Author: Adam Cohen, Senior Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney

The National Rugby League has recently made headlines for trying to crack the American sporting landscape by hosting matches in Las Vegas. But the NRL’s great rival, the Australian Football League (AFL), has been the Australian export influencing American sport in a much greater fashion in the 21st century. While casual American football fans might not put much thought into the kicking aspect of the sport, increasingly, Australian rules players have been identified for their unique skills to fulfil the role of punter. A punter is a specialist kicker, who punts the ball downfield with the aim of limiting the…