WINNIPEG — As the Blue Bombers went through another day of rookie camp it was cloudy over Investors Group Field, but inside the stadium it was plain to see the team is looking to improve its kicking game.
Three players — Tim Hutchison, Bill Pavlopoulos and Brett Cameron took turns punting balls in the north end zone under the guidance of special teams coach Craig Dickenson. All three are looking to unseat veteran Mike Renaud.
Hutchison is 25 and hails from the land down. He played for North Melbourne in the Australian Football League and booting a ball is like riding a bike to him.
“We grow up kicking the ball,” Hutchison said. “That’s probably the first thing we do from the age of four years old.”
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Hutchison is looking to follow countryman Josh Bartel, who is the punter for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, into the CFL. There are also kickers in the NFL from Australia.
Working with Pro Kick Australia, Hutchison auditioned for the Toronto Argonauts last year. “There’s plenty of opportunities over here and that’s something all Australians are aware of now.”
Former University of B.C. Thunderbird Billy Pavlopoulos is 21. He was selected by the Bombers in the seventh round of this year’s Canadian draft even though he was under suspension for violating the Canadian Interuniversity Sport drug policy after testing positive for the steroid stanozolol. Pavlopoulos claims the positive test was due to his ignorance and not by design.
“It turned out the positive substance stanozolol showed up in my supplement. It’s my fault that i didn’t do more research on the product.”
Among the three, the local favourite is Brett Cameron. The 22-year-old son of Bomber legend and Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Bob Cameron went to St. Paul’s High School in Winnipeg and played for four years with the University of North Dakota before being signed by the Bombers.
Wearing the Number 6 his dad wore for parts of three decades, the younger Cameron feels he does have a home advantage.
“I learned how to kick in the wind at a young age and that’s something … most people don’t really understand till you get here,” Cameron said. “Winnipeg is pretty crazy with its winds. Even in this new stadium the winds are crazy.”
Mike Renaud will get to size up his competition for the first time Sunday when the Blue Bombers’ main camp opens.
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