The new NFL season is just a month away and two Australians are battling it out for the one punting job at the New Orleans Saints.
Incumbent punter Matt Hayball, who was famously blasted by interim coach Darren Rizzi last season, faces off against James Burnip, a 198cm rookie from Victoria, who just finished a stint at the University of Alabama.
The former Pro Kick alums will also face competition from American Kai Kroeger, who was added this week by the Saints.
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Only one will survive final cuts on August 26, when NFL teams must slash their training camp rosters from 90 players to 53.
Aussie punter Matt Hayball blasted by Darren Rizzi. FOX Sports
It’s nothing new at the Saints.
Last year Hayball beat fellow Aussie Lou Hedley for the role.
A year before that, it was Hedley who was the rookie and supplanted the incumbent, US punter Blake Gillikin.
“There’s only going to be one punter at the end of camp, but it’s friendly,” Burnip told The Guardian.
“We still wake up, get a coffee together, eat, and head out to practice. We’re trying to make each other better.”
Hayball added: “James is talented and a good dude. It’s a similar situation to last year with Lou. We’re learning from each other while competing. But really, we’re competing against ourselves.”
Punter James Burnip, then of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Getty
At the Minnesota Vikings, Australian rookie punter Oscar Chapman is also making noise at training camp.
The undrafted Chapman, who grew up in Adelaide playing Aussie rules before spending four years at Auburn University, is said to be putting pressure on incumbent punter Ryan Wright.
“Absolutely, I see Oscar as competition,” Wright told the Minnesota Star Tribune.
“Everything in the NFL is competition.”
Oscar Chapman punts for Auburn. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels added: “Absolutely it’s a legitimate competition,” Daniels said.
“Oscar has been a joy to be around. The best thing he brings is all the different kind of balls that he can hit that comes so natural by playing Australian rules football.
“He can go rugby, he can go end over end, he can go roll out, he can hit bananas, he can spiral it. When you have specialty balls like that it gives returners a lot of different problems. When you start getting knuckleballs and banana balls, it’s difficult to track it.”
