Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
The reigning Prairie Football Conference (PFC) Champions have plenty of familiar faces in pads back this year. Head Coach Scott MacAulay is proud of Regina Thunder’s culture of building and retaining talent.
“I’d say on defence we have eight out of 12 (returning starters), and then on offence, pretty much our entire offensive line is back. (We) probably have nine out of 12 guys back for starters,” MacAulay explained.
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Recruiting local high school talent is a priority in Regina rather than older USports players that other powerhouse teams target to build a yearly squad.
“We’re going after the Saskatchewan kids and trying to develop them as 18-year-olds and keep them around until they’re 22,” MacAulay said.
Head coach Scott MacAulay (right) coaching during the 2025 spring camp (Wanda Harron/Regina Thunder).
The recruiting pitch to high schoolers is that success will come through time and that the local system has some strong advantages, especially when the coaching staff includes a former pro who went through that very process with the Thunder.
Hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders Plaza of Honour member Chris Getzlaf is the newest member of the Regina Thunder staff.
It’s a return to his first football home after high school. Getzlaf played for the Thunder from 2001 to 2004.
MacAulay talked about how the organization got him back in maroon.
“He’s a Thunder Alumni and he’s big time in the football community in Regina,” MacAulay said.
“Our leadership development coordinator, John Tokar, is pretty tight with him, so I think he was always in his ear and it opened up the door to have a conversation with him about coming aboard and helping out.”
Getzlaf will be an offensive consultant to the Thunder this season, something MacAulay has already noted his impact on.
“He might not be at practice every day, but he’s definitely a mentor. He’s great at watching film and providing feedback on skillsets or system-wide, suggesting different routes to make a concept work better,” he said.
Getzlaf is an offensive boost to a team that led the PFC in passing offence last season, but will it be enough to topple arch-rival Saskatoon Hilltops?
The Shrine Bowl is the regular-season trophy competed for between the two Saskatchewan teams, and it hasn’t been held by Regina for the past two seasons.
“Every year you see them (Saskatoon) graduating 15-20 guys and you’re like, ‘This is the year! They’re not going to be as good,’ but they’ve got another 15-20 waiting to come in.” MacAulay explained.
When asked if it was their year this year, he said the team is certainly hoping so, “But we’re going to focus on the Edmonton Huskies first.”
Regina’s first week matchup against the Huskies will be in Edmonton on August 10.
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