Albury Thunder to face Southcity Bulls in second round of Group Nine

The Thunder is rebuilding its list and Young exposed the club in a 54-10 hiding in last weekend's opening round.

The Cherrypickers were boosted by the presence of former NRL players and siblings Mitch and Tyler Cornish and while the Bulls don't boast that elite-level experience, they have now been a power club for more than a decade.

The Thunder will need every player showing the tenacity of English forward Joe Lumb, who worked hard against the visitors.

Back-rower Jon Huggett also powered through a strong workload.

Welsh international James Olds was the other standout and looked the back most likely to bust the defence with his deceptive pace and elusiveness.

Third-year coach Adrian Purtell was disappointed with the work ethic aspect of his team and if it fails to match the Bulls early, it could be in for another heavy loss.

After any big loss, confidence can be dented and the only way to regain some belief is with a spirited performance, although the club will start outsiders.

Meanwhile, Temora will start its season under new coach and former NRL halfback Josh McCrone when it hosts Gundagai on Saturday.

The McCrone name has a long and proud history in the sport in the northern Riverina town, so there will enormous interest in how the 34-year-old performs after 161 games over a nine-year period with Canberra (2009-2015) and St George Illawarra (2016-2017).

He also played three games for Country Origin.

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Elsewhere on Sunday, the red-hot Young is home to Wagga Brothers, while Wagga Kangaroos face grand finalists Tumut.

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