ROB VANSTONE: Enjoyable, household and soccer featured in 2025 Riders’ remaining walk-through

WINNIPEG — The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ remaining on-field session earlier than the 112^th Grey Cup Game included some tremendous bowls.

During a Saturday walk-through, some gamers used footballs as bowling balls with the intent of getting as shut as doable to a focused yard line at Princess Auto Stadium — the place the Roughriders are to face the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday’s CFL championship recreation.

“At these Grey Cup walk-throughs, boy, there’s a lot of cameras around and a lot of things going on,” Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace noticed. “I believe it’s actually cool for us to get on the market as a staff and have some enjoyable with that.

“Everything is so dialed and mental-focused throughout the week. It’s the end of the year, man. There’s not too many moments left for this group, so you want to take all that stuff in — having the guys out there with their kids. It was just a cool experience, but we’ve still got work to do when we get back to the hotel.”

The family-focused nature of Saturday’s walk-through was such that Tom and Suzanne Harris — Trevor’s mother and father — proudly watched from the sideline.

“Let’s have some fun,” quarterback Trevor Harris advised the media afterwards. “Let’s play soccer — not that it’s all play and all enjoyable and video games.

“We take it very severely, however generally you form of cross that line and take it too severely and never perceive that we do ‘play’ this recreation.

“It’s the identical recreation that we performed after we have been 9 years previous, 10 years previous, and fell in love with sooner or later.

“We get to exit and do that. Shawn Bane Jr. says on a regular basis, ‘We get to. You don’t bought to.’ It’s a continuing reminder that it is a privilege and an honour to have the ability to play on this stage on this lovely, superb nation.

“It’s awesome, man. We get to.”

Bane Jr., a third-year Roughriders receiver, moonlighted as a quarterback towards the tip of the staff’s remaining tune-up for Sunday.

A superbly thrown Bane Jr. cross discovered Jordan Greenly (Director, Football Operations) for a landing regardless of the skilled protection offered by Gordon Gilroy (Equipment Manager).

“Coach told me, ‘We need you to go one-on-one with Gordie,’ ” Greenly mentioned in a much-sought-after unique interview with Riderville.com.

“We have competed plenty of occasions over time and he’s gained a whole lot of them. That’s one among my finest pals on the workers. We’ve labored collectively since I began right here in 2018.

“Gordie is a superb man, however Coach put me in to make a play so I made a play. I’m certain it gained’t be the final time we go head-to-head and I stay up for it.

“It actually reveals how cool of an inclusive surroundings we’ve constructed right here and the way tight-knit of a gaggle we’re, from the workers led by J.O. (Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day) to the gamers to the coaches.

“We really are family when you spend as much together as we all have.”

Following the walk-through, Mace was requested if Greenly’s landing was THE spotlight of the 45 minutes spent on-field.

“I mean … yes,” the Roughriders’ chief strategist mentioned. “Yes!

“Jordan versus Gordie has been a competition between these guys far before I even came to the organization. I’m going to obviously put some gas on that. It was excellent.”

There will come a time, in fact, to get right down to the enterprise of soccer. That will probably be very true within the remaining couple of minutes earlier than the staff emerges from the tunnel on Sunday.

“I think that anything we go through tomorrow during that three-, three-and-a-half-hour game is not going to be more difficult than stuff that we’ve done to get to this point,” Harris mentioned.

“We don’t have to go on the market and be Superman or do something loopy. You simply go on the market and be your self.

“At the tip of the day, it’s going to be a soccer recreation. The depth’s excessive. There’s a whole lot of media and a whole lot of eyeballs on the sport.

“It’s straightforward in occasions like this the place, if you happen to don’t know higher, you may let the second get too large for you, however we don’t have a gaggle that’s wired like that.

“We simply must be ourselves. Just go on the market and execute and have some enjoyable and don’t put any undue stress on your self.

“We play soccer and we take it very severely and we work very, very exhausting however, on the finish of the day, it’s a recreation and we get to exit and have enjoyable.

“It’s going be a lot of fun.”