Sports reports: Mannum Kookas make it two premierships in a row

This story includes contributions from Ken Graetz, Derek Vanderzon and Gordon Armstrong.

For the second year in a row, the Mannum Kookaburras have lifted the Murray Towns Cricket Association Shield when they defeated Wanderers for the A grade premiership.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl on Saturday, the Kookas made quick work of a determined opposition, with Dwayne Krollig managing 2/2 from his two overs.

The Mannum top order were the difference with Nick Lindner (55) and Dwayne Krollig (43) setting up the win.

Mannum 5/128 defeated Wanderers 5/126.

In the B grade, Wanderers 8/143 overcame Mypolonga 8/142, with a fighting 60 by Sunyl Vogt not quite enough to get Mypo over the line.

Karoonda 6/151 took out the C grade flag with a win over Mypolonga 9/150.

Jervois 3/84 were the winners over Mypolonga 10/83 in the under 15s.

Shane Willis has a big day out

It was all smiles and obviously a lot of his usual talking from local 16 handicapper Shane Willis, who had a big day out on Saturday when he scored a brilliant 40 Stableford points to take out the daily trophy at Murray Bridge Golf Club.

We are not sure what he had for breakfast but the nutrition effect obviously cut in early on the par three second hole where he had a brilliant nearest the pin and four point birdie.

He then followed up on his accuracy with two more nearest the pin shots, on the fifth and 14th par three holes, which included the birdie 14th yabby prize.

We trust Willis shouted his fellow playing partners a beer after those winnings.  

Winner of the A grade on a close 39 points was Anthony Edwards, followed by runner-up Mark Sappensberghs on 37 points. 

Winner of the B grade was Lucas Merchant on 38 points and runner-up Glenn Hansen on 37 points.  

Winner of C grade was smiling, stirring nuisance Garth Dodd, who pipped "Dog" Rothe - no one knows his first name - on a count-back of 38 points. 

Rod Thoman had an eagle on the par five 12th hole and Craig Kimber took out the pro comp back nine with 21 points.  

Others to play to their handicap or better were Oakley Edwards, on 37 points, and Wayne Duthie, Tony Carter, Brayden Wright and Brayden Denman, all on 36 points. 

Noticeably missing in action this week was reliable pro shop guru Michael Pottsmueller, who badly needed a day off at the MCG to see his successful Crows team in action.

Not to worry, his replacements Lee and Amelia did a fantastic, first up job in keeping the flock in good order.

Good team effort by all.

Jervois will take on Murray Bridge in division one lawn bowls final

Jervois will meet Murray Bridge in division one at the RSL this Saturday after eliminating Tailem Bend 61-52 at Jervois in the preliminary final.

Jervois held the advantage from the outset, winning on two rinks, but Tailem never let the scoreboard get out of hand, remaining in the hunt until the final few ends.

Graeme Herbert, Derek Vanderzon, Shane Fromm and Neil Morris anchored the win with an all the way win over Travis Schenke, Rob Hales, Keith Wood and Matt Kowald.

A four on the first end gave Herbert the perfect start, and he pulled off a couple of big conversions to keep his side ahead.

Schenke also put in some crucial bowls, but overall the home side were more consistent.

Schenke closed within three shots just after the break, but from thereon the gap steadily widened and Herbert went on to win 25-13.

For the second successive week Herbert restricted scores against to nothing better than a two and goes into the decider in good form.

Jeremy Scannell, Graham Fromm, Graham Schenke and Stuart McCulloch also started well against Sam Shepherd, Michael Thorne, David Hoare and Grantley Byrne, building a 16-6 lead after 10 ends.

From there the margin held steady with neither side making headway until the final few ends.

Shepherd took the last three ends, but the four shots scored were hardly damaging as Scannell was content to protect the overall lead.

The final rink saw Duane Edwards, Merv Stevens, Con Jones and Bernard Naulty doing their best to keep Tailem's hopes alive against Shawn Hicks, Heather Fromm, Tim Hicks and Grace Hameister eventually winning 24-14 with Edwards dominating the contest.

