Co-coach: Kaine Herbert. Photo: Megan Fisher
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Kyabram Football Club has stuck with locals to lead the club’s senior side next season.
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Corey Carver will share the role with star player Kaine Herbert, replacing Paul Newman.
The appointments ended the search for a coach and speculation a current highly-rated Bendigo league club coach was the front-runner for the job.
Bombers president John Guinan said in the end his club wanted to keep the role in local hands and couldn’t be happier that both Carver and Herbert were keen to accept the challenge.
‘‘We are looking at it long term and it’s not only about trying to win flags but getting continuity from the under-16s through the ranks to the seniors,’’ Guinan said.
Carver, a Lancaster legend who coached the club’s under-16s this year, was recently appointed to coach Kyabram’s thirds next season, but that role is now to be filled, probably by co-coaches.
Carver will direct Kyabram’s fortunes from the sidelines and Herbert will be one of the on-field leaders.
The Bombers have also re-appointed Scott Hearn as reserves coach, with experienced assistants in Mark Watson and club and league Hall of Famer Tony McDonell.
Co-coach: Corey Carver. Photo: Kyabram Football Netball Club
Photo by
Tayla Quick
The appointments of Carver and Herbert come after the revelation that Kyabram’s 2019 Morrison medallist Mick Mattingly will return to play with the club next year and a commitment from veteran captain and four-time best-and-fairest winner Jason Morgan to pull on the boots again.
Mattingly has been playing in the South Australian National Football League with West Adelaide since departing Kyabram after its premiership in 2019, the year he won the Morrison medal.
But the Bombers will lose key forward Tom Holman, who is joining Murray league side Moama.
Morgan’s decision to play on follows commitments from experienced pair Brad Mangan and Lachie Smith to line up again, with negotiations with star fly-in player Rhys Clarke still continuing.
Kyabram yesterday was hoping to finalise all coaching appointments, which Guinan said would be exciting news for the club and its supporters.
Back in red and black: Mick Mattingly. Photo: Steve Huntley
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Statement from Kyabram Football Netball Club president John Guinan
It has been a roller coaster ride over the last few weeks, finding the right coaching staff to lead our senior football side next year.
There was a lot of conjecture around appointing a “high profile” coach, but after a couple of interviews, we realised this doesn’t fit in with the future direction of the club and what we want to achieve. These sorts of coaches cost a lot of money, and they only commit for one season.
Not only do we want our seniors to be successful, but we want continuity and flow from the under-16 level right through to the senior level to develop our junior footballers. I’m very pleased to announce that Corey Carver and Kaine Herbert will be our co-coaches for the 2024 season.
These boys tick all the boxes and will be around for a long time at our club. We will have to change the appointment in regards to our under-18s, but Corey will stay involved. We are looking at a co-coach structure for the under-18s, with Corey still assisting on the bench.
We have also secured Mick Mattingly for season 2024. Mick will also assist Corey and Kaine.
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