‘Lifelong dream’ comes true for border crosser Dunstone

If Saskatchewan Roughriders legend Darian Durant can end up playing football in Winnipeg, surely some attempt can be made at balancing the scales.

So meet Winnipeg-born Matt Dunstone, who is curling for Team Saskatchewan at the 2018 Brier. The foursome is skipped by Steve Laycock of Saskatoon.

Considering the fierce football rivalry between Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Dunstone has been razzed by some of his friends about the border crossing.

“I probably get more of a hard time here when I say that I’m a Bomber fan as opposed to the opposite,” Dunstone said with a smile. “It’s not really a surprise.”

Nor is it novel. Manitoba’s third, Braeden Moskowy, resides in Regina. The transplanted thirds met in Sunday morning ’s draw at the Canadian men’s curling championship, with Manitoba winning 7-5 in an extra end despite a razor-sharp performance by Dunstone.

In advance of the matchup, Dunstone quipped that “maybe I’ll have to talk to Moskowy about trading jerseys.”

All things considered, the 22-year-old Dunstone wouldn’t trade places with anyone.

“It has been a lifelong dream to play in the Brier,” he said. “At the end of the day, the heart’s still purple, so I’ll take it any which way I can. This province has welcomed me with open arms, so I feel right at home here.”

Dunstone joined his current squad a year ago, after Colton Flasch formed his own team and thereby ended a lengthy and mutually prosperous association with the Laycock foursome.

“Stevie just sent me a message, kind of explaining the situation to me with Colton leaving the team,” Dunstone recalled. “They had an inside path to the (Olympic) trials so it was kind of a no-brainer to join this well-established team, because they’ve been one of the top teams in the world.”

Initially, Dunstone was the second on a team that also included Laycock (skip), Kirk Muyres (third) and Dallan Muyres (lead).

Late in the fall, however, Laycock shook up the team. He moved to third, while continuing to call the games, and Kirk Muyres shifted to second. Dallan Muyres, Kirk’s brother, remained at lead.

“Obviously, I was surprised by it,” Dunstone said. “It’s not something I expected with the lineup we had initially, but we were just trying to find ways to bring out the best in everybody. That’s what Steve thought and we all bought into that.

“There were a lot of moving parts on this team with Colton leaving after being together for four or five years. We were just trying to find our way, and the last few months we felt like we found it.”

That was evident on Feb. 4, when Laycock edged Flasch, coincidentally enough, 9-7 in the final of the provincial Tankard in Estevan.

“Coolest moment of my curling career, without a doubt,” Dunstone said. “It was a total dream come true.

“As soon as we win that game, you just have flashbacks of being a five- or six-year-old on the kitchen floor, just throwing ice packs or whatever as curling stones and dreaming of one day throwing an actual stone in the Brier.

“It’s here. I’m more than happy to be here, obviously. At the same time, we have a job to do. I want to enjoy it as much as I can, but we’ve got to get some wins.”

“We,” of course, being Saskatchewan — for the time being, anyway.