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August 9, 2022

48-Hour Primer | MTL vs WPG

Marc Liegghio began the 2022 Canadian Football League season in the exact same spot he did a year ago – smack dab under the microscope, with his every kick seemingly a referendum on his future as a kicker. He survived last season, his rookie campaign, and is now thriving into his sophomore season.

There will always be critical eyeballs on his every kick, a fact which simply comes with the gig. But with Liegghio having connected on 18 of his 20 field goal attempts through the first half of the season – that 90 % success rate ranks second only to Calgary’s Rene Paredes, who is at 92.3 % – the confidence level for the 25-year-old Woodbridge, ON product is growing every time he puts boot to ball.

“This is what I expect from myself,” Liegghio said Tuesday following a closed-to-the media practice session at IG Field. “I always just want to do what I can for the team. I just want to put the ball where I can on punts and make my points whenever I’m out there.

“This is the season I expected from myself. Obviously there are going to be some missed kicks and some punts that go in the end zone, but that’s something you then work on in practice and perfect. You have a good week of practice, bring it into the game and do whatever you can to help the team win.”

A fifth-round selection by the Blue Bombers in the 2020 CFL Draft – with a pick acquired from the Toronto Argonauts in the Zach Collaros trade – the Blue Bombers had a master plan that would have seen Liegghio groom for at least one year under veteran Justin Medlock, a future hall of famer.

Then came along a global pandemic, which blasted that idea to smithereens.

“That was the perfect scenario: we draft him and then he has a year to sit behind Meddy and learn how to be a pro and learn what it takes to be successful at this level,” said Blue Bombers special teams coordinator Paul Boudreau. “Then the pandemic hit and Meddy decided to play more golf. That would have been a huge year for him, growth-wise, in just learning.

“I think his confidence is growing and he’s seeing some of the fruits of his labour pay off. He worked hard in the offseason. We had some goals and he’s trying to stick to his process. He’s still a work in progress… he’s a young dude who is still building and learning as he goes along. The difference between this year and last year is if he made a mistake last year when he was just punting it carried over to the next couple snaps. He’s getting better at leaving it behind and moving on to the next play.”

Liegghio attributes his turnaround to a few key factors, including just being comfortable kicking here at IG Field and all the stadiums across the CFL and, of course, having the confidence of the coaching staff and the team around him. On top of that, he’s working to religiously follow the advice from his college coach – advice that works in concert with what the Blue Bombers adhere to each week.

“My old coach at Western, Darryl Wheeler, always used to say, ‘Just go 1-for-1,’” Liegghio said. “If you miss a kick, you can’t go back and change it so just concentrate on making the next one going forward. That was my motto last year but, obviously, being young you know all eyes are on you. Justin Medlock was one of the best kickers ever and I wish I had the chance to work with him.

“It’s funny… you miss in your first year, you miss in your 10th year – that’s still going to bug you. But there is a maturity level that goes on over the years. And as you go along and you get accustomed to the pro environment you learn to look at a miss as ‘It’s done’ and not look back at it. You miss a field goal, you can’t then follow that up with a bad punt. Again, it’s about going 1-for-1. Just understanding how to be a pro has been a big difference for me this year.

“Like we always say, we just want to go 1-0 each week, and I just want to go 1-0 with each kick.”

Bet Regal has the Blue Bombers are 12-point favourites for Thursday night’s game against Montreal:

  • Worth noting: the Blue Bombers are 3-0 at home this year and currently riding a 13-game home winning streak. Winnipeg is 22-1 in its last 23 games at IG Field.
  • Winnipeg’s margins of victory in its three home games this year have been seven, 14 and two points.

The Blue Bombers point total is currently 30.5 for Thursday night:

  • The Blue Bombers have scored 35 points in each of their last two victories – in Calgary and then last week in Montreal. The team has eclipsed the 30-point mark in three of its 10 games this season, also including a 43-22 win against the B.C. Lions in Vancouver last month.