Riders’ Korsak following in fellow Aussie’s footsteps

Adam Korsak is the latest punter from down under to make his way to the CFL.

The Melbourne, Australia product made his Saskatchewan Roughriders debut on Sunday against the Edmonton Elks, getting the start in place of the injured Kaare Vedvik.

It was fitting that the Riders took the punter in the 2023 CFL global draft since another Australian, Josh Bartel, first put the CFL on Korsak’s map. Bartel played in seven CFL seasons, four of which were with Saskatchewan (2014, 2016-18).

“Josh Bartel is from not far from where I grew up in Melbourne,” said Korsak, 25. “The first CFL team I had heard of was this team just because of him.

“I’m pretty lucky to be here and Josh did a great job for a couple years when he was here.”

Did Bartel offer Korsak any advice when it came to choosing to go to Saskatchewan?

“He just said Jorgen (Hus) and Brett (Lauther) were good fellas,” Korsak said, referring to the Roughriders’ long-snapper and kicker, respectively. “That’s pretty much all he said. That’s all I needed to hear.”

Korsak has been getting some support from his friends and family in Australia; they were watching his debut in Edmonton at around 9 a.m. Australian time.

“It’s pretty easy for them to actually watch it,” Korsak said. “They just stream off the website there. It’s a little bit easier than those Big Ten games to get just because of those TV deals.

“They were very excited and enjoyed it. They don’t know the rules yet so they were just staring at the screen and enjoyed it.”

Like many other athletes from his home continent, North American football wasn’t something Korsak played when he was young. He was instead focused on Australian rules football, cricket and golf.

“(Aussie rules) is kind of the positioning of soccer and the contact of rugby and to score or pass the ball, you’ve got to punt it,” Korsak said. “It’s pretty similar in terms of the skill set the punters use in Canadian and American football.

“That’s why you see a lot of Australians punting for different teams across North America.”

Korsak is preparing for a second straight start, this time in the Riders’ home opener against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Kickoff for the game at Mosaic Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

It’s a journey that really started in earnest when he was around 18 years old and was approached by ProKick Australia, a punting academy in Melbourne.

“We got in touch and I just went down there and had a few sessions,” Korsak said. “A year later, I was recruited by Rutgers (University) to play in New Jersey.”

Korsak said there was a special-teams co-ordinator at Rutgers who had coached at Colorado and who wanted to bring in an Australian punter.

“He said, ‘Whenever I’m able to get a punter, I want to get a punter similar to a guy called Tom Hackett who played at Utah,’ ” Korsak said.

Hackett, who is also from Melbourne, was a two-time Ray Guy Award winner (2014-15), an award given out to the best punter in NCAA football. Hackett signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets in 2016 and was a first-round pick by the Bombers in the 2022 CFL global draft.

“Tom Hackett, being the great punter that he is, kind of shredded Colorado’s team,” Korsak said. “The special-teams co-ordinator went to Rutgers and fortunately enough he said, ‘Can I get a guy similar to Tom Hackett?’

“He went to ProKick Australia and, obviously, I’m not quite as good as Tom. He was named to (the Pac-12) team of the century. He was quite good — but I’m trying.”

While he didn’t win the Ray Guy Award twice like Hackett, Korsak did win it once in 2022, his final year of college football.

“I was close for a few years there and it was good to win that,” Korsak said. “(I was) just lucky to win that award.”

Korsak was taken in the first round (third overall) by the Riders in the 2023 global draft. He went to minicamp with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs but didn’t sign a contract.

“They were great — a great experience. The coaching staffs were really good with me at the combine and the (Reese’s Senior Bowl),” Korsak said.

He signed with Saskatchewan on May 21.

When it came to adjusting to North American football, Korsak said there’s not much to do except go out and do it.

“You kind of learn the rules as you go and kind of do it similar to here,” Korsak said. “You just throw yourself in and you try to get along with the boys in the locker room and do your best.”

It was a good debut for Korsak in the Riders’ 17-13 win over the Elks, averaging 50.7 yards per kick. His first punt rolled out of bounds at the Elks’ one-yard line.

“I was very lucky there. (I) just got that nice bounce and it went out and put the defence in a good position,” Korsak said. “Hopefully we can keep doing that.

“You try to put yourself in an advantageous position by affecting the drop and trying to get it to spin more gently. At the end of the day, it’s a bit of luck. You hit it and hope sometimes.”