In 2005 overtures by the AMNRL and rugby league supporters drew the interest of some local rugby union players, and a local union club, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds, fielded a rugby league side that joined the AMNRL on a trial basis. The Wolfhounds played an abbreviated two-game exhibition schedule to build interest in the sport in Boston, with the intention of playing a full schedule for the 2006 season. The next year the team ended its association with the Wolfhounds, adopting the name Boston Braves. They played through the 2006 season, winning only one game; they suspended operations at the end of the year.