Country Footy Scores - Bombers' renewed hope

Kyabram FC Six years ago, the Kyabram footy club was stuck in such a rut that many of its supporters found themselves wondering if it would ever be competitive in the Goulburn Valley League again.

The Bombers had won just two games in the 2007 season. Their financial situation was just as dire.

''We were probably a bit of a basket case, to a degree,'' club secretary Max McKenzie recalled. ''There were still a lot of good and passionate people around the place, but we just weren't making things happen on and off the field.''
A wave of community support and the arrival of much-lauded former Rochester coach ''Dirty'' David Williams combined to lift Kyabram out of the doldrums.

Williams guided the Bombers into the finals in 2008. He then took them to grand finals in 2009 and '10, only to be beaten by Mansfield in the first one and Shepparton United in the second.

Having missed the top six in the past two seasons, they are back in business this year.

Kyabram finished the home and away season on top of the ladder, and last weekend it defeated second-placed Benalla in the qualifying final.

The win sent the Bombers into Sunday's second semi-final, where they will meet Shepparton United.
For a club that has won just two premierships in the past 38 years, the prospect of reaching another grand final has its supporters feeling very excited but also rather nervous.

''We're only a little town, playing against some teams from some very big towns, so we're rapt to be in with a shot,'' McKenzie said.

When it comes to winning trophies, Kyabram's glory days were nine decades ago. The club, which was a founding member of the Goulburn Valley Football League in 1893, won six flags between 1919 and 1928.

Since then, however, it has won just five more premierships.

The second last of them came in 1975 when Peter Lyon, the father of former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon, led the Bombers to an 18-point win over Euroa in a match that drew a record crowd to Shepparton's Deakin Reserve.

Kyabram failed to win a flag in the 1980s, although it might have been different if the club had held onto Garry Lyon until he was old enough to feature in its senior team. But Lyon was recruited by the Demons before that happened.

These days, he is considered one of the club's finest exports, alongside four-time Richmond premiership player Dick Clay, who booted 116 goals as a 19-year-old in his last season with Kyabram.

The Bombers' most recent premiership came in 1996, and they rarely threatened to win another one until Williams arrived in the lead-up to the 2008 season.

A talented forward in his younger days, who played 67 VFL games for Melbourne in the mid-1980s, Williams became a bush legend by coaching his hometown team, Rochester, for 16 seasons from 1992.

A demanding and at times fearsome coach, Williams guided Rochester to seven Goulburn Valley League grand finals, of which the Tigers won two.

He brought his renowned firebrand style to Kyabram and McKenzie admits ''he's a pretty hard man and he wears some people out. I think it's fair to call him old-school''.

But although Williams has so far been unable to lead Kyabram to a premiership (the grand final losses in 2009 and 2010 took his record to nine grand finals for two wins), the club's performances since he took over speak for themselves.

''He has certainly lifted our club back to a respectable level,'' McKenzie said. ''The boys can't speak highly enough of him.''

Kyabram missed the finals last year after fielding a team made up largely of local youngsters. But it has powered back up the ladder on the back of an impressive recruiting campaign that brought a stack of talent to the club over summer.

Former Bombers player Chris Atkins, who played in Nathalia's Murray League premiership last season, was among the first to sign up.

Atkins brought Tom Sheldon across from Nathalia, and that connection allowed Kyabram to also snare Sheldon's cousin Sam, who played 43 games for the Brisbane Lions.

Both Sheldon boys were among the best players in the Bombers' 33-point victory over Benalla in last weekend's qualifying final.

However, the best-on-ground honours went to high-flying forward and local legend Paul Newman, who led the way by kicking eight goals despite taking a groin injury into the game.

If Newman can kick another bag against Shepparton United on Sunday, Kyabram will be well on its way to securing a berth in the grand final.

''Everyone in our club wants Paul to get a premiership,'' McKenzie said. ''He is just a champion, and he's been very, very, very loyal to our club.

''We're not getting ahead of ourselves, that's for sure. But it would be great for Paul and for our town.''

By Adam McNicol

Article first appeared the Sunday Age September 15, 2013