Roughriders extend Australian punter Josh Bartel

The Roughriders Australian quotient is set to stay the same through the 2019 season.

Punter Josh Bartel has signed a contract extension with the club that keeps in him in the green and white over the next three seasons.

Bartel was one of the high points in a tough Roughrider season.

While the team went 5-13, Bartel had a career-high average of 45.1 yards per punt and a career longest punt at 86 yards.

The 31-year-old Aussie also had a league leading 18 punts that pinned the opposing team inside their own 10-yard line.

Bartel is currently back home in Australia but expressed his pleasure in returning to the Riders.

“It is exciting to see what is going on around the club with the talent on the roster, a great coaching staff, and opening the new stadium. I definitely wanted to continue being a part of that,” he said in a release from the club.

Bartel is entering his fifth year in the CFL after originally joining the Hamilton Tigercats in 2012. The Riders acquired him in 2014, but Bartel opted to stay in Australia during the 2015 season. He re-joined the Roughriders in 2016.  

Through 67 regular season games, Bartel has totalled 469 punts for 20,566 yards (43.9 average) and 15 singles. He was named an East Division All-Star in 2012 and 2013.

Though born and raised in Australia, Bartel is considered a national (non-import) player after being grandfathered in from an old CFL rule.