Halford & Brough in the Morning - Nathan Rourke & Jesse Marsch

Episode Date: June 3, 2025

In hour three, Mike & Jason are joined by BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke (1:35) ahead of Saturday's home opener versus the Elks, plus the boys chat with Canada Mens National Soccer Team manager Jesse Marsch (24:28), as his club gets set for their Gold Cup matchup on Tuesday June 17th at BC Place versus Honduras.  This podcast is produced by Andy Cole and Greg Balloch. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Music 8.03 on a Tuesday, happy Tuesday everybody, Halperd Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halperd and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates, BC's first and trusted choice for debt help with over 3,000 five-star reviews. Visit them online at Sands-Trustee.com. We are now in hour three of the program. BC Lions starting quarterback Nathan Rourke is going to join us in just a moment here to kick off hour three. Hour three of this program is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound visit

them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. We are coming to you live from the Kintec studio Kintec footwear and orthotics working together with you in step guests on Sportsnet 650 calling on the hotline powered by Power West Industries don't get caught in the dark when it matters most. Visit them at powerwest.ca today. They keep the lights on. So the BC Lions open their season this Saturday at seven o'clock against the visiting Edmonton.

Alex, of course, an hour and 15 minutes prior to kickoff. It's going to be Snoop headlining the concert kickoff series at BC Place. Saturday should be a lot of fun. Let's go now to the Power West Industries hotline. We'll be joined by the starting quarterback on Saturday. Nathan Rorick of the BC Lions joins us now on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650.

Morning, Nathan, how are you? Good, guys, how are you guys doing? Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for coming on. We appreciate you taking the time. So you got the Elks on Saturday. You had the Elks in your final preseason tuneup game last Friday, a 20 to 19 loss, but the score is kind of immaterial. A good game for you, eight for eight, 84 yards passing. How did you feel in that preseason game?

And was it an adequate tuneup for the regular season opener on Saturday? Yeah, I think in those types of games you just want to be able to have good operation, be efficient and get some big situational practice going into the season. I think we did that and obviously there's only so much you can get from a preseason game, but they were going against their starters and that's always good. So the speed of the game and to be caught up with that is all good things and so I think it's going well for the prep that we are putting into the Week one and this weekend over the payoff during the game. How valuable has it been getting a training camp?

And some preseason games unlike last season when you came to the team halfway through the season Yeah, I think it's been great to have full time of prep and be able to not feel rushed, to be able to ease your way into something, but also to be able to take the fall off season to spend time with under head coach Buck Pierce and to be able to learn the

offense from him has been really valuable and really meaningful. I think it's been able to, for things to slow down a little bit, and offense from him. It has been really valuable and really meaningful and I think it's been able for things to slow down again for me which has been good. I felt like I was taking some steps as a player and quarterback in right development already and I look forward to that continuing during the season. This might sound like an obvious question but what did it feel like last season when

you felt rushed? How does that play out on the field? Yeah, I mean, there's timing things, obviously, getting back and showing up the game. I think you don't want to ever be, as a player, thinking too much. You want to go out there and just play. Unable to play fast and just let things happen, I think you're thinking about every little thing, the steps, how to grip the ball, what you're seeing. You might not be trusting it as much, but when you feel like you're comfortable with things, you're doing things like it's second nature, you're just able to play a lot more loose and faster. I think that's where I'm feeling where I'm at right now. We're speaking to Nathan Rourke, BC Lions quarterback here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650.

You mentioned your new head coach, Buck Pierce. What's it like working for a guy who's been a former quarterback in the CFL and been an offensive coordinator in Winnipeg where they had one of the league's most dynamic offenses? What's it been like working with Buck so far? Yeah, it's been great. I think his perspective and his experience at the position is extremely valuable.

I think there are certain things you can only get from playing the position. So that's been great to learn from. But obviously the experience and the success as a coordinator at Winnipeg is great. And I think it's a great ad for our organization. And we're hoping to replicate some of that success here in the coming years. But it's just been great to learn and to get another perspective on the game

and really broaden my view in that perspective. Have you had a chance to go back and watch any of Buck's highlights from when he was the quarterback for the BC Lions? Oh yeah, I remember watching him, we were watching him growing up a little bit, which I won't tell him, I won't remind him.

But, you know, I, yeah, definitely, definitely seemed to have a pull-up in meetings sometimes, just to get a little bit of a laugh. He's a great player, one of the toughest players I've seen. Made a lot of plays, I think there's a lot of things great player, one of the toughest players I've seen, made a lot of plays. I think there's a lot of things that resemble, my game resembles his. So and I think that just being able to see that resemblance is able to, you know, see hopefully play out in the field and be able to apply some things.

So I think that's just, I think that's just cool to be a part of and to have a coach who understands how to get it done as a player and a coach. I hope you don't take as many big hits as Buck Peaks did. Are you a Snoop Dogg fan? Are you going to sneak out at all and see any of the concerts? I won't sneak out. I'm definitely a fan. I think it's always cool what Mr. Doman is doing. Bringing in some really cool guests that a wide audience can appreciate. We're fired up about it. We're fired up about the environment that we're going to be able to play in.

It's always a fun one, the opener. We're speaking to Nathan Rourke, BC Lions quarterback here on the Haliford and Breff show on Sportsnet 650. So obviously last year, Nathan, there was a dynamic at quarterback with you and Vernon Adams Jr. And I know you guys spoke publicly about how you got along

and you're respected and like working with one another, but there was a definite competition there and it played out throughout the year about who was gonna get the snaps and who's gonna be the number one. Now it's a lot different you've got a veteran guy in Jeremiah Misoli working as the number two. What's the quarterback room like now with Jeremiah in the mix? Yeah he's been great. He's got nothing but positive things to say.

I mean obviously I have tremendous respect for him as a player and the success he's had in Hamilton and in Ottawa and he just brings just a wealth of knowledge and experience to the room and just honestly another coach in there just another perspective to be able to you know say like how do we get this done at the end of the day I just want to get become better I want to be a better player and I think he's one of those people that have been helping me get to where we need to be and you know the CSL and everything is that more often than not you need to to guys to me get to where we need to be. And you know, the CSL and everything is that more often than not, you need to, to you guys to get you to where you want to go.

And I think that we don't have any other, but we have a lot of trust in the guys in the room and to get it done if something would happen. So I think that that, that, that is tremendously comforting. And so we're benefiting from him being there in more ways than one. Pivoting off the lion stuff for a minute here, I did want to ask you about your brother. What was it like and how cool was it to see him get drafted by the Niners this spring?

Yeah, it was, it was awesome. It was a tremendous honor to be there with him and to, to experience that with him and, and, um, yeah, to be there in person. It was a tremendous nerve-wracking day, a lot of nerves, anxiety, especially with the team that thought we're gonna pick him, pass on him, but the fact that he got drafted in a separate organization like the Niners and you know they got a plan for him long term and they're allowing him to rehab and get healthy and there's no rushing him back.. I'm extremely excited for them, proud of them, and happy to be a part of whatever,

with a very special day. What were you able to share with them about your experience as the NFL? Because there is a difference, and as fair or unfair as it is, when a guy gets drafted, there's more of an investment in him as opposed to showing up and having to work your way in,

but you still got to experience not just that working in process, but with a lot of different NFL teams. So what sort of advice or lessons were you able to share with your brother? Obviously, he's just at the beginning of his journey, but he's got a journey in the NFL now. Yeah, absolutely.

I think you're 100% right in saying that, you know, the draft picks get, you know, a little bit of a different experience than the guys who are under-assisted, but, you know, I just, you know, he went through a similar situation where last year, where he went from Ohio to Indiana, and he kind of had to win the respect

and win the trust of the guys there. And I said, everything that you did there to win that experience and to be the guy and to establish yourself as a leader, those are all the same things that are gonna be important going into a new building in the part of what I've found in my career is that people can just kind of see through any type of false sense of pride or ego

or whatever it is they can see through it. You just be genuine, be who you are. And I think that's who we've been so far. And I think people are really, they really gravitate towards that. And so not being anybody other than himself, I think is a big one. The BC Lions open their season as mentioned a couple times.

We'll mention it again this Saturday, seven o'clock kickoff against the visiting Edmonton Alks. And of course at 5.45 it it'll be prompt concert kickoff series featuring Snoop that'll all be at BC place this Saturday. Nathan, thanks a lot for doing this today, man. We really appreciate you taking the time. Best of luck on Saturday. Go get a dub and then we'll be doing this a few times

throughout the regular season. Sounds good. Thanks guys. Appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. That's Nathan Rourke, BC Lions starting quarterback here on the Haliford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It is interesting, I don't wanna say even though, cause that's not really fair, but even though his brother was like,

it was his seventh round pick, it was the last round of the draft. Countless people that I've talked to that have covered the NFL in detail say there's such a dramatic difference between guys that get drafted and guys that don't. Well, someone in your organization wanted you and believed in you. And you know how people are with their opinions, right? Once you've got an opinion, you don't want to go off that

opinion. It's really tough. It's actually kind of a problem actually, because people have trouble changing their minds because they don't want to be seen as a flip-flopper. And it's really tough. It's actually kind of a problem actually. Yeah. Because people have trouble changing their minds because they don't want to be seen as a flip-flopper. And it's a quarterback. Anytime you draft a quarterback period, there's some intrigue around it because. Well, look at the guy they've got right now where they drafted him. Bingo. Like that's Mr. Irrelevant essentially, right?