Edwards scored singles on the first five ends, but would have his lead restricted to just three shots despite winning seven of the first nine ends before a four gave him breathing space.

Hicks closed to within four shots after 15 ends, but Edwards responded to extend the lead out to 12 shots.

But by this time Jervois were almost home, and Hicks scored two on the final end.

In Division two Jervois eliminated Murray Bridge White and earn another crack at minor premiers Murray Bridge Blue, who had defeated them in semi final.

Jervois won on just one rink, but the 18 shot win easily compensated for one and two shot losses on the other rinks.

In Division three Murray Bridge ousted Jervois by nine shots and will meet Mannum Gold in the grand final.

The win ensured Murray Bridge will feature in all divisions in the decider and prevented Jervois from doing so in the process.

Rosellas defeat Karoonda in mid-week bowls grand final

Murray Bridge Rosellas have taken out this season's midweek comp on Wednesday with a 59-49 win over Karoonda at Karoonda. 

It was a big turnaround for the Rosellas, who were belted by the same opponent four weeks earlier by a massive 44 shots, and were in danger of missing the finals altogether.

This proved to be a turning point with the Rosellas undefeated since then.

They entered the grand final courtesy of a 30 shot thumping of minor premier Murray Bridge Kookaburras, having also defeated them two weeks earlier.

Karoonda earned the home grand final with a one shot win over Mannum, reversing the result of one week earlier.

Rosellas made their move early in the final with Bruce Attrill, Ted Baxter and Nick Nickolopolous skipping out to a 14-3 lead over Josh Porker, Ray Rudiger and Tony Ricks.

Four threes in five ends gave Attrill the ascendancy, and although Porker made a brief rally, Attrill closed out the match 19-13.Brian Leckie, Bob Johnson and John Bubner also started well, with a three and a four in the first three ends.

This gave them an eight shot lead over Rohan Tomkinson, Ian Symonds and Malcolm McKenzie.

Tomkinson rallied after the break, and briefly took the lead 17-16, but this was immediately relinquished as Leckie responded with a three and finished strongly with four singles over the final four ends for a 23-17 win.

Malcolm Waechter, Garry Mason and Colin Bormann were two shot winners over Charlie DiSanto, Kurt Weinmann and Gerry Penta, winning 19-17, but could not make up the difference on the other two rinks.

This rink was tight throughout, with the score rarely more than two shots either way.

Round nine of Murray Bridge Darts

A grade

• Tungsten Tossers 11 defeated Launchers 8
• Mozzies 11 defeated Vikings 8
• Mannum Club 10 defeated Raukkan 9
• BYE: We're Sexy & We throw it A

B grade - Mystery Drawn Doubles competition

• Winners: Claire Smith and Lalo Kartinyeri
• Runners Up: Kenneth Henson and Jason Oliver Racing

Sarah Rutten continues her successful season with a win in Balaklava

Sarah Rutten’s dominant season as a trainer continued when Causeweluvadelaide took off a long way from home to win well and a terrific ride by Maggie Collett brought up her 150^th career win in the saddle. 

Murray Bridge trainer Judy Streets finally broke the drought for non-Morphettville trainers when Headphones showed plenty of ticker to hold out the chasing brigade on Saturday.

Jarod Waters is the 2026 SA Modified Sedan title winner

An excellent 24 car field nominated for last weekend’s SA Modified Sedan Title at Murray Bridge Speedway with drivers contesting three rounds of heats before the feature event to decide the SA#1.

Jarod Waters was first across the line in the final with runner-up Dylan Barrow and Brad Wicks rounding out the podium in 3rd.

Super Sedans didn't miss out, making a welcome return to Murray Bridge Speedway for this year’s Cowland 42 event.

A compact but competitive field contested the 42-lap race, which also counted as the SA Super Sedan Title.

Congratulations to Brad Pascoe on taking the SA Super Sedan title, followed in by Todd Atkins and David Gartner.

Correction: Mannum's cricket club is the Kookaburras.

Email your sports reports to jane@murraybridge.news.