Grey Cup coaches media conference

The coaches faced the media Wednesday in Regina. Natalie Marconi has the details.

Their meeting Wednesday was much friendlier than the last time Kent Austin faced Corey Chamblin in Regina. But plenty has changed for both teams since the riders thumped the Ticats that day 37-0. Perhaps that’s why Austin had this advice for Chamblin and his coaches: “…to get their players as ‘un-prepared’ as possible.”

The Riders may have come out on top in both of their games with the Ticats this past July. But in the weeks that followed, Saskatchewan stumbled into a four-game losing streak. Chamblin told his players those days are well behind them: “I said, if we’re good enough to be in it, we’re good enough to win it. It means we’ve done everything possible to get here and it’s time for two good teams to play. Decide it on the field, not in the media, not with trash talking. Time for it to be decided on the field.”

And by all accounts, it’s going to be a very cold field. Temperatures dipped to 27 below Wednesday, something the Tiger-Cats aren’t exactly used to. Head Coach Kent Austin: “I don’t know how you would determine an advantage. We played in bad weather. The east semifinal wasn’t exactly a balmy day. It was pretty rough.”

The coaches were asked about everything from their past Grey Cup experiences, to whether or not they believe players should have sex the night before a big game: “They win a championship, they’ll have a lot of it, trust me. I can’t follow that!”