Stand-in captain Trent Schubach is looking for a better effort from the Diesels when they play host to Albury at Laurie Daley Oval on Saturday.
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The halfback has labelled it a must-win game for the side after coming off a loss to Brothers on Saturday.
Junee fell well short in the top of the table clash, with the Wagga side scoring a 34-12 victory.
The Diesels are the only side to beat Brothers so far this season, but couldn’t repeat their performance from earlier in the season.
Schubach thought the Wagga side came with a better attitude to reclaim the Rick Keast Memorial Shield.
“Everyone from one to 17 just got out-enthused and outplayed by the better side on the day,” Schubach said.
Junee went into the clash without some of their best players.
Daniel Foley and Matt Hands are off holidaying in Europe while centre Tim Vatubuli is out injured and Schubach thought it showed.
“Missing a few players isn’t a good start to start with and then we just didn’t play well enough,” he said.
“They are big side, well-drilled and were just the better side on the day.”
After Ed Ansell scored the first of his three tries, Junee levelled things up when Tom Diggins scored.
However conceding two late tries proved costly as they went into the break down 16-6.
“We weren’t playing all that well but were still in the grind and a couple of late tries to them hurt and they got the momentum going in the second half,” Schubach said.
“They scored a couple of quick tries and we did stem the flow a bit later in the second half and it was one try each in the last 20 minutes when they scored in the last minute, but we were never in the game.”
Brothers quickly out went to a 30-6 lead in the second half before Damon Jackson pegged one back.
The loss sees them drop four points behind the ladder-leading Brothers and into the tight battle for top four positions.
They’ve been joined by both Tumut and Cootamundra on 12 points with Gundagai a further win behind in sixth place.
Albury are sitting second last on the Group Nine ladder, but one of their two wins was over the Diesels.
The Thunder have lost six games by a converted try or less, including a two-point loss to Brothers and a six-point loss to Cootamundra in the past fortnight.
With that in mind, Schubach expects a strong challenge.
“They are only just being beaten by the top sides in the comp every week and somehow they are down the bottom of the ladder but they are a strong side with plenty of good footy players and experience,” he said.
“It is really a must-win game for us this week to stay in touch with the top teams.
“We can’t afford to drift away at the end of the season.”
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