Latest news with #kickers
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Johns say NRL going 'way too far' to protect kickers
Andrew Johns has accused the NRL of going "way too far" in protecting kickers, unhappy with the decisive penalty against Harry Grant in Melbourne's loss to Manly. The Storm were on Sunday feeling the fallout of their 18-16 loss to the Sea Eagles, with prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona facing a two-game ban for an errant elbow. But it was the late penalty against Grant that defined the match, the Melbourne hooker stung for contact on Luke Brooks' leg after a missed field-goal attempt. The NRL has moved to offer more protection to kickers in recent years, with Manly denied a win against the Warriors last year in similar fashion. Johns has previously been among the most vocal in calling for playmakers to be afforded more protection, particularly furious when halves are hit after passing. But in the case of kickers, he believes it is now defenders who are being targeted too harshly by referees. "It's gone way too far, but to the letter of the law it's not a penalty," Johns said on Nine's Sunday Footy Show. "Say you defend a really good set, and you get the opposition they play the ball on their 30. "In years gone by if it was a slow play-the-ball the kicker would have to be back 10 to 15 metres, which means you would get the ball and bring it back to your 40. "Nowadays if you get a bad attacking set and slow play-the-ball, the kicker stands on the advantage line and kicks it 60 metres because they know they can't get hit. "They should be able to get out and tackle the kicker above the waist." The NRL remains steadfast behind the current rule, pointing to instances when kickers have been hurt when collected in the legs by defenders. Lachlan Ilias' broken leg last year while playing NSW Cup is the most obvious example. Grant has previously been penalised over the matter, successfully fighting a ban for dangerous contact on Cronulla's Daniel Atkinson last year. The NRL will also look at the controversial penalty against Luciano Leilua that left Shane Flanagan fuming following St George Illawarra's 20-18 loss to Canterbury. Flanagan labelled it "outrageous" that the bunker ruled Leilua's foot had knocked the ball out of Jacob Kiraz's hand as the Bulldogs winger stood up to play it. After having the decision overturned, Canterbury went downfield and soon afterwards scored the match-winning try. "He's got to get to his feet before he plants the ball," the Dragons coach said. "You can't be falling sideways. You can't ball-plant ... but tonight we ball-planted and we lost the game because of it." The NRL will review the penalty, but is likely to counter Flanagan's claim that it was a ball-plant from Kiraz, given it never reached the ground before contacting Leilua's foot.
National Post
26-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
NFL suspends Justin Tucker for first 10 weeks of the season for violating personal conduct policy
The NFL suspended former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker for the first 10 weeks of the season on Thursday for violating its personal conduct policy. Article content The suspension takes effect on Aug. 26, roster cutdown day, and Tucker is eligible for reinstatement on Nov. 11. Article content Tucker remains free to try out with and sign with a team. If he is signed, he can attend training camp and participate in preseason games. Article content The 35-year-old became a free agent after the Ravens released him last month in the aftermath of reports that he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by massage therapists. Article content A five-time All-Pro, Tucker has played his entire 13-year career with Baltimore. He's considered one of the best kickers in NFL history, although 2024 was his worst season. Article content
Forbes
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Draft These Kickers In 2025 Fantasy Football
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 06: Ka'imi Fairbairn #15 of the Houston Texans celebrates with teammates ... More after kicking the game-winning field goal to beat the Buffalo Bills 23-20 at NRG Stadium on October 06, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by) Getty Images After breaking down the top three defenses to draft in 2025 fantasy football last week, it's only right to do the same for the kickers. Since we don't have any official ADP for these kickers yet, we'll be breaking down which kickers you should target in 2025. The idea of projecting these kickers for 2025 fantasy points is simple. We'll be looking at what these kickers did in 2024, then looking to see which of these offenses is going to improve next year. Better offenses have more red zone opportunities, giving kickers more extra points or field goal chances. Let's just make something clear. Brandon Aubrey should easily be the number one kicker taken in 2025. If your league mates forgot about Aubrey, he had the most fantasy points per game for a kicker with 11.3. Keep in mind that Aubrey did this with a Dallas Cowboys offense that suffered without Dak Prescott. Not only is Prescott going to be back in 2025, but the Cowboys added George Pickens. There's no reason why Aubrey can't be the top kicker next year, with his situation only getting better. If Aubrey is on the board when you're going to take a kicker, draft him. Ka'imi Fairbairn has a chance to finish even better than 4th in PPG next season for a kicker. Last year, Fairbairn had 10.1 PPG even with a struggling Houston Texans offense. Former 2nd overall pick C. J. Stroud had a sophomore slump, throwing three fewer touchdowns and having seven more interceptions than his rookie year. Stroud is a talented player, and you should expect him to turn things around for the Texans. Especially when you take into account what the Texans did in the NFL Draft. While the team lost Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell is likely going to be out for the 2025 season, they made some big moves at wide receiver. First, the team added Jayden Higgins with the 34th overall pick (2nd round) in the draft. Expect him to be a big contributor right away. On top of that, the Texans selected Jaylin Noel with the 79th overall pick (3rd round). With Stroud having Higgins and Noel to pair with Nico Collins, this offense should benefit Fairbairn in a big way next season. INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 15: Place kicker Chase McLaughlin #4 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ... More kicks a field goal during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, at SoFi Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by) Getty Images 3. Chase McLaughlin (TB) Last season, Chase McLaughlin was the 6th kicker in PPG at 9.6, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense looked great. With McLaughlin, there are a few reasons why he should finish even better than this in 2025. For one, Baker Mayfield is great, but he just had a career-high year in passing touchdowns with 41. If that comes down just a little bit, that will result in more field goal chances for McLaughlin. On top of that, the Buccaneers will be getting a healthy Chris Godwin and Mike Evans for the 2025 season. If that wasn't enough, the Buccaneers also drafted Emeka Egbuka with the 19th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Between some touchdown regression from Mayfield and the addition of Evans, McLaughlin could be in for a massive leap in 2025 fantasy football.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why more Australian kickers and punters are booting their way into the CFL
The Montreal Alouettes have three Australians on the roster for the 2025 season — and they're all kickers.
