The pair boasts two of the biggest packs in the league and the home team is expecting an enormous battle between the forwards.

"Going on what we've seen on video, they've got a big pack and they rely quite heavily on that, so they can do a lot of damage," Thunder hooker Joe Lumb said.

"The strengths of both teams will be going up against each other.

"You'd expect with two big teams going up against each other, there's going to be some collisions."

Thunder boasts an English front-row with the smallest player in Lumb looking to powerful props Brad Nicholson and Brad Hill to lead the way.

The back-row of Jon Huggett, Liam Wiscombe and Luke Ingram also possess firepower as the unit tries to match the Blues.

Tumut front-rower Zac Masters bolted in last year's Weissel Medal and is a NSW Country under 23 representative.

His prop partner Jed Pearce is returning from a knee injury and has been named on the bench, while second-rower Tom Warner is leading this year's Weissel Medal count.

He's bolted to 17 votes from the first five rounds and already has a four-point lead on a chasing pack.

Warner is also the reigning Canberra Raiders Cup best and fairest, which is an enormous achievement, given a number of former NRL players are filtered through the league, which is a higher standard than Group Nine.

He's also a try-scorer, making him even more dangerous.

The result could well swing on how Thunder's pack handles those three dangermen.

And while the pack is the Blues' strength, co-coach Dean Bristow is also a danger at fullback.

Thunder suffered its first loss last week and it was a heavy one, 36-10, to Southcity.

The loss pushed the club from second, on points differential, to fourth.

"We came up against a strong team and the errors that we've been making, you can afford to make those mistakes and get away with it against some teams, but against the top teams you can't," Lumb said.

"You can't turn the ball over that many times and get away with it."

Given Tumut's aggressive pack it will be a big test to improve the ball control, under pressure.

Thunder coach Adrian Purtell's kicking game will need to be spot on, so the home team can push the visitors back.

If Thunder can cause an upset, it faces two lower placed teams prior to the general bye.