HAPPY RETURNS
Familiar faces are glad to be back in Rush lineup
Ryan Dilks and Jeff Cornwall are pleased to reintroduce themselves to the Saskatchewan Rush this season.
With a number of new faces coming on board, Dilks and Cornwall found themselves shaking a lot of hands and carrying on a lot of introductions to their new Rush teammates from last season and to start this season.
Dilks and Cornwall both missed all of last season while pursuing new firefighting jobs. They’re back to bolster the back end for the Rush squad, which resumes National Lacrosse League action Saturday night in Long Island, N.Y., against the expansion New York Riptide.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, even with lacrosse, as the lacrosse stick grows even longer.
“Painful is the word that comes to mind,” says Dilks, who is back for a fourth year in Saskatoon and eighth season, overall, with the Rush franchise.
“It was tough. It was the first time in about 20 years since I haven’t played lacrosse for an extended period of time, so it was hard to sit back and watch, especially when the team was struggling. I felt helpless.
“Luckily, I’m able to come back. I’m still somewhat young, so it’s good to be back.”
Cornwall is equally relieved and just as reacquainted.
“I’ve shaken a few hands. I’ve learned that from my (firefighting job). We shake a lot of hands there,” Cornwall, now a firefighter in Burnaby, says with a laugh. “It’s important to get that out of the way first and make sure you know everyone and go from there.
“A year isn’t that long of a time, but coming back it felt like a long time. A lot changed in the organization. A lot of new faces I’ve got to learn and whatnot. It’s exciting to be back in the lineup playing with new faces and old, getting the legs going a little bit. It’s pretty fulfilling.”
Now that they’ve finished their probation period with their respective fire departments, Dilks and Cornwall will juggle their jobs with their NLL careers.
“It’s a little bit of juggling,” admits Cornwall. “It’s shift work, so we’re four on and four off. So, depending on the week, sometimes I don’t need to trade any shifts and sometimes I need to trade a lot of shifts.”
Cornwall, who joins his brother Travis on the Rush, says it was “strange” not playing last season.
“I played every year,” he says. “I played at least once a season since I was three years old, so it was the first time where I kind of had a break. My body thoroughly enjoyed it. All my little nicks and stuff are healed up, so that’s awesome. But I missed it dearly. Probably by week two. Week one, I was, ‘It’s fine, it’s fine.’ By week two, they started the group chat. It got fired up and the guys were on there. I was like, ‘Wow, I used to be right in there with them.’”
Dilks was no different. Watching from the outside was not as much fun.
“You know what? As soon as training camp started and it’s crazy, the group chat starts picking up and guys start talking,” explains Dilks. “I’m a huge group chat guy and I’m usually pretty involved, but it was tough to kind of be silent and let the boys have their year.
“This was the first year that expansion really hit me. Last time I played, there were only nine teams. Coming in now, there are a lot of new faces but, luckily for us, they ’re really good players. They fit right into our dressing room and some of these guys look like they haven’t even skipped a beat.”
At 28, Cornwall is also into his fourth season with the Saskatchewan Rush and eighth overall with the franchise if you include his time spent with the Edmonton Rush. The six-foot-three, 220-pound Cornwall was selected in the second round, 15th overall, in the 2011 NLL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Bandits.
Cornwall is best known for scoring the NLL championship winning goal against the Buffalo Bandits in 2016.
“The team that we have right now, especially in (the New England game), we showed how brilliant we can play (at times),” says Cornwall, whose Rush dropped its season home-opener 12-8 to the New England Black Wolves prior to the Christmas break.
“We had a very strong first quarter. The second half was unbelievable on the defensive end. We had that little lapse in the middle where they went on a pretty big run. Credit to them. They’re a very well coached team and a very talented team. Without that lapse, the game could have been a lot different. It’s more about getting used to playing with each other and getting consistency down pat and moving forward as a unit from there.”
The 29-year-old Dilks is into his ninth NLL season after spending his rookie season with the Boston
Blazers. The six-foot-one, 195-pound Dilks was the NLL’S defensive player of the year and NLL all-pro first-team all-star in 2016.
Dilks entered the NLL Entry Draft a year early and wasn’t picked until the fifth round, 50th overall in 2010.
“(The home-opener) was definitely not what we were looking for,” admits Dilks. “It’s funny: One quarter can just kill you in this game. And that’s what happened in the second. We had some mental lapses and their goalie was making some saves and it seemed like everything they did was going into the back of the net. I think we’ve got to learn from it. We have some young guys who are definitely going to learn from this and even some veteran guys are going to learn from this. Luckily, it’s early and we have a lot of games left.”
Rush head coach and general manager Derek Keenan says Dilks and Cornwall have made an immediate impact upon their return.
“I think you can see it already,” Keenan says. “They’re difference-makers there. They disrupt things for the offence of the other team and they’re real good in transition. They bring some leadership qualities, so it’s real good to have those guys back. And, again, we’ve got to score more than eight or nine (goals per game).”
Adds veteran Rush defender Kyle Rubisch: “It’s great. They’re obviously great players. Having them back this year is going to give us a boost. Both of them bring things to the game that are going to benefit us all season, so to have them back there as solid anchors of our defence is going to be huge for our team.”