The Wagga side had plenty of opportunities to go into the June long weekend break on a winning note but struggled to capitalise on them.

Instead it was Albury who sit in fourth place after a 24-16 win at Greenfield Park on Sunday.

Coming off consecutive byes, Albury captain-coach Robbie Byatt was thrilled with the team's defensive efforts to take an important win in the context of the season.

"It was a good win," Byatt said. "Our defence was really good as they had a lot of ball after we turned over a lot of it early in the first half.

"They had a lot of attack right on our line but we defended really well."

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Kangaroos started the game well when Bowie Foster went over after five minutes.

However they struggled in the slippery conditions to make it more.

Instead Albury levelled things when Mason Fuller swooped on a Kieren Ford grubber before the Thunder went into half-time with the lead as Jackins Olam pulled off a nice pass for Keanau Wighton to score.

Byatt thought taking the most of their limited opportunities really bode well for the second stanza.

"We only had about three attacking sets in the first half but once we started completing our sets and getting into good ball we started to capitalise," he said.

Albury extended their advantage as Olam got himself on the scoreboard before providing Wighton with his second.

Foster got Kangaroos back within six points when he scored only for the Thunder to respond as Matt Byatt barged his way over.

Ned Cooper just managed to get the ball down in the corner to cut the margin once more but Kangaroos ran out of time.

Byatt was impressed with the impact his forwards had, particularly Nathan Darby and his younger brother Matt, who got through plenty of minutes.

Harrison Reicher was another strong performer but once again it was Jon Huggett who led the way through the middle.

The win has been a long-time coming for the Thunder, who got the better of Southcity in round three, with a stop-start season so far.

While heading into the general bye, Byatt hopes they can start to build some momentum.

"We had to pretty much start again but I was pleased with how the boys handled things," he said.

The loss means the Wagga side only has one win to their credit, against the winless Bulls, from their first five games under new captain-coach James Smart.

It sees them in second last on the ladder but they are only a win behind Albury.

Kangaroos are also just two points behind Brothers, who they take on when the competition resumes on June 18.

Meanwhile Albury are out to extend their winning record against unbeaten Gundagai when they clash on the border. Surprisingly, the Tigers have not beaten the Thunder since 2017.

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