Should We Punt Groom?

The boy's a rookie! I think he'll be fine after awhile. It's the coverage that I am concerned with.

I believe that Bennet played Australian Rules Football (footy as they refer to it there) not rugby.

I think Groom has been satisfactory as a punter. I don't think I'd go out and spend whatever small cap sapce the team has left this year to replace him with another punter who would almost have to cost more than Groom.

Considering the circumstances, the fact that Groom has stepped in and (a) not shanked anything (as far as I remember), (b) pinned people down within their 20 from time to time, and (c) done a couple of coffin corners to prevent significant runbacks, has shown that he's been worth the investment so far.

Personally, I like him. Nice high kicks that lets our coverage unit (especially James Thrash) get down and get the job done. Before the end of the season, we'll probably see more punts within the 15, 10, and even 5 yard lines.

1) Rugby kickers generally kick on the full run when aiming for touch. Gives them more power than a virtually standing kick (punt).
2) When going for touch they are doing exactly that. Accuracy is second to distance. Watch a rugby game all the way through and you will see plenty of wayward kicks.
3) When kicking penalties (think FG's) they have all the time in the world (well virtually) to set the ball up, line up the kick and kick the ball. NFL kickers have a limited time to set up (play clock) and about 1 second to make the kick. Not the same environment.
4) Rugby ball is bigger and softer than a football. I know for a fact kicking them is different enough to make a big difference, especially considering the 3 points above.

NFL kickers generally come from a soccer background, even if they haven't kicked all the way through high school and college. Rubgy players have kicked their way from school (12 years old or so) thorugh college and university. Retraining them wouldn't be worth the effort for NFL teams.

Oh, and the last ime I saw a rugby player try to play pro football (London Monarchs Martin Offiah) it was a miserable failure.

I believe our very own Joe Salave'a grew up playing rugby in American Samoa, though perhaps not professionally

I believe our very own Joe Salave'a grew up playing rugby in American Samoa, though perhaps not professionally

samoa is kinda scary... everyone is like 7 feet tall. cool place to visit though. Their fire dancing is one of the better pacific island rituals or whatever.