Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
8.03 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. They're open seven days a week and open late to help you get debt-free. With no judgment or upfront fees, visit them today at sands-trustee.com. We are now in our three of the program.
Nathan Rourke, quarterback of your BC Lions, is going to join us in just a moment to kick off our three. Our three of this show is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance. Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.
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It is time now for your BC Lions rundown. New for 2026, Summer Series and Friday Night Lions games as the squad looks to reclaim home field advantage starting on July 25th. Get your tickets at BCLions.com. Speaking of the Lions, we go now to the Able Auctions hotline. Our next guest is the quarterback of your BC Lions. Nathan Rourke joins us here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.
Morning, Nathan. How are you?
I'm doing well, guys. Thanks for having me. Good to talk to you again.
Yeah, thanks for coming on. Good to talk to you as well. We'll start with the preseason opener over the weekend. Pretty cool for everybody in Langford. Over 6,000 in attendance at Starlight Stadium. Two-seat, not yourself and a lot of the other starters, but still CFL football on the island.
Let's get your takeaways from what you saw from the guys that were out there competing for spots and working there against the Elks. A 34-16 loss. But what did you see from a positive side in the loss from the guys that were out there, Nathan?
Yeah, I saw a lot of really great effort and we got a lot of energy. It was great to see the guys flying around. I mean, when you're in camp, you're going against the same guys for a number of weeks. So it was great to be able to see us be physical and toughness against another team. And I think we definitely made some plays. Obviously, it's a preseason.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Nathan Rourke share about the upcoming BC Lions season?
What's the hardest rule for guys to learn?
A lot of times it's the no yards. We have guys coming down playing specials and they're just so used to the fair catch rules. The five-yard halo is a tough one sometimes for guys to pick up.
Okay, are you going to play Friday in Winnipeg?
Yeah, I mean, that's the plan at this point. Yeah, I'd love to get a series just like last year or a series or two just to kind of get a rhythm for things, you know, kind of get a feel again for the speed of the game and always love an opportunity to play in Winnipeg, which is one of my favorite environments in CFL. So hopefully that's the plan and we'll be able to get that done.
Tell us about your goals for this season, what you worked on in the offseason. You had a very good year last year, but what more can you do this year?
Yeah, I mean, I think it's one of the great things about professional sports, and one of the hardest things is that it's not at all about what you've done in the past. It's what you can do in the present. And so trying to replicate something is harder, I think, than doing it for the first time. And so, you know, we had a lot of success as an offense last year, but defenses are smart.
They've been studying us all offseason, and we have to find ways to evolve. So I know for me personally, it's ā evolving includes trying to take care of the ball a little bit better, throwing some less interceptions and being able to take care of the ball, not putting our defense in bad positions and ultimately coming away with more points.
We've got to find ways to be able to end games with the ball in our hands and in the victory formation. especially down the stretch. Obviously, at the end of the day, having the West come through BC would be a huge advantage. We're excited for the opportunity to get started on that.
How do you balance the desire to cut down on the turnovers, but also maintaining your aggression and not being tentative?
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Chapter 3: What were the key takeaways from the BC Lions preseason opener?
And this is all obviously with an eye on the 2028 Olympics where flag football is going to be a part of of the program. Um, I hate talk about questions, but there's no other way to introduce this. So just tell us about, uh, your experiences. I know it was brief this spring playing flag. And then I guess what you're hoping to keep an eye on as you get closer.
I know it's still a couple of years away, but the 28 Olympics in LA.
Yeah. Um, I, it's been, I, you know, I grew up playing flag. Um, I, I played, um, you know, seven men to a side, uh, going up and a little bit of eights and, um, you know, when I, I always played it, you know, also playing tackle at the same time. And obviously when you're growing up, you never had the opportunity.
You never thought that, you know, they had the opportunity to play in the Olympics. And so then they made that announcement and there seemed to be some support from the CFL as well as from the Lions, um, on the possibility of, of players going to the 28, 28, uh, Olympics. Um, and, I thought it was at least something that I should explore and try to look at.
Obviously, the game is a little bit different. It's fives, so the field is smaller and less people. I felt like if I was going to try to explore that and see what it would be like, it would probably be in my advantage to try to play and
have some buddies ever since I've been out to BC that I know who have played at UBC and SFU and that have been bugging me to come out and play in their flag football league. And I've, I've always kind of dismissed it as kind of just something that I not really worth my time, but you know, now with this, this prospect of playing, I was,
you know, in the Olympics, I was, I was like, well, maybe, maybe this is something that I should, you know, give a chance and kind of learn the game a little bit.