CBC
01-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
How Australian kickers and punters have found their footing in Canada's game
Social Sharing Kickers and punters in football are often seen as a distinct group of players. This year on the Montreal Alouettes, the unique dynamic between the kicking unit and the rest of the team is particularly pronounced. That's because the Alouettes have three Australians booting the ball this season. "We go from French to the Aussie terms quite a bit, so I catch myself saying 'mate' quite a few times," says Alouettes special teams coach Byron Archambault. Joseph Zema, 30, is in his fifth season with the Alouettes, while Joshua Hutley, 29, and Joshua Sloan, 25, are rookies. "It's awesome, it's honestly a dream. My dream's just to be playing professional sport," Sloan says. WATCH | Australian Alouettes players on breaking into Canadian football: Why more Australian kickers and punters are booting their way into the CFL 5 minutes ago Duration 3:19 He and his compatriot Hutley both say that growing up in Australia, neither of them ever dreamed of playing professional football in Canada. "It's nothing that I would have planned or thought about 15 years ago," Hutley says. "I just wanted to learn a new skill and give it a go and I think as I developed as a punter and kicker, I sort of realized that I'm not awful at it." Global draft broke door wide open for Australians Prior to 2019, it would have been relatively complicated for an Australian to land a spot in the Canadian Football League due to the league's system of roster quotas. Roughly half of all the players on a CFL gameday roster are required to be "national players" or Canadians. The other half, or "import players" generally came from the United States where football is king and there is an abundance of talented players looking for paycheques to play the sport. So any Australian aiming to land a spot in the CFL would have qualified as an "import player"and been competing directly with Americans. But starting in 2019, in an attempt to globalize the game of football, the league put in new rules to allow for new roster spots for players from outside of Canada and the U.S. It also began holding a yearly global draft to recruit these players. Since then, Australian kickers and punters have slowly been gaining more and more of a share of those global picks. In 2021, Australian kickers accounted for just 16.7 per cent of all players drafted. Last year, they represented 44.4 per cent. The Alouettes seem to be a team that has a particular affinity for Australian legs. Since 2021, they've drafted six Australian kickers and punters. Only Hamilton, with seven, has drafted more Australian special teamers than Montreal. The Alouettes say this was not by design. "It just worked out that way," says Montreal Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia. "It's not like we said we're going to target just players that are from Australia." 'In Australia, we grow up learning to kick first' All three Australians on the Alouettes point to their background in Australian rules football as the foundation for their success in Canada. The game is a national sport in Australia. It's played with a ball called a footy and, as the name implies, it involves a lot of kicking. "In Australia, we grow up learning to kick first so that's the first thing my dad taught me," Sloan says. Zema says he also grew up kicking the ball and "it's pretty easily translated into punting for American and Canadian football." But while more and more Australian footballers are ending up in Canada, typically they don't come directly to the great white north from down under. Most are first recruited to U.S. college football programs in the NCAA. Sloan, for example, played for the University of Memphis Tigers in 2024 and with the University of Texas at El Paso Miners for four seasons before that. Hutley, meanwhile, kicked for the Concord University Mountain Lions for two seasons before being drafted. Zema, who played college ball at the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas, says there is a learning curve from the American to the Canadian game, but it's not that dramatic. "Slight differences, but it's still a ball," Zema says. CFL teams often identify kicking prospects in a yearly showcase in San Diego. "It's huge, it's huge," Maciocia said of selecting international players through the global draft. "You could either have one or two on your roster. So you have to factor that in the composition of a roster and it's extremely important that you're picking the right guy." It's unclear if the league's intention of implementing the global draft was to focus so heavily on the kicking game, but it's certainly becoming an aspect of the Canadian sport that Australians are happy to claim as their own. "We just grow up doing it," Hutley says.
