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When the San Francisco 49ers decided to waive Australian punter Jack Bouwmeester ahead of the preseason, it was a bit disappointing. It would have been fun to have at least one Australian player on the roster for the Week 1 matchup between the Niners and Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, but it seems that dream has not died. The Rams actually came in and poached Bouwmeester after the Niners let him go. He gets to be added as part of L.A.'s international player exemption, so he won’t count against the 90-man roster. It will be interesting to see if the Rams actually want him to come in to compete for the punter job, or if the NFL just wanted a token Aussie on one of the teams for the first NFL game played in Australia. Maybe Bouwmeester could at least come in to be a holder on an extra point or something to get the crowd fired up a bit, or perhaps he actually wins the starting punter job for Los Angeles. It seemed like the 49ers were going to have a legitimate punter competition between Bouwmeester and Corliss Waitman, but that didn’t end up being the case. Much like last year’s kicker “competition” between Jake Moody and Greg Joseph, it didn’t end up being all that competitive as Bouwmeester was let go before the start of preseason. So he didn’t even get to show what he’s got in a game setting. Sadly, it seems that injuries derailed the punter competition. The Niners needed to add other players and bodies to the roster at other more important positions, so they could no longer justify having two specialists of the same position on the roster. We’ll have to see if that comes back to bite them. Waitman obviously has more experience, but he’s not elite by any stretch. Bouwmeester could definitely have a higher ceiling, and San Francisco has had success with an Australian punter in the past with Mitch Wishnowsky. If Bouwmeester winds up doing well with the Rams, that would be the ultimate slap in the face. A punter may not be able to impact the game the same way a quarterback or linebacker can, but field position and special teams matter, even if head coach Kyle Shanahan overlooked it for much of his time with the 49ers. Last year was a very nice and refreshing change of pace as the Niners did quite well on special teams. Skyy Moore was great as a returner, although he is now with the Green Bay Packers. Eddy Piñeiro was a revelation at kicker especially after the Moody era. Veteran Thomas Morstead also did a good job as punter, so if Waitman struggles, maybe they can bring Morstead back. Punter battles aren’t all that sexy, but Bouwmeester is going to be a guy to keep an eye on. If he ends up thriving with the Rams or some other team, then he might be the punter who got away.