South Sydney Rabbitohs vs North Queensland Cowboys – Friday night – ANZ Stadium

I don't think I needed much more convincing, but the Cowboys have reinforced my view that playing footy in Sydney is the last thing they want to do on their weekends. If I was running the club (maybe next year) I'd be paying every opponent $100,000 to move their Sydney game to Gosford or Brisbane or Kabul. At least that way the Cowboys might be good enough to finish in the top two and avoid olde Sydney town until the last possible moment. I can't tip the Cowboys in Sydney, I can't tip them on their recent record against the bunnies (seven losses from their last eight meetings) and I can't tip them on current form either. I guess that makes the Rabbitohs a good thing.

Verdict – Rabbitohs

Result - Rabbitohs 28 defeated Cowboys 10

Wests Tigers vs Cronulla Sharks – Friday night – Allianz Stadium

The Tigers have lost five games in a row and the last game they lost they really really lost. Clearly their casualty list is hurting them and those that were unavailable last weekend are still unavailable this weekend. Tigers fans will hang their hopes on their head-to-head record against the Sharks, and with 13 wins from their last 14 games it's quite compelling evidence. But that's not enough for me. The Tigers only two wins this season were home games against the Panthers and the Eels - even without Paul Gallen the Sharks are better than that. And three former Tigers (Heighington, Fifita and Ryan) will be keen to rack up a win over their old side.

Verdict – Sharks

Result - Sharks 30 defeated Tigers 6

New Zealand Warriors vs Canterbury Bulldogs – Saturday night – Westpac Stadium

Sam Kasiano is fast becoming my favourite player in the NRL. He returned from injury last week, and in his first or second hit-up he threw a reverse spiral pass while fending off two defenders and found one of his outside backs on the fly. If he can stay injury-free and get his playing weight down to a slim 120kgs he'd be the most important forward in the game. He's certainly pivotal to the Bulldogs fortunes this season and he'll be up for a big game at home. I know there's a question mark over their opposition last week, but that final scoreline suggests to me the Dogs are building toward something. They need to back that up with another solid win and I think they will. And here's some curious trivia for you all - the Bulldogs have more New Zealand-born forwards than the Warriors.

Verdict – Bulldogs

Result - Bulldogs 24 defeated Warriors 16

Parramatta Eels vs Brisbane Broncos – Saturday night – Parramatta Stadium

$1.60 is available for a Broncos win on Saturday night and that is a put-in, take-out job as far as I'm concerned. The Broncos don't have the players to win this game by 30 or 40 points, but they do have a team that will win this in second gear. The Eels are struggling to find tries against anyone and the Broncos defence is better than most. Justin Hodges and Josh McGuire look set to return this week and that just makes the $1.60 even more ludicrous. The biggest certainty of the season thus far (and as you can see from my season stats I am almost never wrong).

Verdict – Broncos

Result - Eels (arrrghhh!) 19 defeated Broncos 18

Canberra Raiders vs Newcastle Knights – Sunday afternoon – Canberra Stadium

Andrew Johns turned up on my doorstep the other night. He was barefoot, dishevelled and it was pretty obvious something was on his mind. He told me hadn't slept since the Knights lost to the Sharks in golden point extra time. I told him he should pull the footy boots back on, and pointed out that if Willie Mason is good enough to pick up another New South Wales origin jersey he could come back and pick up another Dally M. He didn't look convinced, and I notice he hasn't been named at halfback by Wayne Bennett for Sunday. It might happen yet - if Bennett can sneak Allan Langer into the country for an Origin decider I'm sure he can find a way to get Johns to Canberra. With or without Johns I like the look of this game, and I think the Raiders can win again on the back of their surprise victory over the Storm last weekend. David Shillington is a welcome return for the green machine, given they lost a few troops in that win last week (Glen Buttriss played the game out with a compound finger fracture....ewwww!). And keep your eye on Anthony Milford off the bench - a future star of the game if my eyes have any idea what to look for. Possibly the game of the round.

Verdict – Raiders

Result - Raiders 44 defeated Knights 14

Gold Coast Titans vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Sunday afternoon – Skilled Park

Of all the games this weekend this is the game that left me scratching my head the longest. Both sides are coming off successive losses but it's fair to say the Dragons losses were against stronger opposition. At this point there are doubts over Matt Cooper taking the field for the Dragons, and without him someone else has to contain Jamal Idris. He was close to his best against the Warriors last weekend and a repeat of that performance could prove the difference on Sunday afternoon. A toin coss of a game if ever I've seen one.

Verdict – Titans

Result - Titans 15 defeated Dragons 14

Penrith Panthers vs Melbourne Storm – Sunday night – Centrebet Stadium

Poor Penrith. It's bad enough that they have to play the Storm, but now they have to play a switched-on Storm after their surprise loss to the Raiders. Craig Bellamy and Cameron Smith made it pretty clear they don't like losing, and they aren't in the habit of making a habit of it. One day this mighty Storm empire will start to decline, but they'll go down like a champion heavyweight boxer - fighting it out to the bitter end. There'll be no decline of the Melbourne empire just yet, and poor Penrith have to pay the price.

Verdict – Storm

Result - Panthers (yes...Panthers) 12 defeated Storm 10 (yes...Storm)

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters – Monday night – Brookvale Oval

And we save the best for last. Whenever two of the top four sides have clashed we have had one almighty football game, and there's no reason to believe this will be any different. Taking on the Sea Eagles at Brookvale is no easy task but the Rabbitohs proved it can be done and won. The Roosters will be keen to do the same and prove to themselves and everyone else they are a genuine premiership force. They haven't beaten the Sea Eagles since 2010, but the injury to Brett Stewart has me swaying to the chickens. Without Stewart chiming in the Roosters have one less dangerous attacking player to contain, and the Roosters have given us some of the best defense this season. Chickens....just 

Verdict – Roosters

Result - Roosters 16 defeated Sea Eagles 4

Wally Lewis - round nine selections (in bold)

Note: tips from Wally will be published on Thursday night or early Friday morning.

• RABBITOHS vs Cowboys
• Tigers vs SHARKS
• Warriors vs BULLDOGS
• Eels vs BRONCOS
• Raiders vs KNIGHTS
• TITANS vs Dragons
• Panthers vs STORM
• Sea Eagles vs ROOSTERS