Albury Thunder fullback James Girdler is just 173cms and 75kgs and relies on his evasive skills to prosper.

"You've just got to roll with it, there's no point running soft when you're a little fella because that's not going to help you out," he said.

"You then do as much as you can to step around them, but if there's a wall in front of you and there's no holes, you've just got to go hard."

Team-mates respond to Girdler's courage as he gives away more than 30kgs to some opponents.

The 21-year-old Griffith product has represented Riverina the past two years.

"At that level, I've learnt you have to have plenty of talk in defence, telling them (my team-mates) where the play's going to go and try and get numbers either side," he said.

Much of rugby league these days involves structured football, but the lively Girdler is a throwback to an earlier time.

"You've got to have some structure for something to go back to, but definitely 'eyes up' footy is the way to go when you're a little fella like me.

"If you see something, go for it, no matter what the call's been."

Thunder will look to regain confidence as it's coming off the first losses for the season.

Grand finalists Southcity posted a 36-10 thumping, while Tumut proved too strong last week by 10 points.

Mistakes have torpedoed Thunder's hopes of upsets.

"We had a lot of errors," Girdler said.

"You can drop the ball against the sides lower down the ladder (and get away with it), but against the better teams you've got to take your chances.

"The errors are coming from trying a bit too hard and then pushing passes when we haven't earnt the right.

'We're not happy to take the tackle and try and get them on the next set, we're just trying to score from 40-50m out without building any pressure."

Thunder has slipped from second on points differential to fourth and now holds just a one-point break to Junee.

However, given the Diesels host undefeated Gundagai, Thunder should open a game break in the top four.

Cootamundra, once a Riverina rugby league powerhouse, is battling at the bottom of the ladder and conceding 49 points per game.

The Bulldogs also no longer field under 19 or under 17 teams.

The Thunder now has three winnable games and if it's serious about returning to finals, it should clock up wins against Cootamundra, Young and Wagga Kangaroos to turn at the halfway mark with a six-two-one win-loss-draw record.

That would put the club in a favourable position to snare what looks to be the only spot available in finals behind Gundagai, Southcity and Tumut.

The team's surprise draw against Gundagai in the opening round could prove crucial as the Tigers aren't expected to be challenged by teams outside the top four.