Albury will travel to Tumut with two senior sides as the club looks to ward off the impact of Victoria's latest COVID-19 outbreak.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Thunder will face the Blues in both first grade and reserve grade however both their Sullivan Cup (under 16s) and Weissel Cup (under 18s) sides have forfeited their clashes due to implications of Victoria's lockdown.
The Thunder's first grade side is unaffected by the seven-day lockdown preventing any Wodonga-based players from taking part.
It was a different story with their reserve grade outfit but the club is confident they still have enough to commit to playing.
"We lost five reserve grade players who are young blokes from the army who live in Wodonga so we will be down on numbers but first grade weren't affected," secretary Warren Jenkinson said.
Their leaguetag side would also have been affected but Tumut are not taking part in the competition this season.
Albury have their Weissel Cup coach and seven players on the Victorian side of the border while the Sullivan Cup side were down to nine players.
Jenkinson admitted it was disappointing to be without their two junior teams but was pleased the impact wasn't as widespread throughout the club.
"It is not good as you want to see your kids playing but it is what it is," Jenkinson said.
READ MORE
With the Thunder playing and training out of Greenfield Park in Albury's centre the impact isn't expected to worsen should the Victorian government extend their lockdown past the current seven-day period, which is set to expire on midnight Thursday.
Albury are set to face Brothers in Wagga on June 5.
Group Nine president Andrew Hinchcliffe is pleased Albury found a way to overcome most of their obstacles.
"At the end of the day we just want to have people participate in rugby league and where it is permissible, under the advice of government, we are happy for that to continue," Hinchcliffe said.
"It is unfortunate Albury Thunder's 16s and 18s have been impacted but we're just in line with the rest of society and doing what we need to do."
Hinchcliffe said it made sense to attempt to go forward this weekend rather than attempt to reschedule.
Meanwhile Southern Inland have postponed the fixtures between Albury and Wagga City set for Saturday.
The Steamers were set to be without half of their starting side from their most recent clash.
President Mick Raynes requested the postponement due to the significant impact on the club.
"We could potentially get maybe one men's team together but we wouldn't have a functioning front row. It would be dangerous if we tried to go down that path," Raynes said.
"We're not in a position to field the three teams and I know our women would be down to five players."
Southern Inland have already presented June 12, which was to be a general bye for the long weekend, or a mid-week time slot as alternatives.