Coming off good result against Gundagai, the Bulldogs proved it was no fluke with the 26-10 victory over the Thunder.

To make things better they did it without captain-coach Glen Buttriss and a string of other players.

Buttriss withdrew on the morning of the clash after injuring his hip flexor at training on Friday night and was joined by Dave Buttriss, Matt Forsyth, Haydn Cowled and Rob Tulenew on the sidelines.

Chris Maher stepped into the five-eighth role to guide Cootamundra to their second win of the season from as many games.

Assistant coach Aaron Byrne was impressed by how quickly new combinations were created.

The team’s attitude is what pleases him the most.

“The attitude of the guys is what is winning these games at the moment,” Byrne said.

“Everyone is willing to turn up for each other and work for each other.

“It was tough with Gundagai and Albury in the first two weeks of the season, but the tough pre-season with everyone buying into the same kind of culture and being on the same page has made one hell of a difference.

“There is a vibe that hasn’t been around for a long time.”

Albury opened the scoring early when Robbie Byatt crossed however Cootamundra quickly gained the ascendancy.

Tries to James Cronin, Patrick Cameron and James Howse handed the home team a 12-4 lead at the break and they extended that as Dan Maher and Jordyn Ballard crossed the line.

Albury did get one back through English import Brad Hill before Cameron scored his second at the end.

Cameron was strong at hooker, Jeremy Wood got through plenty of work up front while Ballard was a standout backing up from representative duties.

Byrne admitted he was hoping the Bulldogs could slip under the radar, but it won’t be the case heading into a top-of-the-table clash with Southcity on Saturday.

He too is out following Achilles tendon surgery and expects to find out much more about the team when they tackle the Bulls at Harris Park.

“We were trying to fly under the radar a little bit and work our way into it, but I think we’ve blown that out of the water,” Byrne said.

“With this game done and dusted everyone is now looking forward to next week.

“It will give a fair gauge of where we are at as they have been the benchmark for a long time.

“It would be good to see where we are at even though there is a long way to go.”