Prep for rematch with Riders tough task
LaPo looking to change wrinkles in game plan
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2016 (3314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Preparing for the same team heading into the back half of a home-and-home series comes with its own set of challenges. It can be a bit of a guessing game.
“The hard part is that you have less film, obviously. You’re watching your own stuff and you’ve kind of already game-planned for what you’ve seen before,” Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice said after practice Thursday as his team prepares for a rematch against the Saskatchewan Roughriders Saturday afternoon at Investors Group Field.
“You’re trying to figure out if they’re going to change up what they did and then look at yourself and self-scout some things and see what wrinkles you can change up.”
LaPolice said it’s nice to play the same team in consecutive games — there’s less preparation involved — but on the flip side of that coin, there’s less information.
“Certainly, I think every good team has tendencies. So if you’re good at something, you’re going to have tendencies,” LaPolice said.
“If you used a signal that you used (in the previous game), you might want to change it up because they’ve watched it all week. You’re always trying to minimize how much you’re showing them, and then change if you do show them stuff.”
LaPolice said mental mistakes during Sunday’s Labour Day Classic, from which the Bombers emerged with a 28-25 victory, cost his offence points on the board, making the game closer than it needed to be.
“We didn’t do it the way we were supposed to,” he said. “You get huge plays, one of them would have been a touchdown and one of them would have put the ball at the 10-yard line. We’ve practised all week, make sure you do it the way it was drawn up and everything will be handled. That can lead to some more points for us.”
● ● ●
There’s been no doubting LaPolice’s enjoyment of having veteran running back Andrew Harris at his disposal on game days. The Winnipegger currently leads the league in rushing yards with 655 and rushing attempts with 143, 22 more than the next closest back, Jerome Messam of the Calgary Stampeders.
“Certainly, we believe in running the football and he’s excellent,” LaPolice he said. “He can catch the ball a number of different ways. There’s always a different way to get him a touch or two. He can break tackles and he can put people in the right spots. I think our players respond to him. I think he creates things when he breaks tackles… we feed off that.”
● ● ●
Maurice Leggett missed practice for a second day Thursday, but declared himself fit for Saturday’s Banjo Bowl against the Riders.

“I’m just an old guy. Two games in one week, a little body around all those big bodies,” said the 29-year-old cornerback. “Everything is good.”
Leggett, who had a quieter game based on his recent standards, said the Blue Bombers defence played below average in Sunday’s 28-25 win.
“We were well below expectations,” he said. “We know what we have to do to dominate the game. I don’t expect anything less than guys flying around to the ball no matter what happens.”
Leggett admitted the defence can’t allow themselves to get bored on the field and must be even-keeled.
“They’re a great team and they have a lot of great players there,” Leggett said. “We just have to go back to what we know.”
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
Every piece of reporting Scott 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.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.