Accusations of spying ‘absurd’
HAMILTON Kent Austin dismissed allegations from Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach/GM Chris Jones that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats used insider information prior to their meeting earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Jones said the Riders will hold closed practices for the remainder of the season after accusing the Ticats of spying prior to their regular-season matchup. Saskatchewan beat Hamilton 3720 on July 8 at Mosaic Stadium.
“Oh, Chris. Yeah, good old Chris,” Austin, Hamilton’s head coach and vice-president of football operations, said Wednesday. “That’s, quite frankly, absurd.
“God forbid that we actually prepared our players as coaches. Or maybe they’re just looking for a reason to close their practice.”
CFL rules permit teams to hold one closed practice per week.
Jones was particularly concerned about a specific specialteams play on July 8 when he felt the Ticats reacted uncharacteristically quickly to Saskatchewan’s formation. But Austin said if the Ticats were spying, he would have expected a better result.
“It didn’t work out too well for us except for that play, huh?” he said. “If we were doing that, I’d need to fire the scouts.
“It’s ridiculous. I don’t police our stadium. You’re running so many things during the week and you’re going to change things come game time because of the complexion of the game that’s being played in front of you. That’s overblown a little bit, I think.”
Austin’s use of the word “absurd” was brought to Jones’ attention on Wednesday.
“You wouldn’t expect him to say anything else,” the Riders’ field boss responded. “All I’m saying is that it was a play that’s very rarely even used. Had they noticed it a little bit later (it might have been different), but they noticed it in two seconds, so somebody was watching.
“Maybe it wasn’t them. Maybe somebody that just knows them happened to give them the information. And it’s not just them. There’s other teams that come in and watch our practice, and I’ve been worried about it. This is two times now that it has been proven that somebody’s here watching our practices and letting guys know what we’re doing, so we’re going to shut down practice.”
Roughriders practices were open Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday’s practice at Mosaic Stadium — the last full workout before Saturday’s road game against Calgary — is to be closed.