Sports reports: Tyson Edwards inducted into Crows' hall of fame

This post includes contributions from the Adelaide Football Club, Shukokai Karate Alliance, Murray Bridge Golf Club, Murray Bridge Rifle Club’s Daniel Irvine and the River Murray Netball Association.

Wynarka’s favourite son, AFL footballer Tyson Edwards, has been inducted into the Adelaide Crows’ hall of fame.

The workhorse midfielder, along with three other retired players, was honoured at a gala at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre last Thursday night.

Edwards sits second on Adelaide’s all-time games played list with 321 across a 16-year career with the Crows, which included premierships in 1997 and 1998.

He debuted in 1995 as a small defender and went on to establish himself as one of the premier midfielders in the competition, kicking 192 goals and finishing runner-up in the club’s best-and-fairest on three occasions.

He also became a fan favourite and was voted the members’ most valuable player in 2002, 2004 and 2006 before retiring in 2010.

Only eight players had previously been inducted to the hall.

Four black belts graded at Mypolonga

Congratulations to the Shukokai Karate Alliance’s new black belts.

Claire Garner, Mostyn Payne and Bec Hay were awarded the rank of shodan, or first-stage black belt, at a grading on Saturday.

Sensei, or teacher, Dave Garner passed his sandan, or third-stage black belt.

The alliance thanked Sensei Ian Barlow for conducting the grading and his help with the club.

‘Gentleman’ George Langsford wins at Murray Bridge Golf Club

Nice guys don’t always finish last.

To prove the old adage wrong, “Gentleman” George Langsford shone brightly at Murray Bridge Golf Club on the weekend and ended up being top dog with a masterly 39 points in a Stableford event.

Langsford loves nothing better than getting out there early, kicking the dew and occasional frost off the early morning grass, posting a great score and then sitting back and saying “catch me if you can”.

Probably the key to his great form and low-ish 18 handicap these days is the fact that he hasn’t been able to take his five holidays per year to Fiji because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Being forced to play more golf rather than devouring crates of Fijian lager has clearly helped his game no end.

It was a big field of 111 men on Saturday, as a lot of friends from Echunga descended on the course with their deck awash after plenty of recent rain.

They took plenty of prizes away with them, too, although local Steve Thiele was too good in the A grade with an excellent 38 points, just the one ahead of Echunga’s Dave Lockwood.

It was all the Hills players in the B grade, where Michael Martin scorched around for 41 points, including a stunning 24-point back nine.

Joe Hodgson rattled up 38 points to snare the runners-up prize.

It was great to see a local, Josh Doyle, join the club again recently and proceed to gain a handicap.

Playing only his second or third round, he won the C grade with a terrific 38 points which included a flurry of good holes towards the end of his round.

At the other end of the experience scale, crafty old Brian Smyth amassed a solid 35 points and was, perhaps surprisingly, rewarded for it with the runners-up position.

It was a cold old day with most players grateful to finally see the 19th hole.

The ball winners were led in by the big Q, Quent Maurice, who was delighted with his 37-point effort.

Echunga’s Kiowa McLennan and hot-and-cold local A-grader Andrew Meddle played to their handicap for 36 points.

Meddle perhaps should have had a couple more but for a rush of blood on the 11th after nearly winning the yabby.

Tyson Wright, Stefan Bilandzic, “Chainsaw” McCulloch, Tim Pfeiffer, Nifty Briggs, Daniel Hocking and Jared Thoman all played well for their 35s while Shaun Williams, fiery Freddy Carter and Graeme Munt scooped up the final offerings with 34 points apiece.

The pro comp winnings went west, with Michael Martin’s 24-point back nine being way too good for everyone, and the yabby did likewise, with Bruce Agnew hitting a ripper on the 11th.

Next will be a few stroke rounds with the first of the club championship’s qualifying rounds taking place this Saturday – time to get serious.

Rifle shooters try an old-fashioned competition

Murray Bridge Rifle Club shooters had been keeping a close eye on the forecast leading up to the annual Cranwell 15-shot match this past Saturday, this year shot “Bisley style” at a range of 800 metres.

Ultimately the weather proved kind enough not to rain on shooters, but the right wind caught out more than a few as it dipped and straightened on and off throughout the morning.

Shooting Bisley style also presented its own challenges as shooters competed in groups of three, firing in turn on the same target and scoring for each other.

Practising this traditional style of shooting was complicated, as members came to terms with the multiple shooter function on the club’s electronic target system.

None of this was helped by the fact that the trophy’s namesake and sponsor, John Cranwell, committed the cardinal sin of cross-firing, throwing his detail into temporary disarray.

