Justin Dunk
Ticats.ca
Back to the old stomping grounds.
For the first time since leaving Saskatchewan and ‘Rider Nation’, Renauld Williams and Stevie Baggs will make their return to Regina on Saturday. The pair of defenders played on the 2009 Roughrider team that came within one play of claiming the Grey Cup and Williams was on the Green and White roster in 2007 when the Riders won a CFL championship. Both have fond memories of the place where their CFL careers took off.
“I played with a lot of vets there that have played for a long time and they taught me how to be a professional athlete, how to win and what it takes if you want to get to that cup,” Williams said after Hamilton’s final practice of the week before departing for Saskatchewan early Friday morning.
“There were a lot of people that took care of me when I was there. They have a great fan base and I’m excited to see some old faces I haven’t seen in a while.”
Baggs said Rider fans treat football like religion in the prairies.
“It’s the be-all, end-all with those fans out there,” he said. “When you’re playing well and going well the city is on a high.”
Regina will always be a place close to Williams’ heart — he won his first professional title there and learned what it took to become a championship level player.
“Being on a team like that and seeing how guys work every single day, from the guys that have played for 15 years to guys that are in their first, second or third year,” Williams said. “We went to work everyday – practiced hard and played harder.”
Number nine can see some similarities between his Grey Cup winning team in 2007 with Saskatchewan and his current Ticats squad.
“I feel we have more talent over here on both sides of the ball,” he said. “But we’re young, we had more vets in Saskatchewan.”
“Coming into the back end of this season guys are understanding, and the last four or five weeks, have really understood that it’s not going to happen by accident. We have to come out here and work every single day – everybody is hurt – it’s been a long season, but if we want to get to that next level, there can’t be any excuses.”
2011 has been a season of disappointment in Rider land. At 4-12 Saskatchewan sits tied for the worst record in the CFL and the team hasn’t played well in front of their home fans. The Roughriders sport a 2-6 home field mark, worst in the league. Surprising considering how loud and proud the 13th man is at Mosaic Stadium.
“Whether you’re winning or losing the fans there are diehard, they bleed green,” Williams said. “They sell out every game and make 30,000 people sound like 60,000 people. It’s just a great atmosphere to play in.”
Despite the fact Saskatchewan will miss the playoffs this season, Williams knows his old team will still be a tough one to deal with.
“They want something to build on for next year. They’re going to come out and play hard and guys are fighting for their job to make sure they have a job next year,” he said. “The one thing about football players is we’re prideful people. You want your peers to respect you.”
Hamilton will be looking to earn the Riders respect and leave Regina with a victory in tow Saturday night.
