Albury captain-coach Ben Jeffery has made a surprise move and will shift to hooker to help cover a number of player losses against Southcity on Sunday.
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With regular hooker Andrew Smith sidelined with a knee injury for the rest of the year and back-up options Rex Sargeant and Josh Malcolmson away this week, the former NRL winger will slot into the forwards for the big clash at Harris Park.
While not exactly a stranger to the position, being among the forwards isn’t usually where Jeffery shines.
“We pretty much have no one else,” Jeffery said.
“I have played a little bit at Tweed Heads and trained there for an off-season with the (Gold Coast) Titans.”
With Jeffery moving to hooker Mitch Seaton will move to fullback, Buchanan Rawhiti will switch to the centres and Ziggy Kennedy comes onto the wing.
Jeffery doesn’t believe his role playing up the middle of the field will have too much impact on the team.
“We will still look to play the same style we have been playing,” Jeffery said.
“We know Southcity control the ruck really well so hopefully combat that.”
The Thunder’s win over Kangaroos last week lifted them to fourth on the ladder.
They are currently three points behind the ladder-leading Bulls.
Jeffery believes it will be a crucial clash to elevating their finals chances.
“It is huge and if we can scrape in with a win this weekend it takes a little bit of pressure of us,” he said,
“If we are going to aim for a top three spot we have to win.”
Southcity proved far too strong when the teams met on the border earlier this season.
After going down 36-14, Jeffery is looking to sure up his team’s defence.
“We just have to stay in the game better,” he said.
“We were in the game and then let in a few soft tries.
“If we can hold them out a bit longer and hopefully frustrate them a bit with the ball it would be nice.”
While the Bulls come into the clash at full-strength, it is a vastly different story for the Thunder.
Besides the losses in the hooker position, the Thunder are still without representative forwards Andrew Cowhan and Joe Silafau
While Silafau, who may return in time for the finals, is the only forward expected to be a chance of returning Jeffery is hopeful the smaller pack can still provide plenty of impact over the next two months.
“The boys in there are doing a good job,” Jeffery.
“It is just the size of the guys (missing).
“They are a couple of big units and it is always nice to have couple of big units of the field.”
