Homan's domination provides inspiration for Team Jacobs at upcoming world men's curling championship

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It’s one down and one to go for Canada’s four-person teams at the world curling championships.

Hopefully, one sparking the other in a bid to be double dominant on the global stage.

At minimum, Brad Jacobs will embrace anything in replicating the supremacy of Rachel Homan, when the Canadian skip and his Calgary crew take to the ice at the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship, beginning on Saturday in Moose Jaw, Sask.

“Yeah … it was pretty inspiring watching Homan,” cheered skip Jacobs, during his pre-event meet with the national media Monday morning. “I would say it has definitely made me even more hungry to want to go and win on the men’s side.

“It looked like another dominant performance by the girls and really inspiring with what they’ve been able to do — win back-to-back gold for Canada.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won on the men’s side. Brad Gushue was the last to do it in 2017, so we’re hungry to go out and do what they did.”

First, Jacobs aims to win one.

They have the talent, for sure.

And it seems like they have the fire, to boot, with that being stoked by the victory of Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes in South Korea.

“Yeah … inspiring,” agreed Team Jacobs third Marc Kennedy. “You know … it looked like a couple of maybe struggles early in the week for them. But as things went along, they just showed their dominance. We’re watching a dynasty in action right now, and it’s pretty impressive.

“So incredibly inspiring, and hopefully, we can have a similar performance.”

Nobody has performed like Homan & Co. the last two seasons, as they finished 67-7 in 2023-24 and are 69-6 so far in 2024-25.

“They’ve been on cool run,” added Team Jacobs second Brett Gallant. “It’s cool to see them win these world championships, because it’s not easy to do. They’ve had great seasons for a couple of years, and to cap them off as world champs, I’m sure that’s a feather in their caps.

“They’ve done a really nice job on the big stage, so just pretty cool to watch.”

HARRIS JOINS CAMERON

Briane Harris is back in the hack with an elite squad.

The four-time Canadian champion and two-time world bronze medallist has joined Kate Cameron’s team, taking up the third gig for the Winnipeg skip and her Granite Curling Club crew.

The Team Cameron announcement was made Monday morning, finally slotting the talented Harris in a lineup moving forward after she endured a season away from the game due to a controversial suspension by World Curling for an anti-doping violation.

Harris had played lead for Kerri Einarson in a run to four Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles and two world medals before the ban interrupted her career and locked her in a lengthy legal battle.

It took nearly a year before her provisional suspension for having Ligandrol — a substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list because of its performance-enhancing properties — in her system was lifted “with immediate effect” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The timing — just weeks ahead of the 2024 Scotties — made it difficult for Team Einarson, which had to make a decision at lead heading into the Canadian championship. And the team from the Manitoba’s Gimli Curling Club elected to continue on with Krysten Karwacki, whose performance has been stellar in Harris’ absence.

“This past year has brought its challenges,” said Team Einarson in a statement Monday. “And while we did our best to navigate the circumstances, sometimes difficult situations can shift the direction of a team.

“As we move forward, we want to take a moment to thank Briane for her time with us. We appreciate the effort and dedication she has shown along the way.

“While Briane and Team Einarson have decided to part ways, we truly wish her all the best in her next chapter.”

That’ll now be with Manitoba rival Team Cameron.

“When Team Einarson parted ways with Briane, we were quick to pick her up knowing that her plethora of expertise, knowledge and experience will take us that extra mile,” said Team Cameron in a statement.

After finishing shy of the gold-medal goal at the Scotties, Cameron & Co. parted ways with second Brianna Cullen, creating a vacancy for Harris in the lineup.

“Letting Brianna go wasn’t a decision that was made easily,” admitted Cameron. “But we couldn’t pass up getting the chance to have Briane on our team.”

With Harris agreeing to take up third duties, Taylor McDonald is returning to play second — a position familiar to her — for next season.

“The addition of Briane will reunite Taylor and Mackenzie (Elias) as a powerful front-end duo,” added Cameron. “We can’t wait to see what this upcoming season will bring.”

For Harris, it was been an arduous battle trying to get back to playing the sport she loves at its highest level.

Reports say that in February, Harris filed a complaint against the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The complaint was sent to the Montreal-based agency, claiming non-conformity with the WADA Code by the CCES, according to a 10-page document that has been seen by The Canadian Press.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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