By Tallon Smith

The Albury Thunder will play finals football in 2023 after the club edged out Gundagai for fifth position following a tense final day of the Group 9 regular season.

The Border club may have faced a difficult season in 2023, but a strange set of circumstances beyond their control, culminating in a 32-20 loss to the Wagga Kangaroos, was enough to guarantee the club a place in the top five.

After a crucial win over Albury in Round 11 that gave the Tigers a four point swing and put them two points clear of the Thunder in the box seat to snag fifth position, a combination of a draw imbalance that saw Albury receive four byes whilst the Tigers had two, and a terrible end to the year that saw them win one from their final five games, saw the boys in black and gold miss the eight despite winning two more games than the Thunder.

After the Tigers fell to the South City Bulls 22-10 at Harris Park, the Thunder’s 12 point loss meant that the 34-point differential gap between the sides was maintained, and the Albury club qualified for finals.

Albury Thunder Vice-President Brett Harris said that despite the Group’s draw situation, the club has simply controlled the controllables and is looking forward to playing finals football in 2023.

‘It’s great for the club, and it’s great for rugby league in Albury,” he said.

“The Ressies are in there [too], and League Tag have the double chance.

“It’s been a big achievement for the club to make the five, we’ve had a month off [with byes] twice.

“Anything can happen in the finals once you’re there, it’s a close competition.”

Harris said that this season’s finals berths are just the beginning for the Thunder, whose strong junior club and good club culture is producing strong results on the field.

“We’re very positive with what’s happening [around the club],” he said.

“We’ll have 18s next year, and 16s, we’re a good family club.

“If we can keep Justin Carney on the paddock next year, we’ll be hard to beat.”

In the other game of the final round, the Young Cherrypickers escaped with a 26-25 victory over the Junee Diesels. The ‘Pickers aren’t the only top five side to face an almighty scare from the Diesels at Laurie Daley Oval this year, with Minor Premiers Temora in fact falling to the Diesels 22-21 at the Willow Park ground back in Round 10.

Young host Albury in the Elimination Final today at Alfred Oval, whilst the Wagga Kangaroos will play Tumut in the Qualifying Final at McDonald’s Park tomorrow.