Courtesy Edmonton Journal:

If you think it’s going to be hard for Edmonton Eskimos head coach Richie Hall to return to Regina this weekend, wait till the Saskatchewan Roughriders fans get hold of Joe Mc-Grath.

Having signed as a free agent this off-season, the Moose Jaw, Sask., product lasted all of five days in Riders camp before he asked for a trade back to Edmonton, which was granted in exchange for a 2010 first-round draft pick.

Riders players openly expressed their dismay with the move and Saturday’s venture into Regina is the first time McGrath, the Esks starting left offensive tackle, sees action at Mosaic Stadium.

“Man, I’m gonna start saying I’m from Grand Forks because he’s giving Moose Jaw a bad name,” veteran Riders defensive tackle Scott Schultz, who also hails from Moose Jaw, told members of the Regina media shortly after the deal.

“We definitely don’t want any miserable players around here. If he was miserable or really unhappy, then I’m glad that he got his way and he’s out of here because we don’t want that on our team.

“I don’t know, what do we play them, two, three, four times this year? It’s going to be fun,” Schultz added.

Riders offensive lineman Marc Parenteau was on the same page as Schultz.

“We tried to involve Joe in the group as much as we could,” said Parenteau. “I think he had problems maybe adjusting with that. Maybe he had some stuff going (on) back home, whatever it may be. If he’s happier (in Edmonton), that’s what it is.”

That seems to be the simple case. McGrath candidly said this week that he wanted to be back in Edmonton, where he spent the previous five seasons, although he never really came out and said it at the time. Now he’ll have to face the same surly Riders he fully expected to be teammates with when he initially signed back in mid-February.

“It’s just football. No matter where you go, the fans are going to boo you, no matter if you were with them or weren’t with them. That’s what makes it fun. We’re going into a hostile environment and, hopefully, we’ll come up with a win,” McGrath said on Wednesday.

Hostile might be a delicate way of putting it.

“Yeah, probably,” said McGrath. “But you don’t pay attention to that anyway. You block it out and concentrate on what’s going on on the field. If they (boo), it’s probably for the first five minutes of the game. After that, it’s all about the game.

“We’re all professionals,” McGrath added of leaving the Riders.

“Football things happen. We never know what the future holds for us. We could be here one day and the next you’re gone. It’s how it is; that’s the business. It’s no hard feelings for me and, hopefully, it’s the same for them.”

Statements made shortly after the trade suggest different, and the reaction from fans and Riders themselves will be, shall we say, intriguing. Even mild-mannered head coach Ken Miller took a bit of a backhanded shot at the Esks lineman.

“I’ve talked with everyone about the character we have in our locker-room,” Miller said shortly after the trade.

“If we have someone who feels he’s not going to fit in there, it’s a good thing he’s not there. That’s really a key to our success is the chemistry.”

The chemistry obviously was a bad concoction for McGrath.

“I wanted to be an Eskimo. I love the city of Edmonton and wanted to play here,” he said, matter-offactly.

So why didn’t he simply re-sign here?

“I wanted to test the free-agency market and I wanted to come back,” he said. “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. That’s the old saying, isn’t it?

“You know, I don’t have any regrets. I think it’s a win-win for both sides and I’m just glad it worked out. I’ve been here five years, found this to be home and sometimes you realize you had a good thing going here and you want to come back.”

How it works out Saturday will be the question.

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