And you're looking at it and you're saying, well, now you're going to an organization that's had this great success in unearthing a diamond in the rough in Brock Purdy in the far reaches last round of the draft. And look at what he's turned into. There's a lot of pressure and expectation that comes with that, even though you're a seventh round pick coming off ACL surgery. Like that's just the nature of it. So, you know, it's funny because with those expectations,

there's a good side of it. There's more attention paid to you. You probably get more bites at the apple. You're probably taken a little bit more seriously as a prospect. The downside of it is with expectations comes pressure and it'll be very curious to see what happens after this. I think Curtis' work from everything

that I've read, it's basically going to get like the NFL's version of a red shirt year. He's not expected to do much, do much like in terms of a physical other than get rehabbed and learn the playbook and then we'll see where it goes. Can I do a, what we learned about another quarterback that got drafted? I would love for you to do what we learned about

an NFL quarterback that just got drafted. Okay. We got some audio to play here from Dion Sanders. Neon Dion was on the Say What Needs to Be Said podcast hosted by former NFL cornerback, Asante Samuel. And he was asked about his son, Shadur, um, dropping all the way to the fifth

round before he was selected by the Cleveland Browns, expected to be a first round pick, had a big party and then dropped all the way to the fifth round. And there was a lot of talk out there that he didn't interview well. Unprofessional was the word thrown around. Unprofessional. So what did Papa have to say about that? When you sit up there and say something like he went in a meeting unprepared, like dude,

Shadrassana who's had six different coordinators who has still function and went up leveled up every time? We brought somebody new in and you're gonna tell me he was every situation. You don't tell me he had on headphones Was that the clip that was it they Sent around it was a very long podcast and they they cut little snippets out of it That was one of the main ones there Did you think anyway the crux of it was, he said that the reports about his son being unprepared and unprofessional in meetings hurt,

but he also went on to say that it was foolish. He didn't necessarily agree with this claim or assertion that his shooter was unprepared. Later in the clip, he went on to quote the Bible about foolishness. Yes. The Bible says, God uses the foolish things that is, that should've, or was on. Later in the clip, you went on to quote the Bible about foolishness. Yes. I don't know if it has that in it. The Bible says, God uses the foolish things

to confound the wise. Really makes you think. And so the, the Cleveland Browns quarterback depth chart is hilarious. Cause I'm at the ESPN one and Deshaun Watson is still listed as the starter, but he's not going to play this year. Second tear of his Achilles.

Probably not going to play. Probably ever again. Kenny Pickett is there. Joe Flacco is there. Sure is. Now Dylan Gabriel, is he the guy they drafted? He's the guy they drafted in the third round. 94th overall out of Oregon.

Right. Plus they've got Shadura Sanders. So that's not even counting, that's not even counting Jashawn Watson, that's four guys. So maybe Kenny Pickett, like, did he go back to Pittsburgh? Terry Bradshaw seemed to think that the Steelers did him wrong. I don't think he will go back to Pittsburgh because I think Aaron Rodgers is eventually

going to go there, but Joe Flacco, you can cut. He's pretty old, he'd understand it. He'd be like, I get it. But are they going to go, is Cleveland going to go into the season with Kenny Pickett, Dylan Gabriel, and Shudder Sanders on the depth chart? And they're going to be like, all right, three young guys, get after it.

We're going to be terrible. So Sanders, Sanders has signed, he signed his rookie deal. So that's already been taken care of. Uh, it is technically speaking a four man competition right now, and this is OTA season. So take it for what it is. He's received praise from the head coach, Kevin

Stefanski. This is Sanders I'm talking to. OK. With Flacco and Pickett, there has been an understanding that if another team in the NFL needs a veteran signal caller to either insulate a youngster or hold a clipboard, those would be the first sort of guys that would get the call.

OK. There is a chance that Sanders could those would be the first sort of guys that would get the call. Okay. There is a chance that Sanders could be their week one starter. But is there also a chance he could get cut? Sure. It's a four person competition. It's a four person competition at the very least. Yeah, I think that quietly they think that they got pretty good value out of him

in the fifth round. Oh, I'm sure they do. And with the contract that you signed befitting of a fifth round pick, they're like, this could be a steal. What do you think Dylan Gabriel was thinking when he got drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round, he's like, this is gonna be good.

