HAYBALL KICKS ON IN THE US
BIG CROWD FOR OPENER
MATTHEW Hayball never had the chance to play an AFL Grand Final with 100,000 people watching on at the MCG.
But the former Geelong utility will take to the field in front of a crowd of that size next month when he runs out in his first US college football game for Florida Atlantic University.
Hayball switched from Aussie rules to punting once the Cats delisted him last September without him playing a senior match in three seasons.
The West Adelaide product reached out to Melbournebased ProKick, then started training three times a week with the gridiron punting and kicking academy from November, commuting from Geelong.
In nine months, he has gone from training with Gary Ablett and Patrick Dangerfield to preparing to debut in a division one game against powerhouse Ohio State at its home stadium — dubbed the Horseshoe — which holds about 102,000 people.
“It’s going to be huge and I don’t have a lot of time from arriving to playing in that one, but it will be an amazing experience,” Hayball, 22, says.
“The crowd is going to be massive. “I’m really, really excited.” Originally from Roxby Downs, Hayball was the last player taken at the 2015 national draft, going to Geelong via pick 70.
He lined up in 32 VFL games for the Cats in 2016-17 then another 18 after being kept on as a rookie last year but never had an opportunity to feature at the elite level.
“I absolutely loved my time at Geelong and was really thankful for that opportunity but towards the end of last year I could see it was maybe coming to an end so I was exploring some options,” Hayball says.
“I made contact with ProKick and they invited me down for an assessment.
“(Kicking) is something I thought I could do reasonably well throughout my football days and I follow American sports pretty closely.
“I thought I’d explore it as an option but really didn’t know what was going to come out of it.”
ProKick coaches, including former Brisbane and Hawthorn player Nathan Chapman, helped him make the transition from kicking a footy to a pigskin, and in several months they were sending US colleges film of his punting.
In February, he announced on social media his move to Florida Atlantic.
Other former AFL players to join US colleges over summer include former Richmond duo Ben Griffiths (Southern California) and Ben Lennon (Utah).
Hayball heads to the US on Sunday, where he will train with ProKick coaches then go on a road trip through Texas and Tennessee, before reaching Boca Raton-based Florida Atlantic.
Training camp starts today, only 29 days before the Ohio State game.
Hayball cannot thank the ProKick coaches enough for getting him to this point.
“They’re really good at what they do … and if there’s any guys with ambitions to play college football, they should have a crack at it,” he says.
“It’s not as far out of reach as you may think.”