South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Manly Sea Eagles – Friday night – Bluetongue Stadium

Some important additions to an extended interchange bench for the Rabbitohs with Isaac Luke returning from suspension and Roy Asotasi returning from injury. Asotasi may sit out one more week but Luke is a certain inclusion. His return does them no harm whatsoever. What I'm about to say is something I never thought I would say about any Rabbitohs side - they are close to the best defensive outfit in the competition. Given that the Sea Eagles could manage just one try last weekend (although they did win) that bodes well for the bunnies prospects on Friday night. Manly have done more travelling in recent weeks than an under 8's basketball team and I still think it's going to cost them. If I keep saying it I'll be right eventually. A vital game for both sides - a loss for the bunnies and the minor premiership may be out of reach and Manly are desperate to stay in the top four. A tremendous match-up, but the bunnies are better.

Verdict – Rabbitohs

Result - Sea Eagles 23 defeated Rabbitohs 6

Melbourne Storm vs Gold Coast Titans - Friday night – AAMI Park

I'm not completely convinced that beating Penrith in Melbourne means they are back to their best, but the Storm are a red-hot favourite on Friday night to beat a very good team. It's not so much who they beat last weekend but how they did it - leading anybody by 34-0 at half-time is enough evidence to suggest they are still a force in the competition this year. The Titans aren't a spent force either. I expect them to win their last three games of the year, and I can't say that about the other teams battling it out for top eight spots. They could beat the Storm as well, but I can't tip them this weekend as it looks like their opponent may be on the rise. When the Storm are playing well and have all their troops on the paddock, they don't lose at home to anyone. 

Verdict – Storm

Result - Storm 24 defeated Titans 16

Parramatta Eels vs Sydney Roosters - Saturday night – Parramatta Stadium

The Eels will be targeting this game as a must-win, particularly if they have a look at the draw and realise they are next to no chance of picking up any points in the following two rounds (Titans away followed by the Rabbitohs). The Roosters have probably done enough to avoid the wooden spoon this season but they deserve a place in the cutlery draw. A loss this weekend and they'll be getting nervous again. With next to no confidence I'm on the chooks. They look well-placed to win the battle for metres gained and they are one of the better exponents of second-phase play; containing second-phase play is one of many things the Eels have struggled with this season. The quality of football will be a significant drop from the first two games of the round, but this should be pretty entertaining nonetheless. 

Verdict – Roosters

Result - Eels 36 defeated Roosters 22

Wests Tigers vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Saturday night – Allianz Stadium

Of all the games this weekend, this is one of the seven I'm least sure about. Here we have two diametrically opposite football teams. The Tigers don't know how to defend and the Dragons don't know how to attack. If the Eels can score 26 points against the Tigers I expect the Dragons to be able to score at least half that. Usually a good defence beats a good attack but I'm not sure that 13 points will be enough on Saturday night. Slightly worrying for me is that these sides met in round three and the Dragons racked up 36 points. That win was one of the few occasions all season that the Dragons have clicked with the ball in hand. If they do that again I wouldn't be completely surprised, but their loss to the Roosters last week suggested they might have run their race this season.

Verdict – Tigers

Result - Tigers 22 defeated Dragons 12

North Queensland Cowboys vs New Zealand Warriors – Saturday night – Dairy Farmers Stadium

Six weeks ago the Warriors beat the Cowboys convincingly, but six weeks ago the Warriors were winning football games. Since then they've been finding a way to lose games when losing seemed close to impossible. And all those narrow losses appear to have taken their toll, culminating in a 41 point loss to the Sharks...in Auckland. The Warriors have a coffin with their name on it, and the Cowboys have a hammer in their left hand and a nail in their right. For whom the bell tolls (about time I quoted some Hemingway this season)...

Verdict – Cowboys

Result - Cowboys 52 defeated Warriors 12

Penrith Panthers vs Canberra Raiders – Sunday afternoon – Centrebet Stadium

What do you with this pile of pooh that's been moulded into the shape of a football match on Sunday afternoon? Results on Saturday night might affect the outcome of this one - if the Eels knock over the Roosters the Panthers will be absolutely desperate to win. They should be desperate to win regardless, as coach Ivan Cleary has put plenty of his troops on notice that they are playing for their future with the club. I honestly don't have a clue with this one, and Mal Meninga was wearing green socks the last time I went the right way in a Raiders game. Canberra fans rejoice, because I'm going with the home side. 

Verdict – Panthers

Result - Raiders 20 defeated Panthers 10

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Brisbane Broncos – Sunday afternoon – ANZ Stadium

It's taken twenty-three weeks but grab your plates folks - this horse looks well and truly cooked. Injuries and a heavy representative workload have finally caught up with what is still a fairly young Broncos side. The retirement of Darren Lockyer hasn't helped either, and the Broncos halves appear to be struggling at the business end of the season. Their defence is struggling as well, and they've lost two of their better defenders (Parker and Glenn) to injury. Justin Hodges returns, but he might have to fill in at fullback because Hoffman has been dropped because he was late to work (sheesh!). Given all that, they face quite a task taking on the Bulldogs in Sydney. The Broncos have a history of galvanising for these sort of games, but I can't see them galvanising for the full eighty minutes. Close at half-time. Not even close at full-time.

Verdict – Bulldogs

Result - Bulldogs 22 defeated Broncos 14

Newcastle Knights vs Cronulla Sharks – Monday night – Hunter Stadium

By Monday night the Knights will know how all the teams around them on the ladder have fared this week. Assuming The Thinker is on track for a perfect round the Titans, Raiders, Dragons and Warriors will have already lost. This leaves the Knights with a tremendous opportunity to steal a break on the rest of the chasing pack. Beating Cronulla won't be easy, but after this they face Manly at Brookvale and the Cowboys in Townsville, and beating Cronulla might look easy compared to those assignments. The Sharks looked fantastic against the Warriors, but the Warriors didn't do much more than turn up to the ground. The Knights in Newcastle won't relent so easily.

Verdict – Knights

Result - Knights 26 defeated Sharks 4

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

Note: tips from Wally will be published as soon as possible (usually on Thursday night or early Friday morning).

• Rabbitohs vs SEA EAGLES
• STORM vs Titans
• Eels vs ROOSTERS
• TIGERS vs Dragons
• COWBOYS vs Warriors
• Panthers vs RAIDERS
• BULLDOGS vs Broncos
• KNIGHTS vs Sharks