RIDERS' ROOKIES HIT TRAINING CAMP AS POSSIBLE LABOUR STRIFE LOOMS
Newcomers are aware of ongoing dispute, can do little about it as they fight for jobs
The Saskatchewan Roughriders rolled into Saskatoon exactly 50 years ago for training camp — the first held in this city — with a labour dispute percolating in the background, and talk of a player walkout.
So 1972, meet 2022, because the Roughriders are here again, and things are a little rough on the labour front.
Back then, key sticking points were the measly $3-a-day training camp per diems, and the fact that players didn't get paid for pre-season games.
Things are better on those fronts, but there's always something to bicker about, and the possibility of a camp delay is generating buzz. But over at Griffiths Stadium on the University of Saskatchewan campus, players are doing pretty much what they did in 1972: Throwing, catching, dropping, running, blocking.
“I don't know what's going on in those (negotiating) rooms, and neither do any of you, or anybody else,” Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson told reporters after rookie camp kicked off. “We let the people that are in those rooms figure it out, and I think they'll get it figured out. I'm quite optimistic that we'll have everybody here when they're supposed to be here.”
Rookie camp runs the rest of this week, and main camp starts at Griffiths on Sunday. It remains to be seen if players report for that main camp. Picket lines may, or may not, be more in vogue than offensive lines.
But in the meantime, the rookies are here, trying to grab some eyes before a main camp they have to assume will happen. They're aware of the dispute, but can do nothing about it. They're more comfortable talking football, anyway.
“Everything's more intense, so much more information at meetings,” said offensive lineman Diego Alatorre Montoya, a UBC product who was chosen by Saskatchewan in the third round of this month's CFL draft. “Everything's at the next level — practices, meetings, the level of competition. But I love it, and I'm ready to get to work.”
Sixty-three players are at rookie camp, including seven of Saskatchewan's eight 2022 draft picks. First-rounder Samuel Emilus, a receiver, is headed to rookie camp with the NFLS Arizona Cardinals.
The rest of the camp roster is filled out by the usual assortment of young Canadians, Americans from schools both big and small, as well as a handful of global draft selections.
Dickenson said his needs are simple.
“The main thing is, we want to see effort,” he said. “Guys are going to make mistakes, because it's rookie camp. We want to see, first of all, can they move well enough? Do they look athletic enough to compete at this level? And the second thing is, we want guys who are excited to be out here, bouncing around with good energy. And I thought we did that today.
“At the professional level,” he added, “you've usually got your ducks in a row, and if you don't you usually weed yourself out. I challenge the coaches and myself every year to withhold judgment and opinion on guys until about Day 3 or Day 4, because there's a lot of things being thrown at them, and some of them will pick it up quicker than others. But the main thing is we want effort, and we want guys that are hustling around, being where they're supposed to be, on time.”
That seemed more than reasonable on a sunny day at Griffiths, the first morning of rookie camp, footballs flying, careers moving toward a breakout or a collapse, and labour talks happening far, far away, in what seemed like a different dimension.