Jamie Nye: Riders lack discipline and, so far, consequences

You can blame the officials all you want for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Banjo Bowl, but all the blame goes directly to the guys in green.

Their discipline has been non-existent all season. They got away with it in the first three games against the B.C. Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who were clearly still trying to figure it out, and against the Ottawa Redblacks, who are the league’s bottom feeder.

But when the Riders meet a quality and disciplined opponent like Winnipeg, little mistakes become big problems. They had big plays eliminated because of an offside or illegal block. Then two players got ejected for throwing punches when the team was already down starters on defence.

A big message needs to be sent and all that head coach Craig Dickenson has at his disposal is playing time, roster spots and game cheques. We saw Makana Henry taken off the field after his third offside penalty of the game. That’s a start.

After five weeks of the same issue, there needs to be significant consequences for repeat offenders because the teams around them are getting better while the Riders have fallen back to the pack.