Cover Photo: Photo: Lens By Lizzy/Liz Tui
Tallon Smith
The Albury Thunder washed away two years of heartbreak and ended a 14-year drought to claim the Group 9 reserve grade premiership with an 18-12 victory over Temora at Geohex Park on Sunday.
After falling to Gundagai 18-16 in the final minute in 2024, before going unbeaten last season only to lose 17-12 in extra time to Wagga Kangaroos, the Thunder ensured the third time was the charm, leading from the fifth minute right through until full time to claim the club’s fourth Burmeister Shield and first since 2012.
Having experienced the losses of the past two years, Thunder co-captain Aidan Young said it was an “unreal” feeling to finally secure the elusive title.
“Being one of the players that has been a part of it for the last three years, it has been awesome,” he said.
“Obviously the last two years have been pretty rough, and a struggle, but the boys we have around us and the senior players like Etu [Uaisele], Andrew Smith, Joel Mosbey, they’ve been around the club for a long time, so [I’m] very lucky to be a part of that.
“The boys have obviously worked hard to get where we are.”
The Thunder started fast, with hooker Andrew Smith going over from dummy half inside the opening five minutes, before a beautiful inside ball from Keanau Wighton found Kieren Ford, who sent Jordan Ercegovic over to extend the side’s early lead to 12-0.
The Dragons found their reply through some slick passing of their own, with halfback Jared McKinnon putting Riley Neville through a gap before backing up to score under the posts and reduce the deficit to 12-6 leading into half time.
That scoreline remained until the 64th minute, when Brodie Ford found space on a short side play and linked with Noah Stead, who skipped away and broke a tackle to give Albury a 12-point advantage heading into the final minutes.
Temora never gave up, and set up a grandstand finish when Charlie Bent crossed under the posts, but in the end the Thunder had the answers defensively, and closed out a memorable six point win for the club’s first title in any senior grade since the 2017 under 16s decider.
Player of the match honours went to Smith, who crossed for the opening try before playing a subtle role in the side’s other two four-pointers in a strong overall performance.
Young said the veteran dummy half was a deserving recipient of the accolade, and an inspiration to play alongside throughout the past few seasons.
“He absolutely deserved that, played 70 minutes in hooker and lock and in the middle of the field, so he’s an awesome player,” he said.
“He’s one of those players that when you stand alongside him, he motivates you to be the best player you can be.
“I think [it’s] been awesome having him as a coach last year, and obviously doubling up to go again this year.
“As I said, [he’s] a player you can stand alongside and go ‘yep, we’ve got to do it for him and do it for the other boys who are retiring or in their last year’.
“He’s an absolute competitor, competes for absolutely everything, someone I look to as an idol within the team, and someone I want to make sure that I am working for every game that we play.”
As for the club, Young said the victory is a big boost for the Thunder as a whole, and a testament to the support the players receive from both their families and the wider rugby league community in the Border city.
“It’s awesome to have that feeling and a premiership coming back to Albury,” he said.
“I think it shows in the support every week that we have with our partners, families and the wider community that come up to the games and support us wherever we go.
“I think the best thing is the community gets behind us, and we couldn’t do it without them.”
ALBURY 18 (Andrew Smith, Jordan Ercegovic, Noah Stead tries; Keanau Wighton 3 goals) DEFEATED TEMORA 12 (Jared McKinnon, Charlie Bent tries; McKinnon 2 goals) at Geohex Park, Sunday September 20.