In the third round, when he got drafted, he's like, this draft is awesome. Then in the fifth round, he's like, this is less awesome. Yeah, this is not great. This is now, boy, all the questions that were gonna be asked of me anyway, now there's another big wrinkle to it because Shudora Sanders just gets attention. And his dad is a big reason for that.

The Cleveland Browns, poor sat. By the way, I do want to- Maybe they'll find value out of it. Maybe this will all be a good thing, but it's a know, it's a Cleveland Brown. So probably not day two of the quarterback competition. Okay. It was Flacco and Pickett splitting first team reps. Okay. So it's, they're still technically the guys, but again, it's so bad. Every time I think of Kenny Pickett, I'm like, how does he hold the ball? Just slips through those little hands, tiny little hands. Yeah. How does he hold the ball? Just slips through those tiny little hands.

Tiny little hands. I wanna read what we learned. We got Jesse Marsh coming up on the other side. Ah! Yeah, I guess that was technically. That's what we learned. Yeah, that was what we learned. Game of mooner.

So Jamie the Armstrong Fisherman, we are jumping all over the place here. It's great. I love it. What I learned, golfer Max Homa mysteriously carried his own clubs at a US Open qualifier. After falling out of the top 60 in the official world golf rankings,

the six time winner on the PGA tour had to play his way into the upcoming US Open by taking part in a 36 hole final qualifying tournament. He said, it seems to be better when someone is not standing next to me for some reason. Max Homa and his caddies, this is like the new relationship watch on the PGA tour. Are you saying this isn't the first time this

has happened with Max Homa, the homie and a caddy? He left his long time caddy earlier this year. Okay. And it was a big deal because they're really good buddies. Oh yeah, you talked about this before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He got a new, he got a rebound caddy, but they split after only two months together.

Classic rebound relationship. He went to, what do you call it when you go to something, uh, single? Uh, do you know what I mean? Like you go to. No, no, no. I think there's, I think there's a word for it. At any rate, it's not Dutch.

No, it's not. Dutch is that's when you're sharing with someone. Anyway, someone will think of it. So it's like he showed up to the wedding or the U S open and qualifier without a date, without a caddy, but he's playing in the Canadian open this weekend. He's got a new caddy. He will have a guy named Lance Bennett.

I don't like this phrase on his bag for Matt Couture, Tiger Woods and a couple other guys. I'm always fascinated by the golfer caddy relationship. Yeah, yeah. It's interesting. Yeah. Going stag, bruv. Going stag.

Got about 19 texts I I never heard once. I don't know. Yeah. A lot of our listeners know the phrase. They're very good. Oh, hey-oh. Oh. Was that just a big elaborate setup for that joke? You be the judge. Is he referring to me? No, but yeah, that was really good.

I feel like we should probably just go to break after that. Flips over to WWE. Yeah, okay Jesse Marsh is gonna call in and We want to make sure that we're there to answer the phone and not keep them on on hold for for too long We'll talk there's like 30 people texting Dude, anytime someone has a chance to correct one of the hosts. Hey, it's the most text you'll see in the inbox at once Yeah, especially on a topic like that. Okay We love you guys. We should try to set a record one day and just like what's that word for this and see how many

People can text in just do it through the whole show. I have a million texts. Oh my god It's still coming in. I'm so close to getting in trouble right now Okay, we're gonna go to break before we get cancelled Jesse Marsh Canadian men's national team manager ahead of the gold cup is going to join us next. You're listening to the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. It's Canucks Central with Dan Riccio and Satyar Shah, your destination for everything Canucks. Exclusive interviews, inside info, and even the post game show. Listen four to six PM

weekdays and on demand through your favorite podcast app. 8.30 on a Tuesday. Happy Tuesday everybody. Halford Brough, Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands and Associates. Learn how a consumer proposal reduces your debt by up to 80% with no more interest. Visit them online at sans-trustee.com. Now we are in hour three of the program. Normally at this time of the proceedings, we do what we learn, but Jesse Marsh, manager of the Canadian Men's National Soccer Team, is going to join us in just a moment here. So it's not a usual final hour of the Haliford and Bruff show, but very excited to talk to Jesse because these are very busy times for the

Canadian men's national team. Before we get to him, I do need to tell you that yes, we are still in our three of the program. And our three of this program is brought to you by Campbell and Pound real estate appraisers. Trust the expertise of Campbell and Pound. Visit them on the internet at Campbell-pound.com today. So June is upon us. There's a big international window, a couple of them coming up with regards to international football. Canada is going to play a pair of friendlies coming up real quick.

