'Confidence across the board': Riders' morale high heading into West Final

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are riding the high of a Western Semi-Final victory over the B.C. Lions on Saturday and have carried it into practice this week as they prepare to face Winnipeg.

The Riders last faced Winnipeg in the playoffs in the 2021West Final, that ended in a 21-17 Riders defeat.

However, the team is looking to last week’s home playoff win and the future, not what happened three years ago.

“It’s a confidence that we started from training camp. We talked about it this morning in team meetings. ‘Raise your hand if you thought we were going to be here at this point.’ Everybody in the room, except some of the new guys, raised their hand. Even some of the new guys,” running back A.J. Oullette said. “So, it’s just confidence across the board.”

“Since day one we talked about goals. We set goals as a team and that was to get to the Grey Cup. Obviously, it’s right in front of our eyes right now. So, I think guys are motivated to get there,” wide receiver, Samuel Emilus added.

They will have to get past what has been one of their toughest opponents, especially in recent years, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

They are a team that knows what it takes to get to the championship game as they have played in the last four Grey Cups.

“They’re a veteran group. They’ve kept their same core of guys together from 2019 until now. I mean you can name probably seven to ten guys that are still there, maybe even more. They’ve just continued to get better and set a standard and expectation, but it’s our job to go out there and overcome that,” quarterback Trevor Harris told reporters.

“Obviously they’ve been to the last four Grey Cups, so they have the winning recipe and our job is to get there and they’re in our way. So, we’re going to go in there and play our football,” Emilus said.

Emilus has never won in Winnipeg since his CFL career began back in 2022. In fact, Saskatchewan has not won in their stadium since the 2018 Banjo Bowl. They have gone 0-8, including playoffs, since.

“I mean there’s a first time for everything, but it’s going to take a lot of preparation, a lot of study, and a lot of will,” Emilus shared.

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It will be a tough crowd to quiet down as Winnipeg announced the game is completely sold out. However, the Riders are embracing the atmosphere. The team spent most of its Tuesday practice pumping crowd noise through speakers for both the offence and defense.

“I can’t wait. These are the crowds you dream of growing up. You know ‘The crowd’s going wild, it’s crazy!’ It’s a lot of fun and that’s what it’s all about,” Harris exclaimed.

“You have to embrace it and quiet it down. That’s the best feeling ever. They’re an experienced, smart football team and well coached. I’ve always said I like well coached teams as I know where they’re going to be,” Ouellette stated.

The last time the Riders defeated the Bombers in the playoffs was the 2007 Grey Cup. The two teams met three times this season with the Bombers winning two of those contests, the Labour Day Classic and the Banjo Bowl. The Riders won on July 19, 19-9 at Mosaic Stadium.

“They’ve made it tough on us both times we played them and some things we had the ball in our hands, others I felt like we left opportunities out there,” Harris shared.

Saturday’s Western Final will be broadcast on both CTV and TSN. Kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m.