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Published Oct 29, 2025 • 3 minute read
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Redha Kramdi of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (right) defends against Montreal Alouettes’ Regis Cibasu during a CFL game in Winnipeg in 2023. Photo by John Woods /The Canadian PressArticle content
When Redha Kramdi, Joey Corcoran and Kevens Clercius were drafted by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, there’s one thing they didn’t have on their bingo cards: Playing a playoff game in their home town of Montreal.
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“When I got here I didn’t even know crossover was a thing,” Clercius was saying on Wednesday.
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That’s certainly not something the receiver would have learned at the University of Connecticut.
The CFL’s unique rule, allowing a fourth-place team in one division to claim the third playoff spot in the other, will pit the Bombers against the Alouettes in the East semifinal in Montreal on Saturday.
“It’s great to go home and have my mom in the stands,” Corcoran, also a receiver, said. “But I’m going there to win. I want to kick ass.”
Mom may want to wash her son’s mouth out with soap after reading that, but the 24-year-old Corcoran knows it won’t change for whom she or his brother, aunts, uncles and friends in the stands will be cheering.
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“Winnipeg, all the way,” he said. “They’re not allowed to cheer for Montreal.”
A fifth-round draft pick out of the University of New Hampshire just this year, Corcoran says the only thing on his mind when he came to Winnipeg was a Grey Cup.
That makes Saturday, the first step towards it, the biggest game of his life.
“Some guys have been there, but I can guarantee you they want to get there again,” he said. “We love our chances. It’s going to take all of us coming together, and that’s what we’ve been doing all week. We love it.”
It’ll likely take some young receivers stepping up, too, if star Nic Demski’s hamstring injury keeps him out. Demski hasn’t practised this week and appears doubtful to play on Saturday.
It’s a lot to ask of first- or second-year receivers.
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Corcoran has caught just 10 passes as a rookie. Clercius has nabbed 40 in his second season.
The latter will have a brother and sister, cousins, friends and hopefully his dad in the crowd on Saturday, all cheering for the Bombers, he says.
“Now it’s more about ‘win,’ and less about my people at home,” Clercius said. “Now it’s go big or go home.”
Even for 28-year-old Kramdi, the elder statesman of the Montreal Mafia, it’ll be the first time he’s been on the road for a playoff game that wasn’t a Grey Cup game. The fact it’s home, sweet home, has added some responsibilities.
“It’s cool,” the dime back said. “A bit dragging to manage all the tickets and have family coming. But always appreciative of the support. They know when October comes around I’m not the most fun person to talk to. I just got the most tickets I can, and spread it out.”
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Kramdi figures he’ll have some 20 family and friends in the crowd.
“Obviously they’re cheering for the Blue Bombers,” he said. “Because they’re my family. They wouldn’t be family or friends if they wouldn’t cheer for me. My mom is a big fan of Zach (Collaros) and Demski. So when we win, hopefully she can get a picture with them.”
Kramdi sounds assured, and why wouldn’t he be?
Winnipeg’s second-round pick in 2021, all he’s known is seasons that end with trips to the Grey Cup. That’s all he cares about this year, too.
Family and friends may appreciate this unique opportunity, but he only sees the business end of the trip.
“The game could have been in Morris, I don’t care.”
Morris, Montreal, Hamilton – it doesn’t matter.
This year, all roads lead back to Winnipeg.
paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia
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