Brisbane Broncos vs Melbourne Storm – Thursday night – Suncorp Stadium

The Broncos won't be playing finals football in 2024, a fair decline from the heady days of 2023. What went wrong? Lots of things, I expect, but hopefully they can sort things out in the off-season and end their year with an effort that will give their fans some optimism. It will be interesting to see what sort of crowd they pull here, given the dreaded Thursday night schedule and the circumstances, but they've been drawing big crowds all season so they'll probably do it again. They're flying off the field...at least. The Broncos struggle against the Storm at the best of times, so it's hard to imagine how they can win this, particularly with a fair chunk of their engine room (Haas, Willison, Piakura) sidelined. So too Kotoni Staggs, who does much of the heavy lifting dragging his side out of trouble early in sets. The Storm have a raft of changes after resting 11 of their best last week. Despite doing that, and despite losing another two of their best early in the game, they gave the Cowboys a fright in Townsville. Papenhuyzen will be rested but should be back for the finals, and Coates is close to a return. Their record at this ground is almost absurd. Their last 16 games against the Broncos...15 wins, and plenty of those were by a space. It's quite a record. I anticipate Bellamy would like to take control of this game as soon as possible, and start resting key players when the result is beyond doubt. Purple reign...purple reign.

Verdict – Storm by 22

Result – Storm 50 defeated Broncos 12

Wests Tigers vs Parramatta Eels – Friday night – Campbelltown Sports Stadium

It's nice when an almost meaningless game, means something. 16th plays 17th, and the loser gets the trophy nobody wants. The game is a sellout to mark the occasion, which makes one wonder what sort of crowds these two teams would be getting if they were going well. Despite their lowly positions on the ladder, both sides enter this contest in winning form, and the last placed Tigers are actually chasing three wins in a row. They were good enough to beat the Manly Sea Eagles and that's fair form. Strange little fact about that game - each team had three brothers playing for them. That's pretty darn unusual, and I really should mentioned that at the time. Anyhoo, I'm willing to them at home in a tiny upset. The Eels did win last week, but they still conceded 40 points, and have conceded 314 points in their last ten games. You don't win often when you do that, and the Eels aren't winning often.

Verdict – Tigers by 4

Result – Eels 60 defeated Tigers 26

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Sydney Roosters – Friday night – Accor Stadium

Craig Bellamy was right - if you can afford to rest some players leading into the finals, you should. The Roosters didn't have such a luxury, and their premiership hopes have taken a mighty hit as a result. In fact, their 2025 campaign has taken a fair whack too. It's a cruel game at times. The Rabbitohs haven't had much to play for of late, but they do like to turn up to this game. With the chooks punch-drunk and on the ropes they wouldn't mind taking a few more out and making sure the Chickens can't claim another premiership. Despite that, their recent record over their favourite foe isn't flash, and the Roosters have more depth in their squad than most. Sua'ali'i returns in the centres and replaces Jennings, which is an upgrade. Sua'ali'i probably takes over the goal-kicking duies on Friday night too, which is also an upgrade. The Chooks have also had a week to work out how to play without Sam Walker. Without the chaos of Walker in charge, the Roosters managed to look even more chaotic. It doesn't make sense, but it does. And apparently Latrell Mitchell is perfectly fit to play rugby league, he's just on some sort of leave with full pay at the moment. His full pay is $1.2m a year, and a year in the NRL is about half a year if you don't make the finals. Generous conditions.

Verdict – Roosters by 8

Result – Roosters 36 defeated Rabbitohs 28

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Canberra Raiders – Saturday afternoon – Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

So near, but not near enough. The winner of this game will finish the season on the same points as the team in 8th place, but will miss the finals due to points differential. The Raiders have done particularly well to end up this close - their last five games were all against top eight teams, and they've won their last two against premiership heavyweights. They're a team full of promising young potential and look like a top eight side next season. A wrap for Jordan Rapana, a bloke who has played his last NRL game and always gave his all. The Dragons recent form has been patchy at best. A very rare win over the Storm in Melbourne was the highlight, but every other top eight team they've played in recent times has flogged them. Conceding 9 tries in an hour to the team running second last is hardly good form either, particularly when you are playing for a finals berth. The coach clearly put several rockets up several people after that effort, but he might need more rockets.

