‘Superboot’ Pennycuick’s heat-winning kick
WILL it be a case of third time lucky for superboot James Pennycuick?
The 27-year-old was crowned the winner of the Geelong leg of Fox Footy’s Longest Kick for the third year in a row, managing a 60-metre drop punt into the breeze on Saturday to win in a tie-break.
Pennycuick, from Brisbane, and Matthew Dalla-Libera (Taylors Lakes FC) tied on 57 metres before going to a kickoff, which the back-to-back winner claimed for a third consecutive year.
“It was a good hit, considering the conditions,” Pennycuick said.
“My first kick was 57 metres and that tied with one of the other blokes. Both our second kicks didn’t reach the 57-metre mark, so we had a kick-off and my winning kick was 60 metres. I had to go the drop punt just due to the breeze and how in your face it was; there’s no way you could kick a torpedo through that.”
Pennycuick wins two tickets to the AFL Grand Final and progresses to the Melbourne leg, where he must win to earn his spot to compete on Grand Final day.
In 2016, the gridiron punter landed a 73.9-metre bomb to earn a wildcard into the Grand Final day comp, only to fall short to Bryce Gibbs.
He again made the final last year, but proved no match for Brendan Fevola.
“I’ve had to compete with the conditions the last few years and unfortunately being a left-footer, the breeze wasn’t working in my favour,” he said.
“Hopefully if I can crack the third year I might have someone watching over me and have the breeze.”
The winner on Grand Final day takes home $10,000.