HAMILTON — The Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers took the podium at Tim Hortons Field as they start getting ready for the 110th Grey Cup on Sunday.

Quarterback Cody Fajardo talked about his relationship with head coach Jason Maas and playing against a dominant Alouettes defence, while offensive lineman Kristian Matte spoke on how special it is to return to the Grey Cup for the first time since his rookie season and representing the province of Quebec.

Linebacker Darnell Sankey also spoke to the media on the field in Hamilton about being a part of Noel Thorpe’s defensive system and the success on that side of the ball.

Running back Brady Oliveira touched on returning to the Grey Cup after last year’s loss to the Toronto Argonauts and his preparation going into this year’s game against the Alouettes.

Check out the quotes from the Alouettes and Blue Bombers media availability in Hamilton.

110th GREY CUP
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Montreal Alouettes

“Going to the Grey Cup is the goal every year. It’s an incredible feeling to be here this week. We know there’s a lot of work to be done still. I was a rookie my first year in 2010 and I thought I was gonna go back to the Grey Cup every year after that. We’re confident as young athletes or older athletes, like myself, we’re confident every year. You never know when you’re gonna have that chance. So you have to really embrace the moment. We’re very excited to be here. I’m thrilled for the young guys on our team to be here and experienced this. But like I said, there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

— Matte on his feelings being back in the Grey Cup with the Alouettes

“That’s something special. I know (head coach Jason Maas) early in the year when we started the season, it’s one of those things that he really wanted to instill the pride of, not just the City of Montreal, but the province of Quebec, also the four-two-five squadron with the military, it’s something that he wanted to bring back, because that’s where it all started. It’s a big sense of pride. I grew up in Quebec, and I’m a proud Quebecer, and it’s one of those things that is a special feeling when you play at our stadium. It’s a special feeling when you play for people bigger than yourself when you play for the province is also a special feeling. So for us, and I’ve said this many interviews, how we play for our fans, that’s what we play for. Because without them, we wouldn’t be able to do this. So we’re extremely proud. But we also want to give them an even better show this week.”

— The offensive lineman on being proud of his team and their ties with the province of Quebec

“Not just him, but our entire defence. It’s been a struggle all year. Sometimes we go into practice, and we don’t have the best day offensively. I’ll be frustrated, because I’m a competitor. And then we go out to the game we see them shut down the opposing offence and it’s like, we just have a really, really good defence.”

“He’s one of the fastest players I’ve seen in this league, in the NFL or in college. You throw a ball and you think there’s no way he can get to it. And all of a sudden he gets to it. And it’s like, I’m glad that guy’s on my team.”

– Fajardo on going against Marc-Antoine Dequoy and the entire Alouettes defence in practice every day

“First thing he said was you guys are going to feel like you’re the most important part of the organization because you are and that makes you feel validated as a player. It makes you feel like the early mornings, late nights the time you spend studying your playbook and watching film gets validated when you have a head coach who just sees that and understands how much sacrifices you make.”

– The veteran pivot talked about his head coach and the message he preached to the team before the season

“The guys on the team and the coaching staff, you know, (defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe), (linebackers coach Greg Quick), they allow us to play football. They coach well, but they don’t over coach, they tell us where to be, what they expect out of this certain play and then it’s go make a play. I think when you get coaches who really trust their players, and trust the leadership on the team to bring us all in, then you can build out that.”

– Sankey on the defensive success the Alouettes have enjoyed this season

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

“I’ve definitely thought about it. I thought about it lots throughout my offseason. A lot. It was a feeling that I don’t want to ever feel again, but it’s the nature of the business, you’re not going to win them all. And I think it was definitely a good learning experience for lots of guys, for myself for sure. Taking that to the off-season being critical, how can I improve in lots of areas of my game and bring into this season and continue to evolve and to help my team get to another championship and now here we are.”

— Oliveira on how much he thought about the loss to the Argos in the 109th Grey Cup

“Sticking to my process of what I’ve done, every single week, this entire season. Just my attitude and my energy that I bring throughout every single week. I’m a high energy guy that works extremely hard throughout the week. And I think that’s contagious to the guys around me. So nothing else is gonna change.”

— The running back on his preparation during Grey Cup week

“They’re a good group, they do lots of things well, it’s going to be a challenge. Their defence is what has got them to this point, them being in a Grey Cup. It’s been their defence carrying that team and of course, special teams has done a great job. It’ll give me a task, they have a great defensive line, great linebackers and a great back end.”

— Oliveira on the challenge of facing the Alouettes defence