‘Nasty’ Chungh looking like a starter

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2015 (4102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sukh CHUNGH arrived in Winnipeg already sporting a notorious reputation.

He was a “nasty piece of business,” according to TSN draft expert Duane Forde. And not long after Kyle Walters spit out his name with the second-overall selection, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers GM stated Chungh was the guy he’d want with him if things got dicey in a dark alley.

Yeah, about all that…

It turns out the Bombers’ first-round draft pick is more than just a bad ass who will knock a guy down and then gnaw on his ankles at the bottom of a pile.

The guy can play a bit, too.

Not only has this project shown a durability in camp that has put him in good stead, his finesse game — such as it is in the trenches — has progressed so quickly he could be introduced as a starting guard for Week 1 in Saskatchewan against the Roughriders.

Put it this way: Chungh is gobbling up the finer points of the O-line play like a starving man at an all-day buffet.

“There’s moments when he punches guys and knocks them right over,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea of Chungh’s handiwork in Tuesday’s pre-season game, his CFL debut.

“And then there’s some times when guys get in on him. But he’s a confident, confident young man and I don’t know if anything will faze him like that. As I’ve said before, you’ll never see that guy quit. He’ll just go back out there, make the corrections and try to get better.

“He came from Steve Buratto (long-time CFL coach and Chungh’s tutor in university) and that guy is an O-line guru in his own right. He knows how to learn and he knows what’s expected. Steve sent us a good player.”

Chungh will tell you he’s learned a lot of the technical aspects from Bomber O-line coach Bob Wylie — little things like where to put your hands and where to look on a slide block — but it’s not only his ability to play the sponge and learn so quickly that has endeared him to the club’s deep thinkers, it’s the fact he continues to show up and punch the clock every day.

That’s significant in a camp in which Stanley Bryant, Marc Dile and Patrick Neufeld have all been injured, squelching any plans of building cohesion and in-house competition.

But that big-picture take — that this green-horn rook could be starting in a couple of weeks — means little right now to Chungh.

The big picture for him is taking what he learned from Thursday’s practice and film session and translating it into the first rep at practice this morning.

‘It’s almost like I’m starting over again. You start out as a rookie in university and build yourself up. By the fourth year you’re starting, everything slows down and it feels comfortable’

— Sukh Chungh

His coaches and O-line mates have adopted “Physical and fast” as their motto this season and he tries to live it every day.

“It’s a growing process. I’m still learning a lot out there,” said Chungh. “It’s almost like I’m starting over again.

“You start out as a rookie in university and build yourself up. By the fourth year you’re starting, everything slows down and it feels comfortable.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

“And then you come out here and everything’s chaotic and flying around.

“These are the best athletes I’ve ever seen in my life, from the defensive linemen, to the linebackers to the safeties. There’s competition all over the field out there. I’m definitely learning all over again.

“What I’ve learned is there’s a lot of small details on each play that force you to stay in the moment. Coach Wylie is always talking about that, about doing the details right and everything else will take care of itself. That’s what I tried to do out here today. And that’s what I’ll try to do out here tomorrow.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait