Peter (Parra) Montgomery

Albury Thunder will be at full strength for its match against Cootamundra Bulldogs at Les Boyd Oval Cootamundra on Saturday.

Big prop Nathan Darby has been declared fit and will take his place in the squad after missing the win over Brothers at Greenfield Park last weekend with a strained knee.

Darby said that he could have played last week but the Club decided not to risk further damage to the knee. “It was a good decision not to play as the knee has improved 100% to what it was with the rest”, Nathan told me.

Darby will share a game with Reece Clegg and Faone Fakatava, who have provided plenty of impetus ‘up front’ for the Thunder, and put the team in a prominent position to go forward.

The pack has enabled the Thunder backline to take advantage of dominance in the middle of the Park, with good combinations being established with Osika (Oscar) Kaufononga and Paul Karaitiana starting to ‘gel’ in the halves, and both displaying strong

kicking games. The pair were dominant against Brothers last week.

Cootamundra is back in Group 9 after several years in the wilderness. Club officials have done a fantastic job in reviving the Club and fielding four sides (Firsts, Reserves, Under

18 and League Tag) in the 2025 competition The Dogs have shown improvement each game, and follow the Thunder in the draw.

A week after the Thunder had an 18 all draw with Tumut Blues, Cootamundra went down 22-16, and lost to premiership favourites Young Cherrypickers 40-6, a week after Young had toppled Thunder 44-10.

Cootamundra is the longest trip the Thunder will face until the final series. One good thing as the “distance games” will all be behind them after just four rounds.

The match will be broadcast on BARTV.

RESERVE GRADE

The Thunder Reserve grade team welcome back Jade Dureaux for the match against the Bulldogs.

Jade has missed the past two games, and come back into the line-up as fullback, with Joe Hill moving up into the centres.

Thunder side, runner-up to Premiers Gundagai in 2024, is undefeated and sitting on top of the ladder.

The inclusion of speedsters Tei Miti and Rea Lafai has given the Thunder plenty of pace outside, and they both know their way to the try line.

Between them they scored seven of the team’s fourteen tries against Brothers last week, with Miti crossing for five and Lafai twice.

Halves Aiden Young and Sam Lulia are both in great touch for Andrew Smith’s team.

Cootamundra is yet to record a victory in Reserve Grade, and every thing points to the Bulldogs having another long afternoon on Saturday.