One of the most successful coaches in Kyabram league history, Mark Patten will mentor the club’s thirds alongside Peter Ryan.
Patten’s appointment follows the club’s decision to entrust former Lancaster coach and league legend Corey Carver to share the senior coaching role with star player Kaine Herbert in 2024.
Carver was keen to get Patten on board in a coaching role at Kyabram because of his coaching experience, record and his respect for him.
Patten has wide coaching experience mainly with Stanhope, where he coached for 16 years, including 12 years as senior coach and four as reserves coach.
In his time as senior coach, Stanhope made six grand finals and won three. He also coached the reserves to a flag.
He only stepped down as Stanhope’s senior coach last season.
Patten also had a three-year coaching stint with KDL club Girgarre and one with Heathcote league club Mt Pleasant.
He played against his co-coach when Ryan was at Mt Pleasant before Ryan moved to Kyabram and then Merrigum, where he coached.
They were teammates in Heathcote interleague teams.
Patten, a reserves medallist in the Heathcote league, also coached the KDL representative side on four occasions, as well as the Goulburn Murray under-14s representative side on three occasions.
He said he was looking forward to the challenge of coaching at a club where he had not previously coached and working with his co-coach.
The Bombers have completed their coaching appointments for next season.
This year’s thirds coach Peter Hall will be assistant senior coach to Carver and Herbert.
The Bombers have appointed Jarrod Chapman and Rod O’Neill as joint coaches of its under-16 team.
Chapman is a former Goulburn Valley League reserves Abikhair medallist with Kyabram.
Like O’Neill, he also has had a lot of experience in Kyabram league ranks.
Chapman also played at Undera and O’Neill has been president and chairman of selectors at Lancaster during its golden run in recent years.
Kyabram president John Guinan said his club was pleased to have its football coaching positions all filled with a mixture of well experienced and credentialed coaches as well as enthusiastic newcomers.
Star Lion moves to the border
Seymour Football Club has suffered a blow with dual Morrison Medallist Jack O’Sullivan on the move.
O’Sullivan, who has won the top award in the GVL in two of the past three seasons, has landed a playing co-coach role at Ovens and Murray League club Wodonga Bulldogs.
O’Sullivan skippered the GVL side against the O&M this year and his best-on-ground display obviously didn’t go unnoticed, particularly by the Wodonga spies at the game.
A finalist in 2023, Seymour is also losing former AFL and VFL star Michael Hartley to Castlemaine, where he will coach the Bendigo league club, while Ben Clifford is retiring.
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