HAMILTON — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed global kicker/punter Tadhg Leader on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old native of Galway, Ireland, made four-of-six field goals and six-of-seven converts in five games last year with the Aviators squad of The Spring League. He also had a 42.1-yard punting average.
Before taking up football, the six-foot-two, 205-pound Leader was an established rugby player. He played in Major League Rugby for the San Diego Legion (2018), New England Free Jacks (2018-2021) and had a loan spell with the New Orleans Gold (2019).
He also played for Connacht Rugby in Ireland and Rugby Badia ASD in Italy. Leader represented Ireland at the youth level, playing for both the U-19 and U-20 squads before representing the U.S. at the senior level.
American Tyler Bertolet and Canadian Michael Domagala split kicking chores for Hamilton last year. Bertolet hit on 23-of-34 field goal attempts and 13-of-14 converts while Domagala made 7-of-10 field goals and 8-of-10 converts.
Bertolet also averaged 59.1 yards per kickoff while Domagala's average was 58.8 yards.
Australian Joel Whitford handled Hamilton's punting duties last year. He averaged 45.1 yards over 12 regular-season games in 2021, his first with the Ticats.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2022.
The Canadian Press
