Ettridge earns US opportunity

Bailey Ettridge is already dreaming of the prospect of making his US college football debut in front of 100,000 people after signing with US College Nevada.

The 26-year-old former Lara, North Shore, Anakie, and Geelong Falcons talent will head across the Pacific in the coming days to begin life as a punter with the Reno-based school.

With next season’s opponents confirmed, the Wolfpack will open their campaign against powerhouse Penn State in late August in Pennsylvania.

“We’ll do Spring Bowl games, which will have a crowd of not much, so there’s a little bit of easing into it,” Ettridge said.

“But that first game is going to be a bit of a shock.”

Specialist room is on the rise! 🇦🇺

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— Nevada Football (@NevadaFootball) January 16, 2025

Ettridge first flirted with punting at 21 but continued his welding apprenticeship because Prokick Australia had yet to establish a Geelong base.

However, a discussion with a new colleague, former Candian Football League punter Scott Crough, at employee Hamilton Group, reignited the spark.

“I was just chatting to him one day, and he goes, “Oh yeah, I tried it out for a few NFL clubs”,” Ettridge recalled.

“I was like, “Oh, what do you mean?”. He goes, “It was as a punter through Pro Kick.”

“So I got chatting to him, and one thing led to another, and he gave me a ball, and he said, “I’ll go down to the field and get a bit of footage of you”.

“And then he pretty much got in contact with (Tom) Hornsey and said he’s got someone that thinks could be pretty decent.”

Ettridge stepped away from Lara after Round 6 of the GFNL season to dedicate himself to his punting, with three training sessions and three gym sessions a week.

However, with a steady job, a house and two dogs, he says partner Chloe needed some convincing.

“So we just sort of sat around, and the idea sort of faded away,” Ettridge said.

“And then we read somewhere that college players could start getting paid a bit of money.

“And then Chloe perked up a bit and said, “If you wanted to do it, it might work out for us. Not straight away, you get paid, but you might end up getting a bit of money”.

Another hurdle was Ettridge’s limited education.

He left secondary school at the end of Year 10, which meant he needed to take a course at university to satisfy the entry requirement.

“When I was 16, I had the option of staying in school and doing VCE and try and go to uni or go the other way and do a trade,” he said.

“I ended up doing the trade, and now (I) get a second chance to do the other option.

“I’ll be studying to be a P.E. (physical education) teacher.”

Australian punters are the flavour of the month in the college system, with Joe McGuire and James Rendell set to clash in the National Championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame this weekend.

Meanwhile, Bannockburn product James Ferguson-Reynolds helped Boise State to the playoffs after winning the Mountain West Conference title.

The Australian Rules drop punt has proved effective for that trio, and Ettridge has been able to add extra strings to his kicking bow.

“And then with the spirals and stuff, I’ve kicked some really big balls,” he said.

“I think the biggest one on the stopwatch was 5.4 second hang time, maybe going 55 yards.

“But I’m kicking around, probably average 4.8, 4.9 hang time, maybe 50 yards.

“So, at the higher end of the scale. But, I think that the rollouts are the things that I’m going to do well over there.”

Among those encouraging Ettridge along the way was Geelong product Cam Johnston.

Johnson, a former Melbourne rookie, won a College Football Championship with Ohio State and is on the third stop of his NFL career at Pittsburgh.

Not surprisingly, Ettridge would love to follow in Johnson’s footsteps.

“That’d be the dream,” he said.

“I know chances are pretty low, but I’ll do everything I can to try and get there.”

X: @krockfootball