Newman said the match was the worst loss he had been associated with in his time as Bombers coach.
Newman coached Kyabram to 62 successive victories, including two premierships — believed to be a country Victorian record — when the side was beaten only once in four seasons.
Ironically, it was Shepparton which ended that storied winning streak when it defeated the Bombers by two points in the 2018 grand final.
‘‘We were just terrible and had too many lazy players,’’ Newman said of Saturday’s loss.
Two weeks ago, Kyabram had strung together 10 consecutive wins.
Now it has lost its past two games, on Saturday hitting its lowest point for the season when it was outplayed by a young, energetic Shepparton side that had scraped together just four wins for the season and was coming off a loss to Rochester, another team with no hope of playing finals, the previous week.
Don’t be fooled by the final scores, with both sides having the same number of scoring shots — Shepparton 8.10 (58) to Kyabram’s 4.14 (38). But Shepparton made more of its opportunities.
Shepparton set the tempo from the start, kicking the first two goals of the game and really never looked like losing.
Admittedly six players — Liam Ogden, Rhys Clark, Kayne Pettifer, Josh Dillon, Reuben Rode and Hayden Gemmill — were not in the team, which had led reigning premier Echuca at half-time the previous week.
But that was still no excuse for the way it played, or rather didn’t play.
Just like what Echuca did in the second half the week before, Shepparton presented in numbers and outran its rivals for most of the game.
The Bombers were as slow as glaciers and for most of the game were a disorganised shambles under the consistent running and pressure Shepparton provided.
Jonty Wardle, Jacob Watt, Mitchell Brett, Adam De Cicco and Bryce Stephenson were inspiring players for the Bears who set the tempo for most of the game.
The Bombers again were let down by most of their major playmakers and if it hadn’t been for defender Brad Whitford, Lachie Smith, Jason Morgan and Riley Ironside, it would have been an even more embarrassing final scoreline.
Whitford was clearly Kyabram’s best player, while its best playmaker was Nic Denahy, who has been crying out for promotion for most of the season because of his height, mobility and ability to break lines.
Tom Holman presented in attack and booted two goals, but Kyabram’s forwards rarely found time to move.
Star onballer Kaine Herbert gathered 20 possessions and he and Whitford, who had 29, were the only Kyabram players to have 20 or more possessions in a game in which 10 Kyabram players had 10 possessions or less.
Anthony Depasquale bobbed up with a couple of goals and Tom Burnett’s first half was solid enough.
Coach Paul Newman kept players on the ground in the cold long after the final siren, questioning his team’s hunger and commitment for the ball and predicted another disappointing end to the season if there was not a massive change to attitude and work ethic in the remaining home-and-away games, starting Saturday when the Bombers meet Tatura.
Ogden, Clarke, Dillon and Rode could all return, but Billy Barnes’ back injury has flared again and he is likely to miss.
• A weakened Kyabram reserves side fell over the line in a low-scoring, hard-fought slog from start to finish.
Shepparton got the first two goals, but there was only a straight kick or two in it for the rest of the game.
Late goals, one a beauty from Liam Francis in heavy traffic and another from Cooper Fawcett, sealed the host’s fate by 13 points.
Last year’s thirds skipper Francis, big man Brenton Brasier and dashing defender Noah Ryan showed the way for the Bombers.
Brasier added some grunt and kicked two vital goals from strong marks, while Dylan Argus was also a multiple goal-kicker for the winners.
They got a lot of support from Samuel Campbell, Jack Millar and Josh Wild and at times Cooper Fawcett and Billy McLay.
• Kyabram thirds were beaten in a tight, low-scoring clash by five points.
Goals were at a premium with the Bombers managing just three majors for the game.
The taller Shepparton side had an aerial edge but the young Bombers stuck at it.
Kyabram onballers in Bohden Learmonth, Tyler Norman and Miller Griffiths worked really hard to keep their side in the game.
Angus Scoble and Nicholas Jephson also battled hard against taller opponents and defenders Archer Guinan and Oskar Shortis were steady in a game that could have gone either way.
