Riddell has found its replacement for Justin Belleville.
Belleville was the Bombers coach for the previous five seasons, before stepping down at the conclusion of the clubs finals series.
Belleville had been at the club for almost two decades, where he had played in two premierships and coached them to a flag in 2022.
The Riddell District Football League club announced Arron ‘Skip’ Bray to take it forward.
Bray has a large coaching resume, leading Broadford in the RDFL from 2013 to 2016 and again in 2018, where he was also a two time interleague winning coach.
Most recently he coached Rupertswood from 2021 to 2023 in division 1 of the Essendon District Football League.
Bray also holds a diverse background including captaining the Australian Defence force soccer Team in 1986-87, as well as being a professional soccer player from 1992 to 2000.
Following his professional career he was the South Australian soccer captain from 2000 to 2003, winning national championships in 2001 and 2002.
In his football playing days he was a part of Broadford’s 2004 grand final team, as well as Bonnie Doon’s premiership team in 2008.
With all of this experience behind him, Bray said he is ready to get stuck back into the RDFL.
“I’m looking forward to a new challenge,” he said.
“We’ll have a few weeks off and then we’ll start the plan for next year.
“There’s always some friendly faces that I’ve met over the years and it will be good to go and catch up with a few of those people, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Last season the Bombers finished in fourth place, bowing out in a crushing five point elimination final loss to Romsey.
With a finals ready side at Bray’s disposal, he said he is excited to see what the group can achieve.
“They’ve got a pretty strong history, Riddell,” he said.
“Having coached against them before, they’re always around the mark.
“So depending on who stays and who goes, I’m pretty confident that we could put ourselves in a half decent spot come this time next year.”
Bray has been able to bring some of his Rupertswood players across to the Bombers including Brent Swallow and Jacob Chahine.
Swallow has won Rupertwood’s best and fairest 4 times and was also captain of the club for seven years.
Chahine is a utility player who can apply his craft at both ends of the ground, which was shown when he kicked 38 goals for Rupertswood in 2022.
