Luff has hit the front in the Group Nine best and fairest award with just one round remaining until the halfway mark of the competition.

Luff has stormed to 22 votes to lead by two from Albury lock Luke Ingram, with Temora captain-coach Sam Elwin and Tumut's Tom Warner one further back in a share for third.

Luff is no stranger to accolades, having claimed the 2015 Weissel Medal and last year's Jon Hill Medal for man of the match in the grand final.

The 25-year-old is happy to be back at the top of his game after an injury interrupted 2018 season.

"I'm pretty happy, I've had not a bad start to the year and I think that's because I'm finally back into it after the knee reco," Luff said.

"Having half a season under my belt last year helped and I'm back into it now, which is good. I think the biggest thing was getting a pre-season under my belt, a bit of fitness.

"At the same time, we've got and have always had a good forward pack, which gets you going forward and it's easier to play off the back of that.

"I'm really more worried about how Gundagai is going though and we're firing. It's nice being up there and individual recognition is always good but it's second on the list behind winning the comp."

Gundagai are undefeated after the opening eight rounds. They drew with Albury in round one and have won their next seven games.

They will go into Saturday's game against Tumut on the back of a 34-0 whitewash of Southcity to set up back-to-back top of the table showdowns.

The Blues now sit in second spot, after a 32-10 win over Kangaroos, and will host both junior and senior football in what shapes as a huge day at Twickenham on Saturday.

"Tumut are going alright and have been talking it up a bit," Luff said.

"It's always a big rivalry and probably one of the best rivalries in country rugby league.

"We haven't lost to them since 2011 so hopefully we can keep the streak going.

"Tumut have a good forward pack so it's going to be a big battle up the middle. Hopefully we can get on top early and keep our position on top."

It is the first of a couple of big weeks for the Tigers, who will travel to Albury to take on the Thunder next week.

"It's a big couple of weeks but if we can get through the next two then we'll be in a pretty good position," Luff said.

22 - James Luff (Gundagai)

20 - Luke Ingram (Albury)

19 - Sam Elwin (Temora), Tom Warner (Tumut)

18 - Kyle McCarthy (Southcity)

17 - Mathew Lyons (Gundagai), Zac Masters (Tumut)

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