Young Aussie rules players are punting toward their US college education

Australian Michael Dickson practises punting at the Prokick Academy and will play this fall at the University of Texas. Mal Fairclough / AP Photo

MELBOURNE // The fog is still lifting off a deserted playing field on the outskirts of this southern Australian city as 10 aspiring college football punters begin their morning drills.

No one watches them practise on a chilly Melbourne day.

Soon, they hope, almost all of them will be showing off their skills in front of crowds of more than 100,000 while punting at powerhouse college football programmes 16,000 kilometres away.

Experienced Australian rules football players for many years have considered punting in the National Football League after their pro careers at home. Now more young Australians are training with the Prokick Australia academy with plans to bypass the Australian Football League entirely and go straight to the United States for a college ­scholarship.

The last two Ray Guy Award winners – to the top punter in the country – were born in Australia and trained at Prokick.

Director Nathan Chapman says it is the education, not the lure of the NFL, that is prompting the latest batch of young Australian rules footballers to switch sports.

Chapman took his shot at the NFL in 2004 after 10 years with top-flight AFL clubs Brisbane and Hawthorn. After being signed by the Green Bay Packers, he was cut the week before the start of the season.

On his return to Australia, he decided that college teams offered more opportunities for young Australians.

“When I went over, there was not much happening with Australians and the college system,” Chapman said.

“Because the NFL can sign you today and cut you tomorrow, I thought the better focus was to put kids into college.”

Australian involvement in US college football can be traced back to 1898, when Melbourne Football Club player Patrick O’Dea joined the University of Wisconsin as a full-back. Known to fans as the “Kangaroo Kicker”, O’Dea went on to coach Notre Dame and was inducted into the College Football Hall Of Fame in 1962.

More recently, former AFL players Ben Graham and Sav Rocca have forged NFL careers and shown that Australian rules can provide an ideal foundation for punting.

Now more than 30 Australians are punting for US schools at various levels. Almost all of them worked out at Prokick. “To be honest, we don’t talk about the NFL much because we want them to focus on getting the degree,” Chapman said.

The exchange of US degrees for Australian punting skills is proving a popular one for many colleges. Tom Hackett, at Utah, and Tom Hornsey, at Memphis, were the top punters in the country the past two seasons, changing the game with their rugby-style drop punts and positional play.

The punt-style kick is an integral part of Australian rules, used to score and pass, as well as kicking for field position. The tumbling flight of an end-over-end kick is effective at finding the sideline, while also proving difficult to catch.

Prokick product Nick Porebski, 22, spent the past two years playing at Utah’s tiny Snow College. This month he moves up to Oregon State on a full scholarship.

Porebski appeared on track for a professional Australian rules career before a series of shoulder injuries.

“I got a letter from Nathan when I was about 15 or 16 asking if I’d like to try punting. I didn’t really know what it was at the time, so I just continued playing Aussie rules,” he said. “Once I had those injuries, I had another look at the letter and decided I might pursue it and see what happened.”

Michael Dickson, 19, who just earned a scholarship with Texas and plans to study business, also had his sights set on the AFL as a member of the Sydney Swans club’s academy programme.

“The opportunities over there are so much better with schooling, and I needed a break from AFL, so this was the perfect opportunity to keep my competitive edge up and get an education,” he said.

Dickson got his first look at the home of the Longhorns when he visited Austin in June. By September, he should be playing in front of wild crowds of 100,000.

“I think I have some idea, but I don’t think it’ll sink in until I get over there,” he said.

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