Parramatta Eels vs Brisbane Broncos - Friday night - Parramatta Stadium

We get another chance to see what the Broncos will look like in a post-alockyerlyptic world on Friday night. Corey Norman joins Peter Wallace in the halves and based on what I saw at training on Tuesday they might need the run. Of course there are other big names missing as well – with Hannant, Parker, Hodges, and Yow Yeh in camp for Origin duties. Parramatta loses Hayne and Mannah for the same reason, but it’s fair to say they bring a more settled line-up to this clash. Their recent form has been quite encouraging, particularly if you can ignore the loss to Canberra last weekend. I’m willing to do so – much better teams than the Eels have struggled to do their best in Canberra at this time of year. Prior to that they lost narrowly to the Sea Eagles at Brookvale, the Knights at Newcastle and drew with the Dragons. They may not have won for more than a month, but the form looks okay. Casey Maguire gets a chance to steer the Eels around against his old team and will be keen to impress. In what should be a close game I’ll take the home side – goal kicking (and Luke Burt) could determine the winner in this one.

Verdict - Eels

Result - Broncos 16 defeated Eels 12

Panthers vs Canterbury Bulldogs - Saturday night - Centrebet Stadium

The Panthers recent record against the Bulldogs is very good indeed – you have to go back to 2009 to find the last Bulldogs victory at Penrith (and they fell in). Both sides go into this clash on the back of solid wins last weekend and they need to consolidate that form if they want to be seriously involved at the end of the year. The Bulldogs lose Michael Ennis and his presence does lift the side. Dene Halatau shifts to the dummy-half role and Ben Roberts gets another chance in first grade from the interchange bench. The line-up changes for Penrith will be most telling – they lose their two most important and experienced players in Petero Civoniceva and Luke Lewis. Lewis lifted his side over the line last week when the Cowboys challenged in the second half. Civoniceva relished the opportunity to take on his Origin partner Matt Scott on the front line. Petero showed his future successor he is still the benchmark in the game. The Panthers lose more than they win when Civoniceva is unavailable. The Bulldogs for mine, and I’m expecting a big game from a rampaging Frank Pritchard against his former club.

Verdict - Bulldogs

Result - Panthers 20 defeated Bulldogs 6

Cronulla Sharks vs South Sydney Rabbitohs - Sunday afternoon - Skilled Park

The Rabbits are expected to win on Sunday. They did trounce the Sharks earlier this season, and the Sharks face this challenge without their irreplaceable club captain in Paul Gallen. But pay attention everyone – the Sharks are my lock-it-in, lay-it-down, go-you-good-thing, get-in-the-queue tip of the round. Their last two victories have been, as Andrew Johns is prone to say, outstanding – and those wins were away from home. Without Paul Gallen things are a little more difficult, but the Rabbits lose Dave Taylor and Greg Inglis for this game as well. I’m not sure if that evens things up, but Taylor has been unstoppable in recent weeks. Take those two players out of the Rabbits left edge and they look a lot less potent with the ball in hand. I also think the Bunnies might come down to earth a little on the back of the trip to Perth last weekend (it’s another reason I think the Eels can beat the Broncos). Much of the Bunnies/Broncos game was played underwater. After all that swimming and all that flying I’m confident the Sharks can run over the top of the Bunnies in the last 20 minutes.

Verdict - Sharks

Sharks 26 defeated Rabbitohs 4

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Newcastle Knights - Sunday afternoon - WIN Stadium

No shortage of changes for the Dragons with six of their best suiting up on Wednesday night. It’s a big ask for any club, but it’s hard not to be impressed with what they did on Monday night against Manly. The Dragons have proven in the past that players can step up to first grade and slot into their seemingly impenetrable structure. The Knights were gallant victors last weekend, but the Roosters were awful. And Wayne Bennett won’t let his next club beat his current club. Not on his watch.

Verdict - Dragons

Knights 14 defeated Dragons 10

Sydney Roosters vs Canberra Raiders - Monday night - Sydney Football Stadium

I don’t have to explain the Roosters curse to regular readers, but suffice to say I’ve got the Roosters wrong in their last three games. I’ll probably get this wrong as well, but after their effort last week I simply refuse to select them against anyone at the moment. I’d tip the Gold Coast Suns to beat them if they played like they did last week. Tipping the Raiders away from home is usually a bad ploy, but their last two away games (an extra-time loss to Brisbane and a win over Melbourne) give me plenty of confidence. I’m keen on green.

Verdict - Raiders

Result - Raiders 38 defeated Roosters 12

Queensland Maroons vs New South Wales Blues - Wednesday night - Suncorp Stadium

There are any number of reasons to think Queensland can take the deciding game in the 2011 State of Origin series. They have a stronger pack of forwards, a vastly superior combination in the halves, the best number 9 to ever play the game in Cameron Smith and most of the Australian backline. That said, one can only be impressed by the effort and application of New South Wales in both games thus far - they have been tremendous and deserve their chance to win the series. The question mark hanging over them (for me anyway) is can they take their game to another level? Have they got more in them than what we have already seen? Have they already shown us the best they can do? I think they have to lift in Game Three to be any chance, and I doubt they can go much higher. Queensland will lift on Wednesday night, and the crowd will lift them further. Kudos to Petero Civoniceva, who is almost certainly retiring from Origin footy after this game. He's keeping quiet as he'd rather this game be about his captain - and that says more about the man than anything I can say here. The last Queensland jersey Darren Lockyer wears will be a winning one. He has earned the win.

Verdict - Queensland by 8

Result - Queensland 34 defeated New South Wales 24

Wally Lewis - round seventeen selections (in bold)

Note: Tips from Wally will be published on Thursday nights or early Friday mornings.

• EELS vs Broncos
• Panthers vs BULLDOGS
• Sharks vs RABBITOHS
• DRAGONS vs Knights
• Roosters vs RAIDERS
• QUEENSLAND vs New South Wales