O’Shea sorry to see Goldeyes bench boss leave town

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This article was published 24/10/2022 (1050 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike O’Shea now holds the title as the longest tenured professional sports head coach in Winnipeg.

O’Shea, who’s been leading the Bombers since 2014, gained the position on Monday after long-time Winnipeg Goldeyes manager Rick Forney announced his resignation.

After 17 seasons in charge of the Fish, and 26 overall years with the club, Forney, 51, is moving closer to his Maryland home to coach the Atlantic League’s York Revolution.

O’Shea and Forney have gotten to know eachother over the years, and Forney was invited to watch a game from the sidelines this summer.

“We’ve had a couple of times where I made an effort to run into him and just chat with him. He’s a football fan, too, so I think it was pretty easy to get him out here. But I mean, he was excellent for a long time and it’s a small staff system where you’re wearing all these hats and you’re winning championships,” O’Shea said on Monday.

“I went down to the park, and it’s a beautiful park, and you know, I certainly don’t know my baseball all that well, but to sit there and watch them win back-to-back championships and be there when they did, it’s pretty neat to see that and to watch the players interact and how they handled it. So, yeah, I’m sorry to see him go. I enjoyed the few moments we shared together.”

It’s been well documented how O’Shea also built a connection with the former bench boss of the Winnipeg Jets, Paul Maurice. Despite coaching in a different league and sport altogether, O’Shea said he’s learned a thing or two from other coaches in town.

“Even just in casual conversations, sports happen to come up. There’s always something,” said O’Shea.

“You can pick up on how they handle their routine, how they view their team, what they think is important, those kinds of things.”

Nathan Rourke update

The Bombers might be seeing Nathan Rourke on Friday night when they take on the B.C. Lions at IG Field.

The star Canadian quarterback has been cleared by doctors to play and reportedly looked comfortable on Monday while throwing passes to receivers. The Lions are expected to make a decision on Rourke’s status after Tuesday’s practice. If Rourke does play Friday, it would likely be a quick tune up as the Lions are hosting the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division semi-final on Nov. 6.

In nine games this season, Rourke completed 79 per cent of his passes for a total of 3,281 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s been out since Aug. 19 after suffering a Lisfranc injury that required surgery.

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.

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