‘It hurts’: Blue Bombers reflect on Grey Cup loss to Argonauts

As the Argonauts prepare to celebrate their Grey Cup victory in Toronto, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers returned home to clear out their lockers Tuesday and reflect on the loss that ended their chance to three-peat as Grey Cup champions.

Winnipeg lost 24-23 to the Argos in Sunday’s 109th Grey Cup in Regina.

“To come down to the Grey Cup and have it end the way it ended, it was tough,” said defensive lineman Willie Jefferson.

The Bombers were the league’s best team and recorded a franchise-record 15 wins.

“It’s tough because you just want to win,” said quarterback Zach Collaros. “You want to do everything that you possibly can and there is no doubt everyone in that locker room did everything they can to prepare for that game and execute at a high level.

“But it just didn’t go our way.”

Collaros says it certainly wasn’t the end he wanted. The star quarterback injured his right ankle in the CFL West Division final, but says despite missing practice leading up to the Grey Cup, his sore ankle wasn’t a huge factor in the loss on Sunday.

Running back Brady Oliveira says the loss came down to Toronto making more plays.

“Still hurts, still stings, I’m not going to lie,” he said.

Oliveira says his team has a few plays they wish they could have back, and that they would have maybe run the ball a bit more. But ultimately the loss will motivate him to work harder in the off-season.

“I really wanted to bring another Grey Cup back to my city and I’ll use all of this as fuel to my fire and attack this offseason and be hungrier than eve and come back next season and make sure nobody can stop me,” said Oliveira.

At the last two Grey Cups, Oak Park High School alumni Nic Demski, Oliveira and Andrew Harris were teammates on the Bombers. Heading into the 109th Grey Cup the former teammates became adversaries after Harris left the Bombers to suit up with the Argonauts. Harris is now a four-time champion.

“After the game I saw him (Harris) on the field and gave him a hug you know, told each other we loved each other and I told him to enjoy the moment,” said Demski. “His team won fair and square, and I wanted him to be happy and he deserved it.”

“It was a hard-fought game,” added Jefferson. “We had plenty of opportunities. It’s just that: Toronto made more of their opportunities than we did.”

Jefferson says for the next few days he wants to hang out with his teammates, who he calls a special group that won’t be the same next year.

“I’m going to miss these guys,” he said. “Next year will be a totally different group. We will never have this group again.

“It hurts, sorry we didn’t come home with the trophy like we planned to, like we wanted to, and next year we will try again and hopefully come home with it.”

—With files from The Canadian Press.