However, the F-open trio of David McDonald, Mark Nesti and Adrian Conlon put on a fine display, scoring 86.03, 88.05 and 88.04 respectively.

McDonald claimed the handicap win, tied on points with Nesti but with a larger handicap, something most at the club felt he shouldn’t get used to given his scores over the past few weeks.

Frank Marshall was the best F-standard shooter with an 84.01, only just behind Conlon.

Jasamine Irvine comfortably led a small group of target rifle shooters, scoring a 70.05 for a handicap score of 79.7, three points clear of Andrew Heard in second place, as Daniel Irvine and Greg Traeger struggled, scoring in the low 60s.

The shoot was followed by the club’s annual general meeting, at which Greg Traeger was nominated for captain for another year, Nesti moved into the vice captain’s role and McDonald and Nicole Edwards agreed to continue in their roles as treasurer and secretary, to the universal gratitude of the members present.

Next week will be the first round of the new championship year at a range of 600 metres.

Netballers do the River Murray proud at 2021 country championships

South Australia’s biggest netball competition, the 2021 SA Country Championships, have taken place, with representation from the River Murray Netball Association.

This year’s seniors were a combination of players from Mannum and Ramblers: Phoebe Wegener, Lucy O’Neil, Molly Adler, Gemma Horstmann, Taylor Poole, Jemma Woollard, Jaelee Tabe, Alisha Barton and Kellie McGorman, with team manager Charlie Klose.

With only a handful of trainings, these girls worked well together all weekend, made sure they gave everything and had fun.

On the Saturday they were placed into a tough competition and lost all four matches, but on the Sunday they fought hard for a win against the Mallee.

In a playoff for fifth position, the girls worked hard and applied defensive pressure to take a two-point win against Eastern Eyre, who had beaten them by 13 the day before.

The 17 and under team representatives were Meg Lewis, Imogen Allan, Sienna Daniell, Mackenzie Lindner, Bella Schubert, Jayda Stimpson, Trinity Manning, Elise Horstmann, Briannah Griffiths and Piper Wegener, with coach Andrea Wegener and team manager Trish Horstmann.

On the Saturday the 17 and under team had wins against Mid South East, Port Lincoln, Northern Areas and Broken Hill, which put it in position one on the pink pool ladder and division one, pool B for Sunday’s matches.

The team had a high intensity loss to KNT and nail-biting loss against Great Southern, but took games against Port Lincoln, by 24 goals, Eastern Eyre, by five, and Yorke Peninsula 31-15.

Unfortunely, no matter how deadly accurate their shooting or strong their defence, the team lost by nine goals against Port Augusta in Monday’s quarter finals, then by six in an elimination final against Great Southern.

Fifteen and under representatives were Sophie Edwards, Charlotte Harris, Makayla Stimpson, Peyton Allen, Georgia Martin, Olivia Eldridge, Georgia DeMichele, Mia Perriman, Kyla Jarvis and Narelle Griffiths, with coach Denise Edwards and team manager Leonne Capes.

The team had a great start to their country championships campaign with three wins and one loss on the first day of matches.

All players received personal feedback, with strengths and motivations to carry forward over the remainder of the carnival.

On Sunday, unfortunately, they suffered a height disadvantage against most of the opposing teams; they were competitive in all games but recorded two wins and three losses.

The River Murray’s 13 and under team featured coach Murrianna Reese, team manager Gretchen Scannell, Yasmin Harrowfield, Jemma Zadow, Millicent Manning, Ava Schubert, Ariel Challinger, Reagan Martin, Demi Harrington, Breanna Kuchel, Porsha Marchetti, Leah Anderson-Morris and Alearah Harradine.

It was the first time the girls had played in such a big competition, so nerves were high, but the River Murray had strong wins against Adelaide Plains, Mid Hills and Broken Hill teams before a one-goal loss to Western Borders and draw with Port Augusta.

On Sunday the team started with strong confidence, tired muscles and a 16-7 win against Western Eyre, then followed up with wins against Mid South East, North Eastern, Hills and Yorke Peninsula.

On finals day, Monday, they defeated the Yorke Peninsula 27-11, Southern Hills 21-17 in a nail-biting semi-final and Western Borders 27-21 in a fast and entertaining grand final to win the division two title for their age group.

The association thanked all team managers, volunteers and parents involved in the championships.

Murray Bridge News is happy to share news, results or photos from sporting clubs throughout Murray Bridge and the surrounding region, free of charge. Email peri@murraybridge.news or call 0419 827 124.

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