MLR 2026 – New England Free Jacks vs Chicago Hounds

It’s all on the line for New England on Sunday afternoon. Old Glory’s win over Anthem on Saturday means that the Free Jacks will have to knock over the unbeaten Hounds to earn a Semi Final berth, and they’ll have to secure the four-try bonus as well. The three-time defending champions will look to the 1st Regiment to give them one last boost at Fort Quincy in 2026.

FORM GUIDE

5th, 3-6-0, Lost 1
05/31 – Seawolves 36 vs 28 Free Jacks (Tukwila)
05/23 – Anthem 7 vs 20 Free Jacks (Charlotte)
05/17 – Old Glory 24 vs 23 Free Jacks (Fairfax)
05/09 – Free Jacks 26 vs 21 Legion (Quincy)
05/03 – Free Jacks 11 vs 27 Seawolves (Quincy)
04/26 – Free Jacks 38 vs 26 Anthem (Quincy)
04/19 – Hounds 50 vs 26 Free Jacks (Nashville)
04/11 – Free Jacks 19 vs 21 Old Glory (Quincy)
04/04 – Legion 43 vs 5 Free Jacks (San Diego)

1st, 9-0-0, Won 9
05/30 – Old Glory 32 vs 33 Hounds (Fairfax)
05/24 – Hounds 57 vs 17 Seawolves (Bridgeview)
05/16 – Legion 26 vs 36 Hounds (Moraga)
05/10 – Hounds 61 vs 26 Anthem (Bridgeview)
05/03 – Hounds 49 vs 31 Old Glory (Bridgeview)
04/24 – Seawolves 22 vs 59 Hounds (Tukwila)
04/19 – Hounds 50 vs 26 Free Jacks (Nashville)
04/12 – Hounds 48 vs 24 Legion (Bridgeview)
04/04 – Anthem 19 vs 33 Hounds (Charlotte)

STARTING LINEUP CHANGES

	IN	OUT
2	Sione Tupou	Kaleb Geiger
4	Piers von Dadelszen	Bailey Wilson
11	Paula Balekana	Nathan Salmon

	IN	OUT
2	Tomás Bekerman	Theo Fourie
3	Wilton Rebolo	Charlie Abel
4	Brandon Harvey	Nathan Den Hoedt
5	Tomas Casares	Emmanuel Albert
8	Jake Kinneeveauk	Lucas Rumball
9	Michael Baska	Ruben de Haas
11	Jason Tidwell	Peyton Wall
13	Tiaan Loots	Tavite Lopeti
15	Brock Webster	Chris Hilsenbeck

NOTES

Injured / unavailable – (Free Jacks) Reuben Palmer, Ollie Aylmer, Wayne van der Bank; (Hounds) Malcolm May, Matthew Oworu, Mark O’Keeffe
Jacob Norris returns to the side of the scrum for New England after a failed experiment at lock against the Seawolves… Ryan Martin has recalled Piers von Dadelszen to bolster the set piece
MLR’s 2025 Player of the Year Paula Balekana makes his first appearance of 2026 after rejoining the club mid-season… he’ll line up on the left wing, with Killian Coghlan switching to the right
Collegiate All-American hooker Adam Chadwick is set to make his pro debut as a replacement… he’s one of six forwards on the bench
Chris Latham has made sweeping changes to his Hounds lineup after last week’s near-miss against Old Glory… notably it’s a first start of the season for hooker Tomás Bekerman
while many leading Chicago players are not starting, it’s a stacked bench should Latham need to call in the cavalry… captain Lucas Rumball and halfbacks Ruben de Haas and Chris Hilseneck are on call
should the Free Jacks pull off a dramatic win as needed, the two sides would rematch in Chicago for MLR’s first ever Monday-night playoff game on June 15th

PREDICTION

The rebuild hasn’t gone swimmingly for the Free Jacks, but they will have good weather and a strong crowd behind him on Sunday. After a poor start to the season the pattern has been one win followed by a loss. The Hounds were far superior at Nashville in April, but their priority is now the postseason. While the odds favor the league’s form team, an inspired performance from the home side can’t be ruled out. Chicago are favorites on the road in Quincy.

TEAMS

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Tevita Sole, 2 Sione Tupou, 3 Maliu Niuafe, 4 Piers von Dadelszen, 5 Tayne Hemopo, 6 Jacob Norris, 7 Joe Johnston (capt.), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Oscar Lennon, 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Kienan Higgins, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Killian Coghlan, 15 Mitch Wilson

Replacements: 16 Adam Chadwick, 17 Kyle Ciquera, 18 Nate Sylvia, 19 Braemar Murray, 20 Alex Mackenzie, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Cameron Gerlach, 23 Bailey Wilson

CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti, 2 Tomás Bekerman, 3 Wilton Rebolo, 4 Brandon Harvey, 5 Tomás Casares, 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Maclean Jones (capt.), 8 Jake Kinneeveauk, 9 Michael Baska, 10 Reece Botha, 11 Jason Tidwell, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Tiaan Loots, 14 Noah Brown, 15 Brock Webster

Replacements: 16 Theo Fourie, 17 Luke White, 18 Charlie Abel, 19 Emmanuel Albert, 20 Lucas Rumball, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Chris Hilsenbeck, 23 Peyton Wall

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, June 7
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 14:00 local (11:00 Pacific, 13:00 Central)
Weather Forecast: partly cloudy, 82°F (28°C), wind NW 13-20 mph (21-32 km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports (International), NBC Sports Boston (Local), Fox Chicago Plus (Local)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Cam Russell (Canada)
TMO: n/a

HISTORY

HEAD-TO-HEAD (8) – Free Jacks 5, Hounds 3
2026-04-19 – Chicago Hounds 50, New England Free Jacks 26 (Geodis Park)
2025-06-21 – New England Free Jacks 21, Chicago Hounds 20 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2025-05-10 – New England Free Jacks 27, Chicago Hounds 17 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2025-03-02 – Chicago Hounds 36, New England Free Jacks 7 (SeatGeek Stadium)
2024-07-27 – New England Free Jacks 23, Chicago Hounds 17 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2024-05-05 – New England Free Jacks 20, Chicago Hounds 26 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
2024-03-24 – Chicago Hounds 17, New England Free Jacks 22 (SeatGeek Stadium)
2023-04-08 – New England Free Jacks 31, Chicago Hounds 19 (Veterans Memorial Stadium)