Saskatchewan Roughriders non-committal on kicker Alex Hale

Photo: Tanner Piper/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

It appears the Saskatchewan Roughriders could be making a change at kicker this week after another tough outing from Alex Hale.

The rookie missed two field goals during the Labour Day Classic on Sunday. The first miss came from a distance of 46 yards on the final play of the first half, while the second came from 47 yards in the third quarter.

The errant kicks proved costly as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were able to force overtime after Zach Collaros hit Dorian Singer for a five-yard touchdown on the final play of regulation. Saskatchewan eventually won 32-26, though they would have won in regulation had Hale not left points on the field.

“It’s kind of one of those things where, similar to last year (with Brett Lauther) and even earlier this year with Alex, you put him out there, you push through, you see what the week looks like,” head coach Corey Mace told the media on Wednesday.

“They have a good week, and you have some confidence, and then you go a few games and we’re not talking about it, but ultimately like anybody in that spot, you’ve gotta get the job done, so again, we’ll look at it throughout the week and see how that goes, and we’ll make a decision at the end of the week.”

Hale has made 24-of-32 field goal attempts this season for an average of 75.0 percent. The 28-year-old native of Gosford, Australia is one of three CFL placekickers under 84.5 percent this year alongside Lirim Hajrullahu and Brady Lidster. The latter was cut by the Toronto Argonauts last week.

Saskatchewan’s other kicker is Dawson Hodge, who is currently on the practice roster and has yet to dress for a regular-season CFL game.

The native of Coquitlam, B.C. made 51-of-76 field goal attempts during his collegiate career at Wilfrid Laurier University. He was named a first-team Ontario University Athletics all-star and a second-team U Sports All-Canadian in 2022.

It remains unclear who the Roughriders will dress at kicker this week, though it would seem based on Mace’s comments that they’ll go with whoever plays better in practice.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-4) will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6-6) at Princess Auto Stadium on Saturday, September 12, with kickoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT. The two teams met in the Labour Day Classic last week, where the Roughriders won 32-26 in overtime at Mosaic Stadium.

The weather forecast in Winnipeg calls for a high of 15 degrees and sun. The game will be broadcast on TSN, CTV, and Crave in Canada, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in to 620 CKRM in Regina or CJOB 680 in Winnipeg.