ALBURY Thunder is closing in on a recruit before the clearance deadline to cover the loss of injured forwards Andrew Cowhan, Joe Silafau and Andrew Smith.
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Officials spoke to a back-rower from the Riverina this week and are hopeful of him debuting against Southcity next weekend.
Cowhan is unlikely to play again due to work and a thumb injury while Silafau (ankle) and Smith (knee) also appear finished.
Junee, Albury, Temora and Young are locked in a battle for the bottom three places in the top five with eight rounds remaining.
Thunder play Kangaroos (away), Southcity (away), Cootamundra (home), Temora (away), Tumbarumba (home) and Gundagai (away) in the run home.
It will collect two points for the round 16 bye.
But coach Ben Jeffery is looking no further ahead than Sunday’s clash against Kangaroos at Wagga’s Equex Centre.
“We had a good session on Thursday and hopefully we can take that enthusiasm into Sunday,” Jeffery said.
“At the moment we just need to take each game as it comes.
“We can’t afford to look too far ahead as I think we might have done that last season when we dropped a couple of games we shouldn’t have and it cost us a spot in the finals.
“Last year Kangaroos beat us by two points up there so we need to be ready to go from the start.”
Kangaroos have been dealt a blow this week with coach Adam Hall announcing he will be stepping down from the helm at the end of the season.
After three years in charge, Hall is considering a range of options including returning home to Trundle near Parkes.
Former Thunder player Trenten King could miss the rest of the season for Kangaroos against damaging his kidneys and spleen against Brothers.
“Kangaroos are a good side so we know it’s going to be tough,” he said.
“I’m surprised they are a fair way down the ladder.”
Thunder will start the dangerous Izzy Rawhiti on a wing after he recently returned to the Border from a funeral in New Zealand.
The performances of experienced heads Jeffery, Shannon Rupapere, David Cowhan, Mitch and Chris Seaton and Jon Huggett will also be vital.
Meanwhile, seven first grade Kangaroos and Brothers players have been ordered to front the Group Nine executive in the fallout from last weekend’s brawl at Wagga.
Four first grade players from Kangaroos and three from Brothers have been identified from video footage of the incident.
In a public relations disaster for the competition, players were involved in a heated scuffle on the field before spectators exchanged punches on the northern hill.
