It’s hammer time.
An Australian punter nicknamed “Thor” has accepted a scholarship from the University of Hawaii football team.
“I’m going to be a Warrior,” James Rendell said in a telephone interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I’m excited.”
Rendell, who is set to join in June, is the latest punter/kicker to enter the Australia-to-UH pipeline. Australia-reared punters Alex Dunnachie, Scott Harding and Stan Gaudion previously played for the Rainbow Warriors. Ryan Meskell also was a UH place-kicker.
Rendell played Australian rules football for a couple of years while also working out with ProKick Australia, a program that has developed players for college football teams in the United States. He decided to focus on punting.
“It’s always something I’ve had ambitions to do,” Rendell said of playing NCAA football, “and just felt it was time to make a change in my life and with sports. I’m really glad about that.”
Rendell estimated he can punt a football a maximum 80 yards. His hang time averages 5.1 seconds.
“I kick the ball hard, mate, and away it goes,” Rendell said. “The coaches do a lot of work with us. Once you build the leg power, it’s all about maintaining. If you hit a good ball, it’s great.”
Rendell uses two techniques. “I mostly do spirals,” Rendell said of the traditional form, “but I do have the rollout in the arsenal, if necessary.”
Matthew Shipley, who handled UH’s punting and placekicking the previous three years, transferred to Arkansas in January. Ben Falck was the primary punter during the Warriors’ spring training.
Rendell’s father, Matt Rendell, played professional Australian rules football. The elder Rendell died last year.
“He was a pretty good player, from what I’ve heard,”said Rendell, who was born after his father retired.
In his free time, Rendell enjoys going to the beach, “getting outdoors,” and golf “not that I’m any good at it.”
As for the nickname he earned from coaches because of his booming punts, Rendell said, “if someone says you look like Chris Hemsworth, you’re going to take it as a compliment, right? I’ve got the expectations to live up to. I’ll have to start working on some biceps.”
