Roughriders looking for effort and athleticism at Saskatoon rookie camp


The Saskatchewan Roughriders have landed in Saskatoon, kicking off a three-day rookie camp on Wednesday morning.

“The main thing is we want to see effort, believe it or not,” said head coach Craig Dickenson. “Guys are going to make mistakes because it’s rookie camp.”

“First of all can they move well enough, do they look athletic enough to compete at this level, and the second thing is we want guys who are excited to be out here and bouncing around with good energy, and I thought I thought we did that today.”

Quarterback Mason Fine got into one game with the green and white last season. Meanwhile, six-foot-seven Jake Dolegala made six different stops in the NFL before signing with the Riders.

“Make the team, help Cody (Fajardo) as much as I can, and the end goal is to win a Gray Cup,” Dolegala said.

The Hamburg, New York product says he’s friends with former Riders receiver Naaman Roosevelt, who gave him some advice coming to the CFL.

“He said it’s a great place to play, said it was one of the best (organizations) that he’s been involved with,” said Dolegala.

“Throwing in the offseason with him he was able to get, you know that waggle motion is a lot different up here, obviously, so he was helping me through that, timing stuff up, but he just told me to keep my head down and just put in the work.”

In his first CFL camp, 2022 draft pick out of Western University Zack Fry says he’s had to change the way he approaches the game.

“I got into a couple of one-on-ones and it’s definitely a little different,” he said.

“These guys are really good out here and it’s definitely more complex in the playbook and everything, but yeah I’m excited, great coaches and a great environment, a great fan base.”

Fry was part of the squad that beat the Saskatchewan Huskies in the 2021 Vanier Cup back in December and says it feels weird to be playing on Griffiths Stadium turf.

“I don’t want to wear any of my Western stuff around here just in case,” he said.

“It’s definitely a little weird being here, but it’s it’s a beautiful day out here and it’s a beautiful campus, so I’m just excited.”

Diego Alatorre Montoya says he’s in the same situation as Fry, in his first CFL camp after being selected by the Riders in this month’s draft.

“Everything’s more intense, so much more information in meetings, everything is just at the next level,” he said.

“The level of competition is on another level but I love it, and I’m ready to get to work.”

Meanwhile, the CFL’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire on May 14, one day before camp begins.

“I’m optimistic, I think cooler heads will prevail and I think we’re going to have a deal at some point,” said Dickenson. “Until then, we control what we can which is the rookies, and we’re going to work as hard as we can with them and get them ready to go.”

“I’m quite optimistic that we’ll have everybody here when they’re supposed to be here.”


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