They play Ukraine this Saturday, June 7th, followed three days later by a game against Ivory Coast. That's Tuesday, June, June the 10th. Then a week after that. So two weeks today, the Conca Calf Gold Cup gets underway. The single lone solitary game that Canada is going to play at BC Place goes on Tuesday, June 17th against Honduras. So three games in the span of 10 days,

including the one on June 17th right here in Vancouver. Our next guest, Jesse Marsh, unfortunately, will be unavailable for the first two games of the CONCACAF Gold Cup because of his red card that he got against the US in the third place match of the Nations League a few months ago. So there's still a lot to be decided. What do you do to earn that? Jonathan David appeared, I repeat, appeared to be fouled

in the box with calls for a penalty. And it was, I think it was about the third or fourth call that went against Canada in that match. And Jesse Marsh got very upset with an on-call. Unfortunately for him, the replay showed that it was not a penalty. It was not a foul, but the point remained. Canada was not receiving the appropriate level of respect from the officials

Yeah, Jesse stood up for the guy. He picked the one play that wasn't a foul That wasn't the wrong that wasn't the wrong one the inspiration and attitude were there the execution Wasn't but anyway, he's gonna so that's one of the questions that we're gonna ask him There's a lot of moving parts with the Canadian men's national team right now For those that are unaware Alfonso Davies is out with the tour in ACL. Moist Bombito is out with an injury as well. So there will be an opportunity here for some guys to get into the mix. And what is the biggest tune up for this team ahead of the 2026 World Cup?

We have Jesse Marsh on the line now. So we go to the Power West Industries hotline. The manager of your Canadian men's national soccer team, Jesse Marsh joins us now on the Haliford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650. Good morning, Jesse, how are you? Good, doing well. How about you guys?

We're well, we're still kind of feeling the sting from the Vancouver Whitecaps in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final on Sunday. Did you get a chance to watch the match? Yeah, we watched the match. It was hard to watch. And then the guys showed up the next day. And they were disappointed.

But I thought Ali Ahmed kind of captured it the best way. And he just said, man, we got killed. We just weren't you. We weren't able to put it together. So sometimes in finals, and when you play at elevation and heat and everything, it's not so easy. But they're having a great start to the season. They had a great run in the tournament.

They have a really good team. Look, you played a long time in MLS. You managed through this competition. I believe when you were at New York, it was actually the old school format was group stages instead of the tournament. So, you know, give us a sense of how like how difficult is that competition given one how the away matches especially against some of the league MX teams and then as we saw on

Sunday how seriously they take that Continental Championship? Yeah well you know it's it's a big tournament because the payday for being in the World Club Championship is very big and then the honor of being the best team in the region is also very big so playing down honor of being the best team in the region is also very big. So playing down there and dealing with, you know, the the environment, the fans, the elevation, it's an amazing experience, but it's always such a difficult challenge. In fact, I think we were the first team in New York to ever as an MLS team to ever win a knockout phase game in Mexico and that was not until 2018. So, you know, we're making it to finals consistently.

We've won the tournament as an MLS group a couple times and we're making progress but those Mexican teams are really good. They pay a lot of money for their players. They have really good foundation for competing in this tournament. And certainly they take it personally to beat MLS teams the same way we take it personally to beat them. You know, you mentioned the conditions. How much have you thought about the World Cup and how hot it might be getting in some

of those stadiums? Yeah, well, I think in general, you know, up in Toronto and Vancouver, it tends in summer not to be quite as hot, but you know, we went through a lot of very hot environments when we were in Copa America. And I thought our team was really fit and responded really well and we're younger. So I think we can run better and understand the

standards of international football and what those environments are like. So we're going to next year go, you know, this year we're here at Halifax sort of to continue a lot of the, uh, making the team accessible to the Canadian community. We've only played twice on Canadian soil since I've been the coach over the last year. So I think it's really important that we get to get to bring our team to different places across the country and people get to see their heroes. But next year, we're going to have preseason down in the heat again, we're going to run them, we're going to make them fit, we're going to make them strong, and we're going to go after that tournament in a big way. Did you see England are training in tents? They're using tents to replicate the heat because

an Englishman in the heat is not necessarily a performer. Yeah, yeah, and maybe it's the UV rays. They're turning a lot of sunburns. Yeah, they're all gonna have sunburns. No, look, like, fortunately, we, you know, I always look even like, when players are, their backgrounds are from, you know, more humid and, and hot climates. It's amazing. Even their DNA is built that they can usually handle that better. So we have some guys from Africa,

