Only five weeks after being embarrassed 48-4 by the Bulls, the reigning premier sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition that it may not be dead and buried just yet.

It was Thunder’s third straight win after toppling Wagga sides Brothers and Kangaroos in recent weeks.

Coach Ben Jeffery, who set up the match-winning try to Cameron Breust in the 77th minute, praised his side’s mental strength.

“Today was a really good effort by the boys,” Jeffery said.

“They beat us by 40 points a few weeks ago and to win by six is a great turnaround.

“We were under the pump for a lot of the game as they had a lot of ball on our line but we hung in there and hung in there and I was rapt with the effort.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.”

While Albury is a long way off last year’s spectacular form, the signs are positive with recruits David Cowhan, Levi Freeman and Andrew Smith leading the revival.

Smith was outstanding in a frenetic final 15 minutes while David and Andrew Cowhan tackled their hearts out against a menacing Bulls’ pack led by inspirational coach Nick Skinner.

Southcity could hardly have started better when Jade Hodge scored out wide in the opening minute but the home team hit back almost immediately when Daniel Hill made the most of a superb pass from Smith.

Jeffery followed up in the 20th minute following a fine run from winger Alex Jones and the coach completed a double when he crossed the line in the 38th minute to give Thunder a 16-4 lead at half-time.

The Bulls, however, were far from a spent force and tries to Kyle McCarthy (43rd minute) and Jack Lyons (55th minute) squared the scores at 16-all.

Hill regained the lead for Albury in the 60th minute only to see Skinner cross 10 minutes later to set up a nail-biting finish.

Jeffery has haunted Southcity in previous years and did it again by running on to a perfectly weighted Breust chip kick before passing back to the half-back who scored under the posts.

“It was a game between quality sides,” Jeffery said.

“Our attitude is a lot better now.”

Thunder take on Cootamundra at Fisher Park on Sunday while Southcity meet Tumut.