Thunder storm to victory
Kununurra Thunder have turned the tables on counterpart Ord River Bulls, posting a dominant 36-8 win last Friday night in front of a sizeable crowd.
The Thunder went down to the Bulls in the season opener the previous week 36-14, but welcomed back several key players for the second-round clash and led from start to finish.
Kimberley Rugby League president and Thunder player Matt Young said the final score did not reflect the intensity of the match, which was high from the outset.
"We had a full squad and the Bulls players had a couple of injuries so they probably weren't quite as strong as last week," he said.
"It was a turnaround from last week in terms of the score, but it was still an entertaining game."
Bulls player Steve Cooke and Thunder playmaker James Kenny were named as their team's best, but Young said the performances of several young up-and-coming players were also encouraging.
"The young fellas like Rhodes Boyce and Brent Walters were really good again and that's probably one of the most positive things out of the past two weeks," he said.
"We've had good numbers playing the last couple of weeks, but I think everyone is looking forward to the bye in a couple of weeks."
Young said the support from people turning out to watch was also encouraging with growing crowds of cars and people getting along to the matches.
He said the sport was continuing to go from strength to strength in the town, and the KRL would again look to play a couple of representative games against Broome and Katherine.
"We're working with Broome the same as we did last year and we will hopefully have a game against them here sometime later in the year," he said.
"We'll also have our return game against Katherine, but, at the moment, we are focusing all of our energy on the Town v Country game that will be played during the Muster."
The annual Town v Country match was kicked off last season as one of the many events as part of the town's Ord Valley Muster in May.
It pits local KRL players against a team made up of ringers, chopper pilots and other station workers from around the area.
This year's event will support St John Ambulance, and Young said they were hoping to raise more than $12,000.
"We got some really good auction items for the night, so hopefully people can get behind the event," he said.
The Thunder will take on the Bulls again this Friday night at Ag Oval from 6.30pm.
There will be a bye next week before the teams meet again on May 8.
Young said anyone interested in playing rugby league could come down to joint team training on Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Ag Oval or contact the KRL on Facebook.
