O’Shea confident his club rounding into mid-season form

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This article was published 18/06/2015 (3763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a blow of the whistle, all 65 men shuffled their way to the centre of the practice field at the University of Manitoba campus, helmets in hand and sweat dripping from every inch of their body, until every last man was within earshot.

In the middle of the pack stood Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, who shared a few final words. Together, each man raised his helmet above his head and, in perfect unison, yelled “Bombers.”

It’s been a familiar scene the past two and a half weeks, the collective roar symbolizing the end of practice each day for the Blue and Gold. Only Wednesday afternoon, it marked not only the end of practice but the conclusion of training camp.

Now, only a light walk-through this afternoon followed by Winnipeg’s final pre-season tilt against the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats Friday night separates the Bombers from the start of the regular season.

But it’s been the work put forth, the sweat and the tears shed that has O’Shea feeling his team is in mid-season form. He was confident as he addressed a group of reporters eager to pick his brain on his final evaluation of camp and the magnitude of the next few days.

“Camp’s gone well,” O’Shea said. “It really has. It seems like it’s gone by very quickly, which means, I guess, we’ve been efficient. And it’s been fun.”

For the players, that fun has included spans of two-a-day practices in both heat and heavy rain. In the last week, the daily practices tapered off into single sessions. Battles have ensued all over the field, making what would seem a tedious task to watch more like a reality series, with trash talk at the end of almost every play and in some cases even the odd punch thrown.

Injuries have been plentiful — at one point as many as four of the projected five starters on the offensive line were sidelined — but the team looks to be back near full health.

The sound of cheers from the home crowd is something O’Shea has waited for since last season, a noise that decreased as the Bombers finished with a 7-11 record after a 5-1 start, making it three seasons since the Bombers last reached the post-season.

But a lot has changed since then — at least on paper. General manager Kyle Walters has picked up key Canadian talent such as centre Dominic Picard and defensive end Jamaal Westerman. He was also able to nab one of the best available free agents in left tackle Stanley Bryant, who played a key role in the Calgary Stampeders’ run to a Grey Cup title last season.

Though it will certainly be refreshing to hear the loud cheers of optimism that come with a new season, O’Shea believes it’s even more important for the new personnel to feel the love from a city they now call home.

The Bombers boss hopes it will show “a real sense of how important (football) is to not only the city of Winnipeg but to the province.”

“It will open some eyes,” he said.

Friday’s game will be O’Shea’s last chance to evaluate his club before he must trim his roster down to 46 players from the current 65. The deadline for all CFL teams is 9 p.m. Saturday, meaning for many, Friday’s game could make or break their future in Winnipeg.

If the expectations seemed high for the team’s first pre-season game against the Toronto Argonauts last week — a 34-27 win for the Bombers — they’ve skyrocketed since, with O’Shea looking for full execution from every player on all assignments.

That includes the first game action for No. 1 quarterback Drew Willy since he signed a lucrative deal that should keep him in Winnipeg until 2017.

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Willy said the game will be all about sharpening up for Week 1 of the regular season June 27 when the Bombers will be in Regina for the first of three games against the Saskatchewan Roughriders this season.

“I think all the guys that were here last year would tell you that the competition has definitely increased and it’s definitely good for the organization because it makes it harder to make decisions,” said Willy.

“You really just want to be sharp going into Game 1 of the regular season, so anything we can do to come out and be successful. We’ve been working hard out here and it’s time we go put it into game action.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

Every piece of reporting Jeff produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.