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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2015 (4073 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FRESH FACES

MIKE O’SHEA took a 55-man roster long on enthusiasm but short on CFL experience with him on Monday to Toronto, where the Bombers will open their pre-season with a game against the Toronto Argonauts tonight at Varsity Stadium.

While O’Shea says he’d like to beat the Argos and start his team’s 2015 season on a winning note, he has a much higher priority tonight.

“Evaluate what we have,” O’Shea said Monday morning when he was asked what he wants to get out of his club’s trip to Toronto.

While O’Shea is taking four quarterbacks — including No. 1 guy Drew Willy — the overwhelming majority of his veteran starters stayed behind in Winnipeg when the team climbed on a plane Monday afternoon.

None of the projected starters on the club’s defensive line, for instance, made the trip and the club’s veteran starting receivers are also all staying home.

Still, O’Shea says his message to his players heading into the Toronto game won’t change. “Of course you want to win. All these guys who make it this far, they get here because they want to win. What am I going to do? Change that message now?”

Johnny Adams, the leading candidate to take over the import cornerback position vacated by Chris Randle’s move to SAM linebacker this year, says he has the same goal heading into Toronto that he always has heading into a game.

“We want to go down there as a business trip,” said Adams. “And we want to come back from there with a win.”

The Bombers had a brief light practice at the University of Manitoba Monday morning in advance of making the trip to Toronto later in the day. Tonight’s Bombers-Argos contest is not being televised, but it is being live-streamed on TSN.ca.

Among the positional battles in the spotlight tonight will be at running back. O’Shea is bringing all five tailbacks he has in camp to Toronto.

That includes Carlos Anderson, whose stock rose this week when Troy Stoudermire broke his hand. Like Stoudermire, Anderson has also shown himself to be an effective kick returner during the first week of camp. And with Stoudermire out of the lineup indefinitely, Anderson’s ability to also be able to return kicks could also help him stand out among all the tailbacks.

“Just like with any sport — basketball, football, baseball — the more that you can do, the more you are coveted,” said Anderson.

SHOW WHAT YA GOT

THE secondary O’Shea is taking to Toronto will have just one veteran starter — non-import cornerback Matt Bucknor.

Veteran import halfbacks Demond Washington and Bruce Johnson and safety Maurice Leggett, who are all projected starters again this year, will remain behind in Winnipeg this week.

Rookie halfback Shaq Richardson will be making the trip, however, and Richardson has no illusions about what he needs to show in Toronto if he’s going to still be a Bomber after the club makes its final cuts later this month.

“How much stock do I put in the game? A lot,” said Richardson (6-0, 198; Arizona). “I think you can do great things in practice but if you don’t do similar things in the game, I wouldn’t say it doesn’t count but it’s not worth as much.”

Richardson, who’s impressed coaches with his camp so far, said he expects to get a look at both halfback and cornerback in tonight’s game.

HOSTING CATS

THE Bombers play their other pre-season game at home, June 19 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The club then opens the 2015 regular season on the road June 27 in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Bombers haven’t won in Regina since 2004 and will have to travel there twice in 2015. The two squads also meet at Mosaic Field on Sept. 6 in the annual Labour Day Weekend Classic.

— Wiecek