some guys from Jamaica and Caribbean and, and some of them even grew up in some of those places and now I've come here. And, and then I also think young players, young players can usually handle the heat and the, and the pace of games and all those things a little bit better than some of the older players. So we'll be evaluating all that as we get going, but we're going to make sure we're always trying to be fitter. We're always trying to be stronger than the opponent. And we always want

to play that way. We are speaking to Jesse Marsh here on the Halford and Bref show on Sportsnet 650, Canadian men's national soccer team manager here on Sportsnet 650. Okay. Let's get into what's going on right now. So there's the camp underway. You've got the game against Ukraine on Saturday, Ivory Coast on Tuesday, and then we're two weeks out from the start of the gold cup. So we mentioned a couple of times that you're going to not be available for the first two matches of the gold cup,

stemming from the suspension from Nations League. What's the plan on the touchline while you'll be serving your suspension? Yeah, so first, Mauro Bielo, my assistant has been a head coach. He's also been a head coach for this national team. So he'll be fine. He'll be able to handle it.

He knows what he's doing. But even more importantly, I think, I already spoke to the team and I said that, unfortunately, this isn't my first suspension on the touchline, so I have some experience in this area. But I always try to use it as an opportunity for the players to really take ownership of what's happening with the team and what's happening on the pitch, right? And we've been together for a year.

I think we've had a really strong year together. I'm very proud of this team. I'm very proud of the progress that we've made. And I think they're, they're ready for a challenge like, you know, this is their team. It's time for them to take it over. It's time for them on the pitch. They're the leaders. They're the, they're the ones playing the match. And by the way, they're Canadian, right? Not me. And, and so in all ways, this is their team and this is a chance for them to show that they understand what that means. Well, it's interesting you brought that up because you've brought Michael Bradley into

the fold for this window. And for those that don't know Michael Bradley, a decorated American international, but also a tremendous club player for a Canadian club for TFC and captain them to great heights. What was the thinking behind bringing Michael into the camp as a coach? Well, we brought him and David Edgar, who's an ex national team player, who's starting his coaching career. And that's what we've tried to do is bring some of these kinds of profiles of people in who are starting their coaching career, who are young and where, you know,

the experience of being around the national team and seeing the way that we coach and the way that we lead the team can be valuable for their overall development in their coaching careers. So, you know, I thought both of those guys gave a really, you know, today we had like our first full meeting with everyone here and I always have people get up and speak to the team, whether it's a new player or a new staff member, And I always have people get up and speak to the team, whether it's a new player or a new staff member. And both of those guys gave a really eloquent version of what this experience means to them, what the Canadian national team means to them,

and how attached they are to the development of the team. And so my relationship with Michael is such that I've known him since he's four years old, you know? So having him around has been really great. We know each other so well. I know he's had incredible football experiences. I think he's been able to share a lot of that and to have a real positive impact on what the guy's experience has been like so far in the first couple days.

You've got a couple of friendlies coming up against Ukraine and Ivory Coast, one team from Europe and one team from Africa. How important is it to set up these friendlies against conferences that you don't regularly play? Yeah, yeah. That's kind of been, this will be the strategy over the next year is we'll have a lot of friendlies. You know, this is our real last competitive experience will be the gold cup, but we'll have the opportunity

to arrange a bunch of friendlies against the kinds of teams that we could see in the World Cup. So, you know, we're looking at the level of opponent, we're looking at the styles of opponents and we're trying to give our team an experience of what those games can look and feel like and make sure that we understand what that will require, but always still be able to try to dictate the game in the way that we know we can. So that'll be the balance for the two matches. We'll kind of be mixing up the group a little bit and giving everybody an opportunity, opportunity because a big thing about this next year is continuing to not just the absolute high end of what our team can be but also the breadth and making sure that we have an

entire player pool that we can count on for next summer. So I think we've done a good job of that already and we've increased the I think reliable players that we have in the overall pool but But, but I've, I've started this campaign internally when I call it 26 for 26. And we want to make sure we have 26 players that we can absolutely count on at any moment in any type of match for the world cup come next summer. Now you'd obviously, obviously like to have

that all the time. Um, but is that partly in response to what happened in Qatar? Was there a feeling that there wasn't the depth there? Yeah, maybe, but also what happened to us in Copa America, right? We look, the group has gathered experiences now. So they're not just a young and inexperienced Canadian national team.

