Saskatchewan Roughrider head coach Craig Dickenson feels your pain, Rider nation.
Dickenson told 620 CKRM’s SportsCage with Michael Ball that the fact his team takes too many undisciplined penalties isn’t lost on him.
“We chewed them (players) out pretty good today,” Dickenson admits. “It’s one thing to take one or two penalties…but we had a guy that took four penalties in the game (against Edmonton). We had another guy that took three and got kicked out. You just can’t do that and expect to beat good teams.”
Dickenson admits to feeling frustrated at his team’s apparent inability to keep their emotions in check during games.
“I’ve been fighting this battle for a couple of years with this group,” he acknowledges. “I want to turn it over to the players and let them figure out a way to get it done. If we can’t get it done, I’m going to have to sit guys. We’re not going to be able to play a guy if he can’t play clean and play within the rules.”
“That’s eventually going to get in the way of us winning games,” Dickenson continues. “So, if you choose to not play within the rules, we’re just not going to play with you (in the lineup). In the meantime, we’re going to do everything we can as coaches to get the guys to play with better technique, better mental discipline, and hopefully that corrects it.”
Dickenson acknowledges that the number of penalties will ultimately become a self-fulling prophecy of sorts.
“When you become known as a team that takes a lot of penalties, I do believe the refs start to look for that a little bit more. Then you’re really fighting an uphill battle, and we don’t want it to get to that point.”
The Riders took 14 penalties against the Elks, costing them 134 yards.
The green and white is back in action Thursday against the Alouettes in Montreal. 620 CKRM’s coverage kicks off with the pre-game show at 2:30 p.m., followed by kickoff at 5:30.
