Bombers answer kicking question

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This article was published 05/06/2023 (849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sergio Castillo didn’t spend his Saturday night celebrating the fact that he had won the kicking competition.

Instead, the 32-year-old veteran from Amarillo, Texas, spent it with his now former teammate, Marc Liegghio.

Liegghio was the most notable player let go by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the weekend prior to the CFL’s roster deadline.

The Bombers will head into Friday’s regular season opener at IG Field against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with Castillo kicking and rookie Australian Jamieson Sheahan at punter.

“It’s tough, you know, I’ve been there 11 times in my career. So, I told him it’s like when you break up with your first girlfriend, it won’t be the last,” said Castillo, who was signed by the Bombers just before training camp after being released by the Edmonton Elks, after Monday’s practice.

“So, it was new for him. I tried to give him my advice from all the experiences I’ve been through. We went out that night and I talked to him as much as I (could). Obviously, there’s no words to console someone once you get let go from a job.”

It would’ve been a major upset if Liegghio or American rookie Chandler Staton — who was also released Saturday — knocked off Castillo. The more realistic path for the third-year Canadian to stick around in blue and gold was to outduel the two Global punters — Sheahan and Bermuda’s Karl Schmitz.

Schmitz, 36, was added to the practice roster.

Head coach Mike O’Shea said the deciding factor for the punting gig was Sheahan’s ability to drive the ball down the field with hang time and consistently place it where it needs to be.

“(Liegghio), we got a Grey Cup with. He handled all the duties last year, we thrust that upon him, and you don’t find too many three-way guys anymore. And he was doing a good job for us, good enough to put us where we were last year. We decided to bring in some competition and he gets edged out in both. Sergio’s kicking was really good. He was in the very high 80s, low 90s throughout camp,” said O’Shea.

“I think what was really interesting was (Liegghio) came in and had a mediocre first day and then was really good. He kept up with them sort of after that. But… at the end of it, when you factor in the numbers, Sergio’s numbers were really, really good and Legs were good.”

With the way last year’s Grey Cup ended, a fresh start for both sides is likely for the best. Liegghio, who mostly punted in 2021 before taking over everything last season, showed flashes, but struggled to remain consistent. With a Canadian passport and being just 26, Liegghio will likely get another crack with a different team at some point.

For Sheahan, the move means his pro career officially begins. His journey began as a semi-pro Aussie rules football player before he got a call from Prokick Australia — a program designed to help Australian talent punt and kick their way to an NCAA Division I school and eventually the pros.

From there, he took his talents to the University of California for three seasons before the Bombers picked him eighth overall in the 2023 Global Draft.

“I obviously called my girlfriend and my parents right away and said to them ‘I can’t believe I’m a professional football player.’ It’s great, I always wanted to play sport at a professional level and I had a couple years of opportunity of that in Australia before deciding to go to college. So, it’s really great to be back in a professional environment and this team is exceptional,” said Sheahan, 26.

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“They’ve been doing this really effectively for a while now so it’s been easy to assimilate. Just come in and if you do your job and you respect the place and the rules, then everything is going to work out fine. The culture sorts out the good from the bad pretty quick. It’s nice to be part of such a great culture and a winning culture as well.”

Fellow Australian punters Joseph Zema (Montreal Alouettes) and John Haggerty (Toronto Argonauts) quickly reached out to congratulate Sheahan for being the latest to make it. Zema, Haggerty, and Cody Grace (who’s also Australian) of the Calgary Stampeders were three of the league’s best punters a season ago.

“It’s pretty exciting to be the next one up and I’m just looking to make everyone proud,” said Sheahan.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor 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.