GAME DAY: Riders to play in first pre-season tilt since 2019, host Blue Bombers

It’s an important game for players looking to stick around with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders are hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Tuesday in their first pre-season game of the year. The game was originally supposed to be held on May 23 but the player strike led to its postponement.

“We’ve got to make 10 cuts after the game so it’s going to be a big game for most of those guys,” head coach Craig Dickenson said following Monday’s walkthrough at Mosaic Stadium.

It’s also the first time the Riders have played in a pre-season game since 2019; the 2020 season was cancelled and there were no pre-season games in the shortened 2021 season.

“It’s really nice because you can see the young guys on your team. You get an idea of who you’ve got before you have to make cuts. I think having pre-season is super important and I’m glad we’re doing it,” Dickenson said.

One of the jobs up for grabs is the role of backup quarterback behind Cody Fajardo with Mason Fine, Jake Dolegala, and Troy Williams set to play in Tuesday’s game. Fajardo, and many of the team’s predicted starters, will be given the day off.

“I think it’s wide open. Mason has experience so he has a little better grasp of the offence. Hopefully, they each get a quarter and a half or so, however it works out, and get a chance to really move the field with the team and show us what he can do,” Dickenson said.

Roughrider quarterback Mason Fine (Britton Gray/980 CJME)

Fine said it’s important to have pre-season games for guys competing for jobs.

“This will be a great show of what you learned going into camp. At the end of the day you can practise well all you want but if you can’t go out there and perform in a game, it doesn’t really matter,” Fine said.

“I’m willing to make the most of (the opportunity) and at the end of the day, you can’t put too much pressure on it. You just go out there and sling the ball and what you’ve worked on over the years.

“I’m going to go out there and stick to my play style and just go out there and have fun.”

Fine was with the Riders in 2021 and appeared briefly in the final regular-season game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, completing five of nine pass attempts for 64 yards.

Williams spent the 2019 season with the Elks, mostly on the practice roster. He appeared in two games for Edmonton that year, completing one of three passes for 15 yards with an interception and rushing for 26 yards. He was released last August and signed with the Riders in May.

Dolegala is in his first CFL camp after bouncing around the NFL from 2019 to ’21.

Another position of interest will be running back, with all five possible starting candidates — Jamal Morrow, Kienan LaFrance, Shaq Cooper, Frankie Hickson and Troymaine Pope — dressing for the showdown. The job was left wide open with the departure of William Powell, who signed with the Ottawa Redblacks.

The Riders have also been counting down to this game during camp as it’s the first time they will get to hit someone other than their teammates.

“It’s going to be great. It gives an opportunity to show what we learned here in camp, get our feet wet, and get ready for the regular season,” linebacker Nigel Harris said.

Harris will try to impress the coaches enough to earn some playing time in a talent-filled linebacker room that also features Darnell Sankey, Derrick Moncrief, Micah Teitz and Larry Dean. Teitz is expected to begin the season on the injured list due to a lingering groin/hip issue.

“Those are guys I’m glad I can call teammates. They are going to be around me and know that we play for each other and that’s going to create (wins) as the season goes on,” Harris said.

And while a win in front of the home crowd at Mosaic Stadium would be a nice bonus, that’s not something Dickenson is worried about this week.

“I place a lot of value on pre-season but not in the score. I think pre-season is to evaluate and get guys a taste of what a real game is like but I don’t place a lot of emphasis on the score,” Dickenson said.

“I’ve been on teams that have been really good in pre-season and then regular season came and then they weren’t very good and then I’ve been on teams that played poorly in the pre-season and then in the regular season played better.”

Winnipeg lost its pre-season opener 30-20 to Edmonton on Friday.

Kickoff for Tuesday’s game is set for 6:30 p.m.