawolves have struggled to punch the ball in at the try line – losing points and games to breakdowns in play in front of the posts. Additionally, Seattle has had issues with allowing clean breaks to their opponents. Although they are playing a winless opponent on Saturday, the Seawolves cannot afford to break down on these issues, as Anthem is not as weak as their record shows and Seattle is in a rut where lucky breaks are few and far between.

Saturday’s match will start at 6:00 PM Pacific Time at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington. Doors open at 4:30 PM Pacific. For American viewers, the match will be available for viewing on ESPN+, Fox 13, and Fox 13+, while it will be available internationally on The Rugby Network outside of the USA and South Africa.