And, uh, certainly have gone to some flag events, been very active in the community in BC, trying to, uh, grow, um, and support the, uh, the men's and the women's, uh, flag football, as well as the boys and the girls, um, community football leagues.
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Chapter 4: How does Nathan Rourke evaluate the team's performance despite the preseason loss?
And, um, definitely see that it's a different game. And so I don't necessarily think that the, the tackle skills that I have, uh, are going to, uh, uh, the one-to-one translation, uh, to the fives game. And so, um, I wanted to do that. So I, yeah, I played a couple of weeks, um, in the elite division in the BC football league.
And, um, I appreciate it to all those people there who helped me, um, help me to try that out and had a good time doing it.
Would it be possible for you to go to the Olympics?
The way that it's been explained to me right now is that, you know, there's, depending on who makes the roster, because there's not a ton of people, but the CFL is going to support and do their best to be able to, you know, make it at least amount of commitment away from... the CFL season in terms of scheduling and health benefits and all that different type of stuff.
And certainly at this point, it seems like there's going to be full participation and support from the clubs and from the CFL to help make CFL players eligible and available to at the very least miss one or two games during the 28th season. Because I think it's only going to be about maybe three weeks, two weeks maximum, in terms of the competition.
So not sure exactly what it's going to look like, but from what I've heard so far, it seems like there's going to be full support.
Is it useful as a training exercise? Because we've heard about hockey players in the past here that have either played ball hockey or roller hockey in the offseason, and I know there's a lot of soccer players that will play futsal when the weather turns lousy, and it's like a fundamentally different game And some of, you know, there's always an interesting debate around it.
It's like, does it enhance your skills? Does that actually, you know, is it not advantageous to what you're doing for your day job? So I'm curious, it's like when you are playing flag, do you actually think like, wow, this is something that could benefit me when I go out and play actual proper tackle football?
Yeah, I think that there are some things. I think that the decision-making is just so much quicker, which is good, and being able to anticipate things. The windows are a lot tighter. It's like you're in the red zone the entire time. So just in terms of the throws are a little bit different, but also with the free rusher,
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Chapter 5: What are Nathan Rourke's personal goals for the upcoming CFL season?
And, you know, whether you agree with this decision or not... One thing I will say about Thomas Tuchel is he is steadfast in his decision-making. He is ruthless in his decision-making, which, you know, I mean, as an England supporter, I'm happy to see that he's confident and I hope that he's picked the right squad. But I also know that if England disappoints at this World Cup and
You know, the thing for England is not winning the World Cup is the disappointment, right? He is going to hear about it. Here is Thomas Tuchel talking about Harry Maguire specifically and his rather public disappointment.
When Harry Maguire said yesterday that he was shocked and gutted, were you disappointed in that reaction?
It was not necessary to make it public. I knew about the reaction, I knew about his feelings about it. It didn't help, but I understand the disappointment. I respect him a lot as a player, even more since the last March camp because he was excellent on the pitch. I respect him as a big personality, but the decision was not a personal one.
It is a decision for the four central defenders that were outstanding for us.
Does it show that reaction why perhaps you left him out? I didn't say that.
So one of the things that we want to do on this show... is get everyone interested in some of the narratives heading into this World Cup. So, you know, that you can get, maybe if you're not an England supporter or anything, but you have a little bit to go on when England ultimately crashes out, you can say like, oh, that was interesting because... They should have had Harry Maguire in there.
Yeah, you can say that. Yeah. You know, like you can act like an expert and you can say things like... You got to wonder what having Cole Palmer in there might have done for an England team that struggled to score.
It's great for the theater and drama.
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Chapter 6: How does Nathan Rourke plan to reduce turnovers while maintaining aggression?
Canucks Talk with Jamie Dodd and Thomas Drantz. We'll dive deep into all that's happening with the Vancouver Canucks. Listen 12 to 2 p.m. on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. Now for my favorite part of the show. What'd I say? Talk to the audience. Oh, God, this is always dead. It's what we learn times. It's what we learn time. It's what we learn time.
