Reiner opens up on grand final heartache as Kyabram prepares to exact revenge

A lot has changed since that decider in March, with the Bombers waving goodbye to a swathe of stars and welcoming a host of new faces.

Reiner joined the podcast following his side’s comprehensive 18-100 to 0-83 win over Mooroopna.

The win was two on the bounce for last year’s grand finalists, as they slowly work their way into form after they dropped their opening game to Shepparton Park.

Golf is unbeaten following three comfortable victories over Euroa, Mooroopna and East Shepparton.

A grand final replay is always box office viewing and this weekend’s clash at Kyabram is sure to deliver another spectacle.

The Bombers have a point to prove after they were humbled in last year’s big dance, however, that is all in the rear view mirror according to Reiner.

“Last year is last year, we’ve got a completely different team to last year,” he said.

“That was our worst game (the grand final). I took it pretty hard, I was pretty gutted to be honest, we just got outclassed. But other than that, we were in every game against them, against both of those sides (Golf and Tallygaroopna).

“This year we’ve got a new outfit, we’ve got a lot of gelling to do. We’re just happy to make the finals at the moment, try and grab second spot. I still reckon Golf is up the top.”

Reiner has been a welcome addition to the top job at Kyabram, providing stability in a line-up that has experienced a hectic off-season.

The Bombers are without two skips Glenn Fields and Geoff Beattie, while fellow experienced bowlers Paul McInnes, Sally Beach and Connor Trewin have departed.

A handful of recruits are headlined by Stephen Piggott, the returning Darren Boswood, former Stanhope talent Jamie Stokes and David Schreenan.

With a high number of player turnover from last year’s grand final squad it has presented its fair share of headaches for the Bombers.

“It’s been tough” Reiner said of his second foray into coaching a GVPA outfit.

“You’ve got the practice games, we didn’t really have a 16 in division one, even in division two we were scratching for players. For division one, the Thursday night before the first game was the only night where we actually had 16 players that were going to play on the Saturday.

“It did make it hard (player unavailability) and we tried to recruit a lot of players over the pre-season and ended up with three or four new ones ... you’ve got a lot of influx of players coming in, we needed more time really as a 16.

“You look at the players we have lost, we have lost five or six players. It has made it hard. It’s a long season, scrape through the first few games, try and nut out a few things and by the end of the season we should be firing hopefully.”

Throw the recruits in with the club’s already exciting and classy juniors, it presents a promising year ahead for Reiner and his charges.

The likes of Josh and Jacob Cartwright and Charlie and Henry Boswood are giving Reiner plenty of optimism for what can be achieved in 2023-24.

“We’re probably not far off our team from last year. We’ve got a lot of young kids at Kyabram,” he said.

“Last year we made a grand final, I don’t know any other club that had five young kids, four young kids playing the whole season. That’s a lot of experience for those young kids.”