The Drovers started well against the Steamers, with a close first half seeing the score at 7 to 5 in favour of Albury.
It was a similar story to round one however, with no bench players for the Drovers proving costly in the second half.
Albury steamrolled the visitors, adding 29 second half points to score a 31 point victory.
Drovers coach Mark Thompson said he was proud of his side’s efforts despite the heavy loss.
‘‘The first half was one of the best halves of rugby I’ve seen our side play (since taking over as coach in 2019),’’ he said.
‘‘Unfortunately we just had that lack of numbers and they had a fair few rotations off the bench.
‘‘What Saturday showed me was that we can play and compete against these strong sides for long periods of time.
‘‘In the second half Albury’s bigger boys started to run that bit wider rather than crashing into us.
‘‘We didn’t defend them well in this situation so that’s something we will need to fix up.
‘‘We have the firepower to score against them but we didn’t have enough possession in the second half to do so.
‘‘They held onto the ball well and it goes without saying that it’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball.’’
Jack Jennings was the lone try scorer for the Drovers, scoring right out on the edge of the field after several phases.
Votes from the clash went to Reef Wereta (three), Robert Scott (two) and Owen Whyman (one).
Scott also claimed the Players’ Player award.
‘‘Reef (Wereta) had a cracking game as an open side flanker, it was good to have him back out there,’’ Thompson said.
‘‘Robert Scott has been a great addition this yer. He’s taking the game on, is hard at it and is so easy to teach.
‘‘He listens well and takes in information you give him.
‘‘It was also good to see Owen in amongst the votes as well.
‘‘Our new players are wearing the guernsey with pride and have embraced the club.’’
The Drovers will have another tough hit-out this week when they host Leeton at Rotary Park.
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