They've now been to a world cup together. They've been to Copa America together. A lot of them are playing at really big clubs. So, you know, this is, this is now becoming a more experienced team that, that has higher expectations and you know, and I have higher expectations of us. So, um, and in the end, what we learned from Copa America is by the time we got to the semifinal, because we didn't rotate that much and Argentina did that they were just able to be fresher and stronger come that that phase of the tournament. So and look obviously the expectations for a team like Argentina and a team like Canada

are different when you enter into that tournament. But still I think we learned that we still achieved a lot last summer but but we're trying to continue to grow and adapt and build everything from all of our past experiences. And I can only say that the mentality from the group to do that every time we're together is fantastic and really enjoyable to be a part of. So how do you make sure that experiences, especially ones that maybe don't go your way, are strengthening the group as opposed to creating

like fear. Cause we've seen that sometimes in all sports, you know, you sometimes have a here we go moment or maybe the lesson you take from games against Argentina is like, Oh, we can't hang with these guys. How do you, how do you turn that into a positive? We, I said to the group at the end of 2024 that hang with these guys? How do you turn that into a positive?

I said to the group at the end of 2024 that our progress and our process together has been pretty linear. We've been pretty successful and we've been able to kind of grow into what we're becoming kind of pretty simply step by step. And I said, you know, that's not even really a good development. It's a compliment to them that they're so committed and that they've grown a lot. But in the end, we need to be challenged. And in some ways, we need to fail and learn from that and then rise to the challenge for the next moment and understand what it takes in the toughest moments

to still emerge and be successful. So that's, you know, even though, you know, a lot of people like, I hate the word friendlies when they use this to describe these matches. And we've tried even to work with MLSC to create more of a tournament feel around these games with Ukraine and Ivory Coast to make it feel like every moment that we're on the pitch together is massively important. And we need to carry the gravity of the situation with us that way all the time. So, you know, I'm not afraid of the challenges.

I invite the difficulties and then it will be about how we respond and making sure that we get better from every moment. We are speaking to Canadian men's national team soccer manager, Jesse Marsh here on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. I do want to get into a couple different players who could be featuring this summer through the windows here, Jesse. So Alfonso Davies obviously out after tearing his ACL. Moist Bombito, wrist surgery, so he'll be out as well. What is the future for Alistair Johnson? Is he officially out for the, and I won't call them friendlies, the upcoming matches and then the gold cup as well?

Because he did have a pretty exhaustive season at Celtic. Yeah, yeah. No, no, he's had a great season. He's an incredibly important player. So he will miss the friendlies. He had a little bit of a hip surgery toward the end of the season, but then came back, but then he needed a back injection and And so he needed some time off, but he will be getting back with us at, you know,

after about a week. And so I think we're talking about him coming in somewhere around the game against Honduras and then really ramping up his reintegration so that, you know, by the, by the third match, group phase, group match against intel salvador he should be ready to go in and ready to start so you know he is really important our group he's had a great season uh... and

especially without more ways and and uh... alfonso it's really important that are are are guys here that are part of our defensive group are strong are are adapts, are ready for some challenges. And I think that is important as well for, for developing our entire player pool for next summer. So yeah, it's a big summer for our defensive group for sure. Okay. There I know we're up against every time I got two real quick ones.

One is just on another player selection front. What happens with Jonathan David moving forward because his club career is still very much up in the air of his departure from Lille and a lot of big European clubs, obviously expressing interest in him. What are the conversations like with the John Jonathan David and his camp and how's he going to feature this summer? Yeah, John, Johnny's such a special guy. So, you know, um, you know, we've talked a lot about him being here and like making sure that, you know, we're not risking anything in terms of an injury perspective or, or, uh, uh, a possible, you know, connection that he's going to make with his next club.

Um, you know, he's at ease with the whole thing. He's got lots of options. I don't think Johnny knows yet where he's going, you know, but we'll, we're hopeful that he's, he's made it very clear to me that he wants to be here and he wants to win the w the gold cup. Um, and so, you know, we're evaluating with, with his agency and, and with him, what's happening and what the potentials are. And, and we're ready for anything at any moment. But at the same time,

this is one of the beauties of Johnny is he's not overly stressed. He's focused on being here. He enjoys playing football. He loves the national team. You know, I've talked to him about being the captain of the gold cup. So that, that will be our emphasis for once we get to that stage and we're hopeful that he's still here, but we're supportive of him and his career in every way. And we want to make sure that we're helping set him up for success because he's such an important player.

On the subject of success, last one, I promise. What does success look like for this Canadian men's national team at the gold cup? Winning, winning. So we are, we are singularly focused on doing everything we can to win this tournament. And the guys know that and they know the importance of that and they know the weight of that. So, and I don't think, I don't think we're being too arrogant or we're creating any bullet bulletin board material to say that we feel like we've come a long way that the team has been successful over the last few years and that winning trophies has to be part of our ambition.

