Canterbury Bulldogs vs North Queensland Cowboys – Friday night – ANZ Stadium

So far this season the Bulldogs have played top eight teams on nine occasions. They lost eight of them, and their only victory was against an injury-depleted Tigers who weren’t in the top eight at the time. They conceded 246 points in those nine games and scored just 118. In the previous round they lost to the Roosters – that isn’t the sort of form that can beat a team in the top three. Many an expert will tip you the Bulldogs in this game, but I suspect they are making that choice based on what the Bulldogs could do rather than what they have been doing. What they have been doing won’t beat the Cowboys, with or without Jonathan Thurston.

Verdict – Cowboys

Result - Bulldogs 14 defeated Cowboys 6

Wests Tigers vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Friday night – Sydney Football Stadium

I’m not prone to rash statements (eyes rolling) but this game can make or break the 2011 campaign for both clubs. If the Tigers win they can win the premiership, and if the Dragons lose they cannot. This is a big game of football. In recent weeks the Dragons have been switching off in the latter stages and it’s proving costly. The Dragons wouldn’t want to drop off for too long on Friday night – the Tigers are one of those teams that can rack up three tries in ten minutes. Are the Dragons running on tired legs? Has the representative workload brought them undone? Are they hungry enough? Winning back-to-back premierships in this competition is almost impossible. Another loss on Friday night and the Red V are on the ropes – if they aren’t already. Having said all that, I think the Dragons have enough fight left in them to win this one. Wayne Bennett had some choice words to say following their loss to the Bunnies – and he has an uncanny knack of getting his teams up to win the big games. I still think they are on the ropes, but I’m reminded of their 2009 season. They wobbled through the final rounds of the competition – losing three on the trot before putting it all together in round 26 and demolishing the in-form Eels. The very next week they lost to the Eels in the first week of the finals, before losing to the Broncos and bowing out in straight sets. It’s all just a little bit of history repeating.

Verdict – Dragons

Result - Tigers 16 defeated Dragons 14

Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers – Saturday night – AAMI Park

The Panthers need to win this one or their season looks over. Unfortunately the Panthers haven’t beaten the Storm in their last eight attempts. It’s been 12 weeks since the Storm were beaten by anyone, and their come-from-behind win on Monday night just proves how determined they are to keep winning. Two weeks ago the Broncos scored just one try against Melbourne, and the week before that the Raiders couldn’t score a point. The Panthers are still missing some key attacking players (Burns and Coote) and I’m not sure if they can score a point either.

Verdict – Storm

Result - Storm 26 defeated Panthers 6

Cronulla Sharks vs Gold Coast Titans – Saturday night – Toyota Stadium

There are two 7.30pm games on Saturday night. Those of you with subscription television at home can choose which of those games you would like to watch live. There’s this one, or you could watch the Broncos taking on the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium. Decisions decisions.

Verdict – Sharks

Result - Titans 20 defeated Sharks 16

Brisbane Broncos vs New Zealand Warriors – Saturday night – Suncorp Stadium

Darren Lockyer equals the record for the most NRL games on Saturday night, and the Broncos have quite a challenge on their hands if they want their captain to celebrate the occasion with a win. The Warriors are in very good form, and have absolutely belted the Broncos the last two times they have met. A win for the visitors and they’ll be eyeing off a coveted top four finish. It wouldn’t completely surprise me, but the spirit of the occasion has me leaning to the home side. The Broncos are at full-strength and simply have too much to play for.

Verdict – Broncos

Result - Broncos 21 defeated Warriors 20

Newcastle Knights vs Canberra Raiders – Sunday afternoon – Ausgrid Stadium

These two teams will rack up 70 points on Sunday afternoon, and Newcastle will score 50 of them. The Raiders aren’t renowned travelers, and with their season over you would expect them to struggle here. In fact, they’ve only won once from their last nine visits to Newcastle. The Knights beat the Raiders in Canberra earlier this year and they’ll beat them again. It may not be much of a contest but it should be a lot of fun. Heck, these sides could rack up a point a minute.

Verdict – Knights

Result - Knights 40 defeated Raiders 8

Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters – Sunday afternoon – Brookvale Oval

It’s Manly vs Bondi in the battle of the beaches, and the boys from Bondi don’t enjoy the conditions when they travel to Brookvale Oval. They’ve lost their last four at Brookie and have conceded 164 points in those four losses. The chickens might have won last week but the quality of the play in that game was a little bit ordinary. They need to improve a lot to win this. Actually scratch that – they don’t have enough improvement in them to win this.

Verdict – Sea Eagles

Sea Eagles 36 defeated Roosters 8

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Parramatta Eels – Monday night – ANZ Stadium

I thought the Eels might finish with the spoon this season and it can still happen - they have an uncanny ability to lose games that they should never lose. Given what has happened to them over the last three rounds you would think their confidence would be at an-time low. Making matters worse (if that is possible) they face a team riding high after their extraordinary come-from-behind victory over the defending premiers. If there is a team outside the eight that is capable of making a run into the finals from here it is probably the Rabbits. Dave Taylor returns and his combination with Greg Inglis on the left edge is almost unstoppable at its best. One can never be confident about the Bunnies in any game, but they’ll win this won’t they? Won’t they?

Verdict – Rabbitohs

Result - Rabbitohs 56 defeated Eels 6

Wally Lewis - round twenty-two selections (in bold)

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

• Bulldogs vs COWBOYS
• Tigers vs DRAGONS
• STORM vs Panthers
• SHARKS vs Titans
• BRONCOS vs Warriors
• KNIGHTS vs Raiders
• SEA EAGLES vs Roosters
• RABBITOHS vs Eels