Verdict – Raiders by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Raiders 26 defeated Dragons 24

Canterbury Bulldogs vs North Queensland Cowboys – Saturday night – Accor Stadium

Fifth plays sixth and the winner definitely secures a home final next week. The losing side would be hoping the Sea Eagles lose on Sunday - if they don't, the losing side in this game travels to Brookvale next week, and I doubt anyone wants to go there. These sides met quite recently (round 20) where the Cowboys prevailed in Townsville in a tight contest (20-18). That Bulldogs team included some key players that aren't available this time - Burton, Mann and Xerri. They'll miss them all, but they'll miss Burton the most. His kicking game is unique, but he's also their first choice goal-kicker. With Valentine Holmes slotting them from everywhere for the Cowboys, goal-kicking may be the difference in what should be another close contest.

Verdict – Cowboys by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Cowboys 44 defeated Bulldogs 6

Penrith Panthers vs Gold Coast Titans – Saturday night – BlueBet Stadium

At first glance, this game doesn't look too important, but the second-placed Panthers (probably) need to win this to ensure a home final next week. A loss could see them slip to fourth, with a road trip to Melbourne to follow, so they'll be wary of that. Scott Sorensen returns for the Panthers and slots straight back into the side. The Titans have given David Fifita and Sami an early mark, with both booked in for ankle surgeries. It would suggest that the Titans are already thinking about next year, and you can't blame them...this year hasn't been awesome.

Verdict – Panthers by 14

​​​​​​​Result – Panthers 18 defeated Titans 12

Manly Sea Eagles vs Cronulla Sharks – Sunday afternoon – 4 Pines Park

There is a tiny possibility that the Sharks could drop out of the top four with a loss, but only if the Bulldogs win by about 50. They'll know beforehand if that's the case. If it isn't, they have little play for here, unless they can jump to third and dodge the Storm next week. That's something I suppose. They also wouldn't want to be losing key players to suspensions, injuries, HIAs, off-field idiocy etc...so that may be on their minds a little. The Sea Eagles can't drop out of the top eight, so a finals berth is assured, but a win will definitely give them a home final next week. That's important because no-one in Manly ever wants to leave Manly unless they really have to, and their record at home (9 wins and 2 losses) is a heck-ton better than their record away from home (4 wins and 7 losses). Given that, and given that this game is also played at the ground where they have that winning record, I'm tipping the Sea Eagles here, even without their gun fullback. Mulitalo returns for the Sharks, but he's replacing Stonestreet who's been scoring tries for laughs since his first grade debut.

Verdict – Sea Eagles by 7

​​​​​​​Result – Sharks 40 defeated Sea Eagles 20

Newcastle Knights vs Redcliffe Dolphins – Sunday afternoon – McDonald Jones Stadium

8th plays 9th in the final game of the regular season, and the winner makes the eight. In the unlikely event this game ends in a draw, the winner of the Dragons/Raiders clash sneaks through, but we've only had one draw all season, and just two draws in the last three years, so not bloody likely. Some handy inclusions for both teams - Frizell and Gamble are back for the Knights, while the Titans welcome back Jesse Bromwich and Nikorima. Importantly, Kaufusi has escaped a suspension at the judiciary and gets to play. Wayne Bennett, cagey old fox that he is, managed to keep some pretty major line-up changes under wraps for a week leading into the Battle of Brisbane. And every change he made worked. He now finds himself in charge of a team that can make the top eight in just their second year in the competition. That's not bad, but he also takes a spot in the eight that the three teams he has previously coached (Broncos, Dragons, Knights) can't have. He gets this stuff right more often than not, so who am I to doubt the master. The Knights have won three of their last four, but those wins were against the Titans, Rabbitohs and Tigers. This is harder, but what a game this is likely to be. In a season that has gone down to the wire, this game could very well do the same.

Verdict – Dolphins by 2

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Result – Knights 14 defeated Dolphins 6

Wally Lewis - round twenty seven selections (in bold)

Note: tips from Wally will be published on Wednesday night or Thursday morning

• Broncos vs STORM
• Tigers vs EELS
• Rabbitohs vs ROOSTERS
• DRAGONS vs Raiders
• BULLDOGS vs Cowboys
• PANTHERS vs Titans
• SEA EAGLES vs Sharks
• Knights vs DOLPHINS