WINNIPEG — Josh Bartel has exceeded his own expectations.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ punter played in his 100th career CFL game Monday, when the Roughriders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos 19-12 at Mosaic Stadium.
“It’s a pretty good accomplishment, I suppose,” the 33-year-old product of Kiewa, Australia, said earlier this week. “I was an undrafted free-agent rookie at the age of 26 who had never played a game of gridiron in his life. I never, ever thought I’d get to 100 games, that’s for sure.
“I didn’t really have a goal (for the length of his career). One game was a good start and then when they didn’t get rid of me, I thought, ‘I’ll keep going until they do get rid of me.’ ”
He’s to play Game No. 101 on Saturday, when the Roughriders are to face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Investors Group Field (noon, CKRM, TSN).
Bartel’s career began in 2012, when he was signed as a free agent by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He spent two seasons with the Tiger-Cats and then was traded to the Roughriders prior to the 2014 campaign.
Throughout his career, Bartel has travelled back and forth to Australia, spending the CFL season in Canada and returning home for the off-seasons. The toll that took prompted Bartel to put his career on hold in 2015.
“It was the travel thing,” he said. “My wife and I never felt settled. We did it for three years on and off — back here, back in Australia — so we wanted a year just to stay back home and live like normal people. I guess we kind of got sick of it because we came back here.”
“It’s good to know that these guys have got my back and I’ve got theirs…”
Bartel credits a number of people, including Roughriders assistant vice-president of football operations and player personnel John Murphy, for convincing the punter to return to the CFL in 2016.
“I took that year off and was enjoying what I was doing,” Bartel said. “But there were a lot of people — friends and family — who said, ‘You should do it for as long as you can. Do it until you can’t.’
“It must have been a sign that Murph messaged me and got the ball rolling. I’ve loved every minute that I’ve been back here.”
Bartel listed a few games as career highlights, including his first-ever game, the 2013 Grey Cup game in which the Tiger-Cats lost to the Roughriders, and Monday’s milestone contest.
He punted five times for a 36.6-yard average against the Eskimos — his lowest average in a game this season. But Edmonton’s Martese Jackson had just four punt returns for 12 yards (with a longest of nine yards) as Bartel once again did what was asked of him by special-teams co-ordinator Craig Dickenson.
Bartel enters this week ranked last in the CFL in punting average (41.4 yards) and eighth in net average (33.8) this season, but his placement of the ball and hang time have met with the Roughriders’ satisfaction.
“I can see where the numbers don’t really match up to the other punters, but Dickie and Coach (Chris) Jones have a little bit of a different system with the punt here,” said Bartel, who normally punts in an Aussie Rules, end-over-end style.
“Everyone in this locker room knows the system that we’re going with and how I want to punt and how they want me to punt. It’s good to know that these guys have got my back and I’ve got theirs. Whether that means a lot to them or not, I don’t know.”
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Philip Blake is to make his debut on the Roughriders’ offensive line after just one practice.
The 32-year-old Toronto product was acquired from the Montreal Alouettes on Wednesday and he worked out with his new teammates on Thursday.
On Friday, it was announced that Blake is to start at left guard in Saturday’s game, when Brendon LaBatte will move to centre to replace an injured Dan Clark.
Jones said Blake’s 57 games as a starter in the league are a big reason why the O-lineman is able to step right into the lineup.
“We’ve seen that before in the offensive line,” Jones said. “Being around the league as long as I have, you’ve seen where you’ve had to inject an older veteran into your offence right away. We fully expect him to not only go out and play but play well.”
Like Blake, receiver/special-teamer Patrick Lavoie — who came over in the same trade — is to play his first game for the Roughriders on Saturday.
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Defensive tackle Mic’hael Brooks is slated to return to the Roughriders’ lineup after missing the previous two games due to injury.
Brooks initially joined the Roughriders on June 24, giving them a run-stuffing presence in the interior of their defensive line. He started seven games, sat out one, played three and then landed on the six-game injured list. He was activated off that list Wednesday.
“It has been really tough (to watch),” Brooks said. “I came in a little bit later too, so I was just getting into a rhythm and then I had to come out.
“It’s tough watching everything from the sideline, but we’re winning and the defence is playing great. I’m just going to try to fit in.”
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On Friday, Jones was informed that the forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 2 C, with periods of snow and a big wind.
“Great,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of guys from the south, so they’ve had to get used to playing in this type of weather.“We’ve been outside a couple of days this week, but we haven’t got any snow. We did a wet-ball drill yesterday, so (dealing with the elements) will be one of those things.
“The Grey Cup is played outside, so you never know.”
