From the scratching post...
The Ticats practiced indoors for the first time all season on Thursday – even though they didn't have to.
Head coach Kent Austin took a look at the weather forecast early in the morning and decided to move his team's third and final day of on-field preparation before Saturday's critical match up with Montreal to Player's Paradise in Stoney Creek.
And then the weather cleared up.
"I'm now like 0-for 23... we should have been outside today," Austin said, chuckling. "We wanted to make sure that we executed well and with the possibility of inclement weather, we wanted to avoid a wet ball, slipping and those types of things."
[b]
My question is... With the weather that they are calling for Saturday afternoon, wouldn't it make more sense to practise in the cold and wet so you are use to it?
Yes and no, the last thing you want is your players to catch a bug during practice. I know when I get sick, the next day I feel it coming on but can still function, and then the day after it hits like a sack of bricks.
The big thing here when Austin says “We wanted to execute well and avoid slips” to me says Austin wants to get as many full play reps in as possible, which to me would tend to indicate the focus is on running the whole playbook and practicing the plays, more then ball control fundamentals, which if you don’t have down by this point in the season, you likely aren’t going to get them.
Forecast calls for 7c with 23kph wind and 70% chance of precipitation. While that is inclement, the temperature is still going to be better then the Ottawa game. I also don’t think any kicker in the league has figured out the wind at THF, save Medlock, but that’s beside the point.
I expect Austin wanted to focus on expanding Grigsby’s and Carter’s play options for the game, since the run game is going to be important. I would expect to see some line pulls this game.
Also, the last thing you want to see happen is someone rolling an ankle or knee, or some other injury before the most important game of the season (so far). Just ask Chad Kackert or Andre Durie how easy it is to get injured during practice...
They tried this acclimatize to the weather thing during last year's Grey Cup. All they got out of it was a bad practice and a few players with frostbite. Being able to execute practice to their fullest is more important than reminding themselves what its like to play in the rain, IMO.