So we're, we're excited to, to compete for that and we're ready for the challenge. Well, Jesse, I want to thank you for doing this today. And as a longtime Leeds United supporter, I never felt that it was right. I never felt that it was right the way you got dismissed. I loved having you as a manager there, but the silver lining is that if all of this led to, yeah, if you had all of this led to,

one, becoming the manager of the Canadian Men's National Team and two, getting to do the show today, it was all worth it. So thank you for taking the time. Thank you for saying that. And I, you know, it was such a big challenge at Leeds, but I really enjoyed it. But you're right. Like it's something's sometimes you don't know why things happen and how everything comes together. But being here and being the Canadian national team coach, I just feel like

I'm honored to be here. I feel like I'm at the right place at the right time. I'm enjoying coaching this team. And, you know, we have big ambitions. And so it's been great. Thank you for accepting me. Thank you to all. I mean, I can't say enough about how this nation has accepted me as the national team coach.

So, you know, we're trying to make you guys proud every time we step on the pitch. Good luck at the gold cup, Jesse. Thanks again for doing this. Thanks guys. Take care. Jesse Marsh, Canadian men's national team soccer manager here on the hell for the rough show on sports net six 50 lot to unpack there. That was hilarious. He's like, you're a lead supporter. Wait, I think he thought that might've gone in a different direction, but I,

I think I said it at the time time he got hired by Canada. Yeah So there's two things there that happened at the time one the team was poor Mm-hmm, right they ended up getting relegated the year he got sacked But also and he's references before he's American and he came along around the same time that Ted Lassow became a global phenomenon He has talked about it. He has talked about it. You can tell how, I'll go off on a tangent, because there's only four minutes left.

You can tell how enthusiastic and earnest and genuine he is when he talks about things. There are certain places, England being one of them, where that approach is kind of viewed as being naive and like a little too earnest. Like there's always that sense of, you know, English have a bit of a dry sense of humor. It's understated, but it's also like if you're already an outsider, well, it's why Ted Lasso worked right as a show.

Sure. It was the fish out of water. It was classic Toronto, right? And I don't want to, like Jesse Marsh, he's not Ted Lasso. But he got criticism for like doing podcasts and interviewing with non-tourists. This isn't the way we do things. That was exactly the phrase. This isn't how things are done over here.

And that was a difficult thing for a club that was struggling to just stay in the Premier League. But I mean, I meant every word of what I said. I always felt that it was too rash and too harsh of a move to dismiss him as manager. I think that he ended up being scapegoated for a lot of problems that were out of his pay grade. And at the end of the day,

the move that they made didn't solve the problem because they still didn't relegate it anyway. But if all of it led to this, this has been a perfect marriage of a manager that was looking, honestly, I think to prove something, in Jesse. I like the experience he's got in all leagues, all over the world.

It's crazy. He speaks German. Him and Axel, could just have a conversation together in German. He speaks French. He speaks a lot Him and Axel can just have a conversation together in German. He speaks French. He speaks a lot of languages. When he was with the impact, right? He did his, I mean, it's not like fluent

French, but he learned a few words. Yeah. He's like, hold on. No, that's, you got that one wrong there, Jesse. You know when you go to a restaurant and you say, Monjay, and then you make this spoon to mouth gesture? That's my level of French.

Yeah, no, he's, he's, he's certainly, we'll see how it ends for him, right? There was another soccer manager here in Canada that we all liked for a bit until we didn't. That's just the nature of sports. Well, he brought it up, right? He's like, look, our progress so far has been linear. That means it's only gone in a positive direction. With Herdman, it was very linear. It was skyrocketing through qualifying.

Yep. He was the darling. And then they were a bit naive. And he said, also, remember he said, I don't want to sound arrogant that we want to win this gold cup. They're not trying to F Croatia. Right.

And now at this gold cup. Mostly because Croatia won't be there, but like. It's a big reason for it. I think he's probably quite, he knows. Like, we're Canada, we still have to be humble, but we have to strike that balance between humble and confident. He's aware of his predecessor's mistakes. Yeah.

By the way, just a little bit of Canucks news here, according to Thomas Dranson, this was originally reported by Dolly Wall. The Canucks will be hiring Kevin Dean and he's going not Kevin Deneen, Kevin Deneen he will run the defense for the Canucks. No official announcement on that yet because they still need to hire someone for the forwards. I'm sure you'll hear a lot about it today on Sportsnet 650 just now from this show because we got to say goodbye. Signing off for now I have been Mike Halford, he's been Jason Brough, he's been A-Dog and he's been Laddie. This has

been the Halford and Brough Show on Sportsnet 650.