Curling players' group forces Grand Slam change, but future of union remains cloudy

A member of the players' group that worked with Grand Slam organizers to address athlete concerns on the circuit is hopeful the interaction will lead to a stronger relationship between the two sides in the future.

Matt Dunstone initially reached out to organizers and was part of the five-player group that later met with representatives from Sportsnet to discuss format issues, tiebreaker and pre-game adjustments on the five-event series.

The effort paid off with changes to the Dec. 12-17 WFG Masters in Saskatoon and the Jan. 16-21 Co-op Canadian Open in Red Deer, Alta.

Dunstone, who skips a Winnipeg-based team that includes B.J. Neufeld, Colton Lott and Ryan Harnden, said he's hopeful the two sides will reconnect for talks in the spring to discuss plans for next season.

"I think the biggest positive to be taken out of all of this is we're figuring out an alleyway to have better communication among the Slams and the players as a whole, and a better process for that," he said from Penticton, B.C. "That's sort of in the works now.

"I thought how everything went over the last few weeks was very appropriate and good from both sides. I think that's the biggest positive [moving] forward is that open dialogue is going to become more of a norm."

Many curlers were vocal in recent weeks about unilateral changes that were made at Slam events this season.

The biggest issue for the athletes was the elimination of tiebreaker games and use of cumulative last stone draw numbers to determine who advanced if teams had identical records.

Dunstone said five players — including men and women from domestic and international teams — were joined on a recent video call with representatives from Sportsnet, which owns and operates the series.

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