Group 9 Wrap: Thunder and Kangaroos play out a draw

By Peter (Parra) Montgomery

Albury Thunder and Wagga Kangaroos produced the Group 9 2024 “match of season” at Greenfield Park, Albury on Sunday.

The teams were locked at 22 all at the end of a gripping 80 minutes of play that saw Thunder fight back from a 18-4 halftime deficit to stretch the unbeaten competition leaders to a nervous final five minutes.

Albury had dominated the opening stanza, tying the Kangaroos attack up with stirring defensive effort, with the visitors unable to get into Albury territory for the first thirty minutes of play.

The Thunder opened the scoring with mercurial fullback Lachlan Munro gliding over wide to score first points.

Munro, who coach Justin Carney has designated as Club Captain, is a wonderful player, and it must give his team-mates comfort knowing they have him as custodian of the line.

Munro is safe under the high ball. He was tested by the Roos halves – James Smart and Nathan Rose – but never flinched, and never looked like putting one down.

The Munro try was not converted with goal kicker Keanau Wighton missing with his ninth attempt this season – again another from the sideline, and it just swung wide.

Thunder continued to have Kangaroos under attack, and passed up an opportunity for a penalty goal to run the ball, but the visitors’ defence with lock Hayden Jolliffe, prominent forced an errorand the chance to move further ahead was lost.

The battle in the halves between Albury’s pairing of Samuel Lulia and Paul Karaitiana, up against the Roos experienced James Smart and Nathan Rose was all it was expected to be.

Smart and Rose tested the Albury defence to the limit with probing runs and high kicks, but the Thunder players were up to the task, especially Munro whose positional play was exceptional.

The visitors went close to scoring with hooker Zac Graham trying to burrow over from dummy half, but Jeremy Wiscombe was able to get his hands under the ball to prevent its grounding.

Kangaroos finally cracked the Thunder defence with big prop Simione Naiduki charging onto the ball at pace, bending the defence before off loading to hooker Graham, this time made nomistake, and scored out wide.

Charlie Barton, the season’s leading point scorer, added the extras to put Kangaroos ahead 6-4.

With just five minutes to go before the halftime break, prolific Kangaroo try scorer Zeik Foster was ‘on the spot’ to ground a ball spilled by Carney – and the Barton conversion had the visitors ahead 12-4.

Within the shadows of half time, the Kangaroos scored again, this time through lock Hayden Jolliffe.

He gave the defence no chance as he hit the ball at top speed and crashed through under the posts.

Again Barton added the extras to give his side an 18-4 lead at the break.

Thunder started the second half nervously, turning over possession early in the tackle and conceding penalties to allow Kangaroos to continue to attack.

Four minutes after the resumption of play, winger Keanau Wighton plucked an intercept on his own line, to race 90 metres and score at the other end.

He has become a master of the intercept, he grabbed one against South City Bulls the previous match which proved to be decisive.

Wighton added the extras to have the Thunder back in the game trailing 18-10.

Ten minutes later Albury scored a sensational try, with Isaac Carpenter on hand to score.

Carpenter took a pass from five-eight Paul Karaitiana, who caught a chip kick by Samuel Lulia on the full, and sent big Carpenter careering away. Wighton again converted and Albury trailed 18-16.

Kangaroos still had a ‘shot in the barrel’ and skipped out to a 22-16 lead with ten minutes to go, replacement speedster Khaileb Cameron-Pani scooted past Jackins Olam’s desperate plunge and crossed in the corner, Kangaroos ahead 22-18.

The Thunder, desperate to get back into the contest used big centres Sebastian Nelson and Frederick Wells to defend strongly in an attempt to jolt the ball free.

With plenty of possession in the closing five minutes, the Thunder with forwards Clayton Couley and Zain Mitchell-Dowding pounding away.

The Roos defence finally cracked and busy hooker Blake Grounds, celebrating his 100th senior game for the Club, made it a match to remember, crossing to make the score 22-20 before Wighton goaled again to wrap up the 22-all draw.

Coach Carney would have been elated with the fighting spirit his team displayed, especially in defence, against a team that had blown previous opponents off the Park with their stunning attack.

Before the Thunder match, Kangaroos had scored 22 tries and conceded just 4 in the three matches.

Carney had several strong bursts in attack, and in defence made them all count.

ALBURY THUNDER 22 (L. Munro, K Wighton, I Carpenter, B Grounds tries, K Wighton 3 conversions) drew with WAGGA KANGAROOS 22 (Z.Graham, Z Foster, H Jolliffe, K Cameron-Pani tries C Barton 3 conversions)

Other games

The Young Cherrypickers won the inaugural Riverina Bluebell Cup with a 36-26 defeat of Wagga Brothers at McDonald’s Park on Saturday.

The Brothers’ again improved on their previous performances, but it was the Pickers who took the two competition points in a great match in support of an extremely important cause.

In the other two games on Saturday, the Tumut Blues accounted for the Junee Diesels 34-16, and Gundagai won a close one 14-8 over Temora at Nixon Park.