Three late changes did nothing to slow Tumut’s start in the 38-18 win over Albury at Greenfield Park on Sunday.
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The Blues fired out of the blocks, scoring three tries in the first 10 minutes as part of a dominant first half effort.
Tumut led 32-0 at the break, and while the Thunder outscored them in the second half, coach Jarrad Teka was thrilled by how they responded after a loss to 32-20 Brothers last week.
“We needed it after last week," Teka said.
“Last week we started poorly and got put to the sword while this week we started great and put them to the sword.
“It shows just how vital the start of the same is.”
With star halfback Raymond Luke stuck in New Zealand after missing his flight and Clay Campbell and Thomas Jeffery late withdrawals through injury, the Blues had to do plenty of reshuffling on Sunday morning.
However it didn’t affect their start.
Todd Broad returned from injury and stood out at halfback and the Blues picked up a valueable two points heading into what Teka described as a much needed bye.
On the other end of the equation, Albury coach Josh Cale labelled his side’s performance as embarrassing.
An insipid opening to the match blew any chance it had of regaining a spot in the top five and while the home team showed huge improvement to comfortably win the second half, it did little to console Cale.
“It’s embarrassing really,” Cale said. “It’s embarrassing for the club, the fans and the players themselves.
“We had a really good week at training, our warm up was great and it’s hard to swallow what happened in the first half.”
But it soon turned to despair with Jacob Toppin slicing through some poor defence after five minutes.
It started a procession with Esera Mose, Dean Bristow, Masivesi Dakuwaqa, Ben Roddy and Toppin crossing before half-time to lead 32-0 at the break.
The Thunder looked a different side after play resumed with Jye Thompson, Levi Freeman and Lachie Hampton scoring within nine minutes to cut the deficit to 32-14.
Any faint hope of a comeback was snuffed out when Tumut scored a penalty goal with 18 minutes left on the clock.
Etu Uaisele scored to edge closer before the Blues’ Tamati Ioane iced the match in the dying minutes.
Cale was at a loss to explain their wildly fluctuating form.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it, but we can’t win games defending like that,” he said.
It’s hard to put your finger on it, but we can’t win games defending like that. Thirty-eight points and 30 in the first half isn’t good enough.
- Josh Cale
“Thirty eight points and 30 in the first half isn’t good enough.”
Thunder’s loss was compounded by fellow Brothers and Kangaroos both scoring wins.
