The Thunder dropped down to fifth after a 18-4 loss to Tumut at Twickenham on Saturday and now sit three points clear of the chasing pack.

Captain-coach Robbie Byatt thought the team struggled to adjust to the pressure the Blues put them under in muddy conditions.

"We did play to the conditions," Byatt said.

"There was too much turnover of the ball, too many penalties and it just wasn't our day really.

"They also played the conditions a lot better than we did really."

READ MORE

Albury struggled to make inroads against the Blues defence early and it set a tone for the rest of the clash.

However Byatt was pleased they held out a number of attacking raids from Tumut.

"They bashed us early, their kicks were good, they were really pinning us down inside the 10 and were really rushing up on us," he said.

"We found it really hard to get out and get any momentum as when you get that much pressure early it is hard to crawl out of."

Things don't get any easier for the Thunder, in fact they probably get much harder, with a clash with Young on the horizon.

The club has the chance to put in a bid for the Challenge Cup at Greenfield Park on Sunday.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: