It feels like Alex Hale is nearing the end of the line with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“At this stage of things, internally, the confidence is likely shot here,” SportsCage regular Arash Madani said. “That’s why I’m saying it’s on to the next one.”
Hale was booed by the home fans in Regina after missing his second field goal in the third quarter of Sunday’s 32-26 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The misses came from 46 and 47 yards. That dropped him to 50 percent – 6 of 12 – on kicks of 40 yards or longer. Hale has made 75 percent of his field-goal attempts this season.
Through 12 games, two-thirds of the season, the numbers just aren’t good enough for the CFL rookie from Australia.
“They gave Hale a chance. It hasn’t worked out,” Madani said. “At some point, as a coaching staff, you need to have confidence in somebody because now we’re post Labour Day. As my pal (former Toronto Blue Jays manager) John Gibbons would say, ‘It’s nut-cutting time.’
“(Riders coach) Corey Mace has to know (that) if we’re 45 to 52 (yards), we’re going to have a real good shot of nailing this. If it’s 35 to 45, it better be automatic.”
The Riders signed kicker Dawson Hodge last month and Mace seemed close to handing over the kicking duties shortly thereafter. He never got to the point of taking Hale out of the lineup.
Riders GM Jeremy O’Day and his front office must start considering other options, Madani said. The problem, he added, is there aren’t many established kickers out there right now.
The one possibility is signing Brady Lidster, who was released by the Toronto Argonauts last week after Lirim Hajrullahu was set to return from a hamstring injury.
Lidster, 21, of St. Thomas, Ont., made 15 of 21 field goals (71.4 per cent) he attempted over five games with Toronto and went 8-for-12 on converts.
“Here you have a young Canadian kid, who’s kicked in (adverse) conditions before and he’s kicked at Mosaic before,” Madani said. “Let’s remember earlier this season, from outside of 50 yards, Brady Lidster, no problem.
“In really bad conditions, as a rookie, he’s gone and nailed 45-plus-yard field goals. He’s gotten a taste of the CFL. It doesn’t cost you much to bring him in and put him on the practice roster, see what you have.
“Go do it.”
The leash needs to be short with whoever the Riders use for their next game, and onward from there, Madani said.
“The thing with the kicking is it’s not like you’re going to bring three or four guys in and have a long audition with them,” he said. “Your guy either does or he doesn’t (make kicks). That’s it. It’s good or it’s no good.
“If there’s a couple that are going to be no good and you have no real track record, it’s on to the next one.”
Hale attempted just one more kick after his second missed field goal on Sunday, a successful point after on Tommy Stevens’ first touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter.
The Riders then took a seven-point lead with just over three minutes to play in regulation when Stevens found the end zone for a second time. Mace opted to try a two-point conversion to up the lead to nine points, two possessions, but the Riders wouldn’t capitalize.
Madani and host Barney Shynkaruk were on opposite sides of the coin on that decision.
Watch the full conversation below.
