After a third-placed Allan Matheson Shield finish in season 2021-22, Kyabram certainly isn’t resting on its laurels, signing accomplished Goulburn Valley bowls trio Geoff Beattie, Brent Reiner and Connor Trewren for its upcoming campaign.
Coming from East Shepparton, Beattie has been a renowned skip in the region and beyond across his career and will add some much-needed poise and experience to the Bombers’ line-up.
Trewren is universally recognised as one of the most exciting young talents in the region and comes to Kyabram to take up the position of bowls co-ordinator after a stint with Shepparton Golf.
Kyabram Bowls Club chairman of selectors Glenn Fields said it was incredibly exciting to welcome the fresh talent to the club.
“We were close to getting Geoff last season, so I think he had it in his mind anyway and coming from Echuca as well he’s decided to make the move, which is very exciting,” Fields said.
“Being a division one skipper he adds a lot of experience and class to our team and will also do a bit of training for us as well, which is very exciting.
“Connor is one we are very excited to have on board, he has been excellent with Golf for a while now, and will take on a big role as our bowls co-ordinator.”
It is just the start of what the club is hoping will be a big off-season recruiting drive — the Bombers hoping a new-look team is enough to transform them into a genuine premiership contender.
Fields is confident the extra depth will put the club in great stead for a more consistent campaign.
“The plan is to really challenge Tally (reigning premier Tallygaroopna) and Golf next season, so we have looked to hit the off-season recruiting hard after last year’s third-placed finish,” he said.
“We thought we needed to add about four top bowlers to challenge and we are already halfway there, which is very exciting.
“With the average age of the club being 74, we think adding that extra depth and a bit more youth will help us be a bit more consistent and not drop away.”
The excitement continued for the club when Reiner ‒ who is also crossing from East Shepparton to the Bombers ‒ was announced as another marquee recruit late last week.
Adding three division one quality skips to any team certainly looms as a recipe for success, let alone one that was able to match it with the eventual grand finalists for almost the whole summer.