Albury opened a three-point break on fellow fringe finals contenders on Sunday.
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Thunder smashed winless Cootamundra 50-0, racking up nine tries with pacy winger Keanu Wighton snaring a hat-trick.
"He's quick and it was good to see him in some open space, Keanu's been good for us this year," coach Adrian Purtell said.
"Overall I thought we executed what we set out to do.
"It was more completing early on and building on a good kick-chase, I thought we were really disciplined with that.
"We were happy to kick the ball long, chase hard and make them work out from their line.
"Our forwards were passing the ball between themselves quite well, which is something we've looked on as well and not just going one-out."
Purtell's plan to introduce more variety in the pack is designed to make the big forward unit more unpredictable and damaging.
"In Group Nine, Southcity is a team that moves the ball around really well and make you work hard defensively," he said.
"We've got our own brand and we want to play the Albury Thunder way, but it's always good to pick up a few things off other teams."
Southcity has been a perennial grand finalist in recent years, so imitation is always the best form of flattery as Thunder looks to break back into finals after a three-year absence.
And favourable results means the club now has a game and a half break on Junee and Temora.
Thunder faces lowly Young and mid-table placed Wagga Kangaroos in the next two rounds, so the Border outfit will be out to extend that margin by the halfway mark of the season.
Back-rower Jon Huggett started the points blitz in the ninth minute against the Bulldogs as the visitors racked up four tries in the first half to open a 24-0 lead.
Thunder went one better after the break, with Wighton scoring his third try in the final minute to post the half-century.
The English front-row combination of props Brad Nicholson and Brad Hill, along with hooker Joe Lumb, was superb, charging through the Bulldogs pack with the latter playing a clever role at dummy-half.
Curtly Jenkinson continues to impress on the wing, posting 18 points from a try and seven goals.
Purtell controlled play well at five-eighth, while Luke Ingram was a powerhouse, in both attack and defence.
Thunder will be hoping a shoulder injury to Huggett isn't serious, while Reece Clegg suffered a heavy head knock and could miss the Young game.
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