On the show. 834 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford Brough for the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. They're ready to give you the financial fresh start you deserve. Visit them online at sands-trustee.com. We are in hour three of the program. This hour is brought to you by the B.C. Construction Safety Alliance.
Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca. Not bad. You're very smug that you figured this out. Not bad. Not bad. So, in an effort to read more humanoid submissions for what we learned, we're skipping over ours today. We're going straight to the end basket. Fire up the dot matrix.
Humanoid submissions for what we learned brought to you as always by AJ's Pizza on East Broadway. From corporate events to special events, there's no order too large. Order online at AJ's.pizza.
Unsigned what we learned. I learned that a father-son combo can get a team to a finals. your move Canucks. And in case you have no idea what that's about, here's another text. Hey guys, just wondering if you think there's any positive comparison to be made between Jalen Brunson and his father being a coach on the Knicks and Manny and Caleb Malhotra possibly uniting with the Canucks.
I mean, does everyone know the backstory there with Jalen Brunson and Rick Brunson? Is everyone aware of this?
Tell them.
Okay, so Jalen Brunson, star guard for the Knicks. His dad was a longtime NBA player and then transitioned into coaching. Last year, he was an assistant coach on the Knicks. And there were complaints. Yes. Anonymous complaints that the father of the star player had too much influence on the coaching staff and that the Brunsons might have had too much clout within the organization.
That was after the Knicks... crashed out in the conference final, I think, after the Pacers. There are all these reports that there are a bunch of unhappy Knicks.
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Chapter 7: What challenges did Nathan Rourke face in adapting to Buck Pierce's offense?
You're really against this. I'm really against it.
I am really against it.
Yeah. I go back and forth on it. One day I wake up I'm like they're high character people they'll figure it out they won't put themselves above the team and then other times I'm just like even if they don't do anything wrong someone will make something out of it because just the nature of human beings we're awful people.
I just said, go look at the Brunson's or the Brunsi.
Yeah.
Brunsi. I like that one. This one is from Adam in the woodshop. Hashtag WWL. What we learned. I learned that the enhanced games brackets, the steroid games are taking place in Las Vegas and you should have the dogs provide daily updates. I haven't been playing, paying too close attention to this. I did see the Jack swimmer. Did you see pictures of him?
Yeah, but the swimmer that won wasn't even on steroids. What was he on? Nothing. Oh. That's been the big story with these games is that all these non-doping athletes are winning. Why would they go if they're clean? Just to prove, I guess, that they can compete. There's no advantage to winning. And they lost horribly. No, they keep winning. I think it's been a bit of a dud overall, hasn't it?
Yeah.
It's not going the way they planned it, at least.
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Chapter 8: What experiences did Nathan Rourke have with flag football leading up to the 2028 Olympics?
Montreal fans are the best booers in the league. Actually, that's from Peter the teacher. Apologies to Peter the teacher. Peter the teacher. Yes. Did you hear some of the booing? Do you remember the other day I was saying how I hate the ref you suck chant? Because there's something pure about just an arena full of just booing. We saw that in Montreal.
I don't want to say too many nice things about the Montreal crowd. French-Canadian boos are extra angry. I don't know what it is. Le boo? Le boo? The Montreal crowd. I think when we were talking about them being the St. Louis Cardinals fans of the NHL, we appreciate them. They're knowledgeable fans, but... Let's not hype them up too much, right?
Because then, you know, they're going to think they're better than us.
Yeah, that's fair.
Back in the, I mean, people have texted into the show and said, like, when I used to go to games at the Coliseum, the Montreal fans were the worst because they were so arrogant. Yeah, they were. The Leafs fans were just, I mean, a Leafs game in the Coliseum back in the day wasn't a huge deal. It was the Montreal game.
That was the big deal because the Habs obviously won all sorts of Stanley Cups in the 70s, but also the 80s.
Unsigned what we learned coming in. What we learned after watching last night's overtime. Are we going to get an ultra long overtime game this postseason? Great question. I was thinking about that. We haven't had one of those either, adding to that narrative that this hasn't been a great postseason.
The longest game of this postseason so far was Vegas-Utah game five first round, which went to 528 of the second overtime period. So we really haven't had one of those marathon games yet. I mean, that's usually one of the great things, especially in the early rounds, is you get so many overtime games. One of them is destined to be one of those lengthy ones. But it has been kind of a dud.
Not going to lie.
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