Cut-throat NFL roster cull pits Australian pair against each other with millions at stake

Matt Hayball is one of two Australian punters going head-to-head for a spot on the New Orleans Saints roster. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

There is a brutal ritual involving Australian punters that takes place this time of year in Louisiana’s intense summer heat, near the bayous and swamps that are home to alligators and venomous cottonmouth snakes. It features former Australian rules footballers battling for a single US$3m NFL punting contract with the New Orleans Saints.

This year’s showdown began with Matt Hayball, a former Geelong Cat and the Saints’ incumbent punter, against James Burnip, a 198cm rookie from Mount Macedon in Victoria, who just wrapped a standout punting career at the University of Alabama. The Saints complicated the battle this week by signing a third punter, American Kai Kroeger.