REGINA'S BLUE COLLAR RECEIVING CORE

Riders receiver Andy Fantuz, pictured, and Co. get their jobs done with a minimal of flash. Says Stamps defensive halfback Keon Raymond: ''All they care about is catching footballs, moving the chains and winning games.''

Photograph by: Herald Archive, Canwest News Service
They substitute old-fashioned competence for the more in-vogue flamboyance. Command grudging respect without inspiring paralyzing fear.

There’s no jaw-dropping, weekly TSN-Highlight-Of-The-Night candidate a la Jeremaine Copeland or Fred Stamps. None of the urbane elegance of, say, Geroy Simon. The swagger of Arland Bruce III. Or the Usain Bolt-like RPM of Romby Bryant.

Why, their only receiving all-star selection, the wiry tough/bantam rooster slotback Weston Dressler, has been hobbling around on crutches since early October after breaking his right leg in a game against the Argos and is cruelly done for the duration, whether that encompasses only a few more days or through next weekend.

In his absence, no Saskatchewan Roughrider pass-catcher managed to crack the Top 10 in terms of number or yardage.

They’re earnest, industrious, sturdy, selfless, reliable, business-like non-imports. Substance over style. Aspiring Ben Cahoons-in-training.

But you’d hardly classify them the sexiest chorus line in the CFL.

“I’m not big on sexy,’’ rebutted Calgary Stampeders’ defensive backfield coach Cory Chamblin on Thursday, as the countdown to Sunday’s West Final began in earnest. “But I am big on getting the job done. And they do that. We have plenty of admiration for that receiving corps, believe me. If I’m a head coach? I want these guys on my team.’’

Andy Fantuz. Chris Getzlaf. Pocket-dynamo Robb Bagg. That Didn’t-You-Used-To-Be-Jason Clermont? fellow wearing No. 82 in green.

“Maybe,’’ continued Chamblin, “they’re not the fastest. Maybe they’re missing that one player that stands out; that everyone looks at. But they work for each other. They work for their quarterback. Which is why, as a group — and that’s the thing you admire most about them, they really are a group — you’ve got to rank them right up there with the best in the league.’’

Don’t believe it? Just let down your guard an instant, or for as long as it takes Darian Durant to unload a football . . .

“I don’t think they care about all-stars or headlines or stats or adulation or any of that,’’ scoffed Stampeder defensive halfback Keon Raymond. “All they care about is catching footballs, moving the chains and winning games. You guys or the fans might not give them their due but we certainly don’t underestimate them.
“Fear? I don’t fear anyone, except God.

“But I do have a lot of respect for those guys.’’

When the influential Dressler hobbled off and the worst possible news was confirmed over a month ago, everyone wondered how on earth the Riders would ever struggle on. Well, quite nicely, as it turns out, thank you. Bagg stepped into the breach and snared 59 passes. Getzlaf helped out with 41. And Clermont, in a subsidiary role to his salad days as a B.C. Lion mainstay, 23.

They coped the only way possible: by committee.

“What they do as well as any group in the league,’’ cautioned Calgary corner Dwight Anderson, “is hustle. They’re flat-out, 100 per cent every play. Whistle to whistle. With a quarterback like (Darian) Durant, who can use his legs, scramble around and keep plays alive, those guys are great targets. Because, like I say, they don’t quit, they’re never lazy about coming back to the quarterback or trying to find an open spot.
“They may not have the blinding speed of a lot of receivers, but they’re smart, run great routes and they’re always active, so, as a DB, they work you; you can never rest.

“If you let up, they can burn you.’’

Anderson and the rest of the Calgary defensive backfield wear the third-degree scars to prove it.
Too slow? Getzlaf, remember, latched onto a 65-yard touchdown pass from Durant in the dying embers of the first meeting between the teams, Aug. 1 at McMahon Stadium, to poleaxe the Stamps, 24-23.

Unspectacular? Fantuz, for those in need of a quick refresher course, has been absolutely gluttonous the past two starts versus the Red and White — that wildly compelling 44-44 OT tie at McMahon and the 30-14 division-clinching Rider at Mosaic (It’ll Always Be Taylor Field) Stadium two weeks ago — catching a combined 22 passes for 272 yards and a TD.

“They’re all really, really good receivers,’’ complimented Chamblin. “Fantuz. Bagg. Clermont. When I was coaching out east in Winnipeg and Getzlaf was still in Hamilton, just getting started, you could tell even then that he had the ability.’’

No, they may not be the swiftest or the sassiest or the showiest set around. But if style points are all you’re interested in, check out Battle of the Blades.

“You can say they’re not this or they’re not that,’’ said Chamblin admiringly. “But what they are is effective. That’s the bottom line.

“They just do the job.

“They just get it done.’’