Trimming roster grim work for Bombers coaching staff

'I don't want to cut any of them,' says Kelly

By: Gary Lawless Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

GM John Murphy was pacing the halls, the coaches were huddled in their offices watching film and head man Mike Kelly was getting ready to make the tough decisions about the future of his Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2009 (5944 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kelly said he would hold meetings with his coaching staff Thursday night and begin the process of trimming his roster down to 60 players today. Kelly expected to cut in the neighbourhood of 15 players in the next 24 hours.

"It’s not going to be any fun. I really believe if you’re going to be a good leader and garner respect, you have to get to know the people you’re leading," he said. "I’ve gotten to know these guys and I don’t want to cut any of them … If I could keep all of these guys, I would."

MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA
Running back Lavarus Giles celebrates his second touchdown Wednesday. — MIKE.APORIUS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Running back Lavarus Giles celebrates his second touchdown Wednesday.

Kelly explained the process of letting players go.

"(GM) John Murphy has a black hood and sickle. He really enjoys that," Kelly kidded. "No, they’ll speak with John and they’ll speak with me and then they’ll get with Ross (director of football operations Ross Hodgkinson) and he’ll have a plane ticket for them. And off they go. There’s no fun about this process."

LORDS OF DISCIPLINE: Kelly liked how organized his team looked in Wednesday’s pre-season game.

"We looked at the film and they never look as good and they never look as bad as you think. I was very impressed with our discipline," Kelly shared. "We didn’t have any groups running out there with people missing. We didn’t have any procedure penalties. For a pre-season game, I felt we played with good discipline and poise, and that was something I was hoping to achieve."

WALLS ON THE WAY: There’s been talk of the club signing import DB Lenny Walls over the last couple of days, and the whispers got louder on Thursday. The Bombers traded future considerations to Calgary for the rights to Walls and have been in contract discussions with the big-hitting halfback. Expect to see Walls arrive in the next couple of days and fight for an inside halfback position with the defence.

TOO MANY BACKS: Kelly said trimming down at the running back position will be difficult after the fine work of Lavarus Giles and Yvenson Bernard against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

"I’m watching two running backs run up and down the field and I look over and there’s Joe Smith and Fred Reid and they’re not dressed. We ran for 141 yards and Joe Smith and Fred Reid were on the sideline. I hope that isn’t lost on anyone," Kelly said.

Giles understands he’s in a fight to make the Bombers with Reid and Smith ahead of him on the depth chart.

"There’s always room for improvement. I can always do better, but I think I did make it tough on the coaches," said Giles, who ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns on 14 rushes. "I’ll come out tomorrow or the next day and just keep working and keep working to get better. I just did my job. I need a job. I gotta feed my family."

THE SCHEDULE: The Bombers took Thursday off from the field and will practise at 3:30 p.m. today before holding two sessions on Saturday, at 7:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca