ALBURY Thunder faces a massive test as it looks to reassert itself in the Group 9 competition when it hosts Southcity at Greenfield Park tomorrow.
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But the Thunder seem to have a knack of beating their keen rivals at opportune moments, having knocked them off to take last year’s premiership.
And few moments could be bigger as they look to build momentum, having put back-to-back wins together last week and now fielding an unchanged side this for the first time this season.
“It’s a really important game for us,” Thunder coach Ben Jeffery said.
“Each win gets us one step closer to getting ourselves back in the finals.
“Southcity are in the top five and if we’re going to be any chance we’ve got to beat these better teams — they’re one of those better teams in the competition and so it’s a really big test for us.”
But the Thunder’s fortunes will need to change from the last time the two sides met, when Southcity won 48-4 back in round seven.
“They were really strong and belted us,” Jeffery said.
“We’re going to have to be a lot better than that to even match it with them.
“But we’re fielding the same team two weeks in a row for the first time all year and I think if we can find some consistency and things click you never know.
“But they’re always a tough side and they’ve got quality players across the park.”
Jeffery said Southcity was particularly strong across the ruck.
“Their ruck speed is really good so we’ll work hard on controlling that,” he said.
“And they’ve got playmakers like Kyle McCarthy and Nathan Rose and they are a class above — we need to make sure we’re doing a really good job on them.
“We need to make sure we’ve got good line speed and cut down their thinking time.”
But Thunder are beginning to show signs of their best, with back-to-back wins against Wagga Brothers and then Kangaroos.
Jeffery rated their win over the Kangaroos as one of Thunder’s best games of the season so far.
“The first 20 minutes everyone was enthusiastic,” he said.
“We got into the game straight away — but it was only the second time we’ve scored the first try of the game all year.
“In other games we’ve waited two or three tries before we’ve started to get motivated.”
This week, with finals hopes still alive and a long-held rivalry, there will be plenty to motivate the Thunder from the first whistle.
We’re fielding the same team two weeks in a row for the first time all year and I think if we can find some consistency and things click you never know. But they’re always a tough side. Ben Jeffery
