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ALBURY Thunder stamped itself as one of Group 9’s greatest sides when it claimed a hat-trick of premierships for the first time with a record-breaking 41-point thrashing of Southcity.
The Thunder, who went into the clash at Wagga’s Equex Centre as the underdog, saved their best performance of the season for when it counted most.
The Border side was simply mesmerising as it belted the minor premier 45-4 in the most convincing fashion.
Outgoing Thunder coach Josh Cale said his troops, who became just the third Group 9 side in history to win a hat-trick, deserved to go down as one of the best.
“They’re up there, I tell ya,” Cale said.
“Look what they did today.
Did you miss the game? Scroll down for a video repeat of the full match with commentary, courtesy of Livestream Australia and Cut Above Productions.
“They stood up when it counted and they are the greatest team I’ve been involved in with bush footy and they deserve to go down as one of the greatest teams ever in Group 9.
“On the big stage, that’s as good as it gets.
“You’re not going to get anything better than that.
“That was just unreal.”
Tries in the sixth, 15th, 21st, 37th, 43rd, 50th, 64th and 70th minutes got Thunder over the line, with a cheeky field goal from Cameron Breust in the dying stages pushing the margin beyond the previous record of 40 points that Temora thrashed Turvey Park by in the 2002 decider.
Albury’s day got off to a sour start, with its reserves beaten by Gundagai in the second-grade grand final, but it didn’t take long for things to turn around.
Livestreaming of the Albury v Southcity match, courtesy of Livestream Australia and Cut Above Productions.
Fullback Ben Jeffery, who was outstanding, weaved his way through traffic to score Thunder’s first try in the sixth minute before striking again with another less than 10 minutes later.
Daniel Jacobs then did his best Israel Folau impersonation to send Albury clear when he flew high to claim a clever kick from Breust.
Albury was 18-0 up and on fire.
Southcity star Peter Little, the competition’s leading try-scorer, put some fire back in the contest when he crossed almost 29 minutes into the first half after pulling a rabbit out of the hat.
But that was as good as the day got for the Bulls.
Super-sub Joe Silafau struck just minutes before half-time for Albury after some unbelievable team defence forced Southcity back over their own try-line.
Thunder’s pressure was relentless.
Their attacking flair was brilliant, but the premiership was won on defence.
Albury led 24 to 4 at the break but certainly wasn’t home.
There was to be no repeat of last week’s preliminary final fadeout against Gundagai that almost cost the Thunder a spot in the decider.
They went for the kill.
Silafau crossed again just three minutes into the second-half, with a brilliant try from Mitch Seaton in the 50th minute all but sealing victory.
Seaton ran almost the full length of the field after making a brilliant intercept as the Bulls pressed for their second try.
Jon Huggett and Breust rounded the rout off with late tries of their own.
It was hard to find a poor Albury player on the day.
“I knew we had it in us,” Cale said.
“We were hungry today and it showed.
“People say you get complacent — that’s crap.
“The expectation on the boys, all year, has been massive.
“They’re a young playing group and I think people oversee that, a little bit.
“As soon as we’d got into the grand final it seemed like the shackles had broken and the weight had been lifted.
“We knew we had to get there and we knew what we could do when we got there.
“The defence was the best it’s been all year.
“I’m just so proud of them.”
The Border outfit simply dominated flag favourite Southcity in the biggest game of the season as it claimed a hat-trick of premierships for the first time.
“That’s the best we played all year,” Jeffery said.
“We knew we had to turn up and play 80 minutes and I think we did that.
“In the end, the score showed what we can do.
“From start to finish — we were great.”
Jeffery scored the first two tries of the game and played a starring role in the win.
“I’m just happy to do my part for the team,” he said.
“Without them, I wouldn’t even be on this paddock.
“We all play as a team and individuals mean nothing when you get a prize like this.
“It’s great.”
The star fullback will replace Josh Cale as coach next season and he wasted little time issuing a warning for the rest of the competition for next year.
“After three in a row we are a powerhouse in Group 9 and we want to stay that way,” he said.