THE haves and the have-nots are at the opposite ends of the Group Nine premiership table.
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This is a widespread view - and the positioning of Albury and Tumut at the top and bottom of the ladder respectively only seems to reinforce the point.
For instance, Albury is always talking up its power, wealth and resources.
The Thunder is claimed to be the best sponsored club in the Group Nine competition - and it would be hard to argue.
In comparison to some other clubs, Albury's list of backers is almost endless, which is the obvious advantage of being the only rugby league club in a city with a population of 52,000.
Naturally, the Thunder has considerable opposition from the Ovens and Murray League clubs, but there is definitely more than enough to sprear around.
Contrast Albury's thriving situation to the plight of Tumut as a prime example.
Down on the border there is a growing economy and abundant employment opportunities.
Up in the hills it's a totally different scenario.
Last week Tumut co-coach Matt Free decried a lack of jobs as a reason for the Blues having much trouble in recruiting a high-profile coach and players.
Free and Greg Crampton only took on the Blues post when the club couldn't sign a prominent coach at the end of the 2013 season.
According to Free, who was born and bred in the town, Tumut's employment woes are the "worst in a decade".
"I reckon there's the least number of 19-25 year olds (in Tumut) in my time," Free told The Daily Advertiser last week.
"Locals can't even get jobs and they're having to travel (for work)."
With the young and fit moving out of the former "timber town" in droves, the Blues are scratching for players - and it's showing on the premiership table.
After 10 games, Tumut is 0-10, but not in total and utter despair.
The horror results of the first month or so of the season have since been replaced with more favourable scorelines, but a victory is still yet to come.
There is, however, a genuine feel that the Blues are not far off a success, and they may soon ambush a team, or two, at Twickenham.
For Tumut, survival on football struggle-street is somewhat different to the not-so-far distant glory days.
Back in 2003, the Blues won their first Group Nine title in 30 years, and they subsequently triumphed again in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
Sadly, it's been downhill for Tumut ever since, climaxed by the slide to the rugby league depths in 2014.
Tumut's worries a world away from how things are bubbling along at audaciously successful Albury.
As the Blues have slumped, the Thunder have developed and blossomed into a fabulous football force, winning the last two Group Nine premierships, and being hot favourite to make it a hat-trick in September.
Across the Group Nine landscape, the diverse fortunes of Tumut and Albury are not an isolated case.
Look no further than Southcity and Tumbarumba as another classic contrast.
The Bulls have won eight of 10 games, and are second on the table, while the Greens have lost seven of 10 games, and are 10th on the same list.
Likewise, Southcity is a club based in booming Wagga (population 63,000) and Tumbarumba is making ends meet in a shire of 3500 residents.
A degree in economics is hardly needed to determine that the Bulls will have greater reach for sponsors and employment.
Yes, Southcity is one of three Group Nine clubs in the city - and there are rugby union and Australian football clubs also wanting to get their share of the pie.
Still, the chances of Southcity, Brothers, Kangaroos, Wagga City, Waratahs, Wagga Tigers, Turvey Park etc securing a benefactor would appear significantly greater than a club in a shrinking rural town.
Nowadays, young men are moving away from their homes in the likes of Tumut, Tumbarumba and Temora and settling in bustling cities with streets lined with gold.
An exaggeration, precisely, but also closer to the truth than some would imagine.
Sporting clubs are doing it tough across the bush, and they are doing it much tougher in the smaller towns than in the larger cities.
Positions on the various ladders invariably tell the same sorry story.
There are notable exceptions, of course, but given time even these could just become another historical novelty.
This gloomy forecast - and spiraling predicament - will go unnoticed by those running the AFL and NRL from their luxurious offices, and at the tables of the swishest restaurants.
There are even those who will simply say that what goes around, comes around - and the cycle of football life will make everything right.
As much as this sentiment was, perhaps, fine in the rip-roaring olden days, when it was safe to have a dozen schooners and drive home from the pub, it carries little weight now.
Attitudes to drink-driving have thankfully changed, and, unfortunately, so has the prospect of a town with dwindling industry supporting a football team.