Despite some nervous moments in the dying stages, Thunder dominated for most of the match to shore up their position in the top five.

They received an unexpected bonus with Temora losing to Tumut 34-18.

“We played well for 65 minutes of the game,” Thunder coach Ben Jeffery said

“It thought we started poorly, then we were up 32-10 and again we let them score some late tries which was disappointing.

“Our last 10 minutes wasn’t good enough.

"In between that, we were pretty good.

“The shape is getting there and we just need to keep working hard.”

After coughing up the opening try of the match, Thunder hit back strongly with David Cowhan making an immediate impact in his return.

Big winger Izzy Rawhiti followed up with another try minutes later.

Alex Jones and Jon Huggett gave Thunder a comfortable 24-6 buffer at half-time with the injury-hit Kangaroos under siege.

The Wagga side cut the deficit to 24-12 soon after resuming play before Rawhiti and Mitch Seaton responded with tries to put the result beyond doubt.

Huggett and Chris Seaton were best for Albury in heavy conditions.

Meanwhile, Southcity dominated late to blitz Brothers 42-12.

Captain-coach Nick Skinner was pleased to return to the winners list after being pushed early by their cross-town rivals.

“We didn’t do ourselves any favours in the first half and I think our completion was about 50 per cent,” Skinner said.

“The second half was a much better effort and that showed by running away with it.”

Halfback Kyle McCarthy had a big hand in get the Bulls on top and provided their first three tries.

He delivered two smart passes for Brent Snowden to score twice as well as helping Tim Hurst over.

Skinner was once again impressed with his efforts.

“Doc (McCarthy) has probably been one of our most consistent all year,” Skinner said.

“He has been doing a good job.”

The win ensures Southcity remains in top spot.

After a lean spot during the middle of the season, Skinner has set his sights on taking out the minor premiership.

“We have been a little stale for the past few weeks so hopefully now we can build a bit of momentum coming into the back end of the season,” Skinner said.