Brisbane Broncos vs Newcastle Knights – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

The Knights are hanging onto seventh place and five teams trail the Knights by a solitary point, but it's difficult to see them missing the top eight this year. That draw with the Broncos a few weeks back, a handy points differential, and a game at home against the Eels next week should get them over the line. No team behind the Broncos on the ladder is close enough to catch them, but the Broncos need to get in front of all five teams that are one point ahead of them. To be any hope, they have to finish off their season with two wins against top eight sides, and big wins wouldn't hurt either. I'm not convinced they're good enough, but this is one club with a history of pulling out an enormous game when their backs are against the wall. That's a wall boys. They do have an advantage in the forwards (particularly with Kade Snowden unavailable) and Alex Glenn in the centres is a welcome return. Difficult it will be, but they'll live to fight for another round, and give two of their stalwarts (Scott Prince and David Stagg) an opportunity to play milestone games in a match that matters.

Verdict – Broncos by enough

Result - Knights 26 defeated Broncos 18

Wests Tigers vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Friday night – Allianz Stadium

I'm not the first to mention it, and I certainly won't be the last to mention it, but it would be remiss of me not to mention it - when Luke, Sam, Tom and George Burgess take to the field for the Rabbitohs on Saturday night it will be the first time four brothers have played together since Roy, Ray, Rex and Bernard Norman in 1910. I doubt we will ever see such a thing again - how many families have four boys these days? With the return of Robbie Farah this is the best Tigers line-up we've seen in quite a while, but their best hasn't been so great this year. Greg Inglis has been named but don't be surprised if he sits this one out. The Bunnies have named an extended bench and his knee could use another week of rest before the finals. The Tigers couldn't beat Parramatta three weeks ago, and every single one of you will be tipping who I'm tipping.

Verdict – Rabbitohs

Result - Rabbitohs 32 defeated Tigers 18

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Penrith Panthers – Saturday night – ANZ Stadium

Penrith keep proving the doubters (and The Thinker) wrong, but I'm prepared to doubt them again. Their last two wins were impressive enough but prior to that they scored a total of 34 points (and conceded 148) in their four successive losses to the Knights, Sharks, Roosters and Cowboys. I'm prepared to include the Bulldogs with that group of four as one of the better teams in the competition. The Bulldogs were competitive against the Bunnies last week. That is good enough for me and it should be good enough to beat Penrith.

Verdict – Bulldogs

Result - Bulldogs 34 defeated Panthers 14

New Zealand Warriors vs Canberra Raiders – Saturday night – Mt Smart Stadium

The Raiders' season appears to be in freefall after four losses in a row but, to be fair, losses to the Storm, Roosters, Bulldogs and Sea Eagles are hardly surprising losses. Now they have to head overseas and take on a side playing their last home game of the season. Blake Ferguson won't be on the plane and he won't be wearing lime green again. Without him, and without Josh Dugan, Jack Wighton, Edrick Lee and Sandor Earl, that Canberra backline looks a little shy of what you would need to outscore the Warriors. If you like money you should back Konrad Hurrell to score a try. Everytime I do I seem to end up with money. Gamble responsibly...gamble responsibly.

Verdict – Warriors

Result - Warriors 50 defeated Raiders 16

Manly Sea Eagles vs Melbourne Storm – Saturday night – Brookvale Oval

Manly are well and truly in the top four, but it's when they play the other teams in the top four we get a feel for where they sit in relation to the other premiership contenders. They've played other top four sides five teams this year, and they haven't won any of them. To be fair, they did draw with the Storm and that was in Melbourne, but the Storm looked more likely on that occasion (I think they were held up over the line about four times). Given what we've seen from the Storm over the last four weeks (conceding just 26 points while scoring 181) I think we can say that Melbourne, on current form, are a serious top four side. In a round where almost every game looks interesting, this should be the most interesting of all.

Verdict – Storm

Result - Sea Eagles 28 defeated Storm 8

Cronulla Sharks vs North Queensland Cowboys – Sunday afternoon – Remondis Stadium

One can only assume the Sharks were paying attention when the AFL handed out its punishment to the Essendon Football Club on Tuesday night. You'd think it would all get too much for them eventually, but to give them their due they keep turning up almost every week. Proof of that was on show on Monday night when they dispatched of the Roosters, and one can only wonder what the Sharks might have done this season if the ASADA shadow wasn't hanging over their heads all year. In recent weeks the Cowboys have been showing us what they might have done this season as well, but they have probably left their run too late. Losing Ray Thompson to injury last week makes it enormously difficult. The Cowboys finally found a solution to their dummy-half issues, and now they have to (very quickly) find another solution. Compounding the loss is the impact of this injury to the Cowboys forwards rotation. Thompson was an 80 minute player, which allowed that big Cowboys pack to get a little extra rest each game. So the Cowboys pack has to lift a gear, and then they must lift another gear because they have to match it with what might be the toughest pack of forwards in the game. It might be too much, particularly away from home in that city they don't seem to enjoy playing in.

Verdict – Sharks

Result - Cowboys 31 defeated Sharks 18

Sydney Roosters vs Gold Coast Titans – Sunday afternoon – Allianz Stadium

The Titans didn't need that nail-biting loss to the Warriors last round. They're currently in ninth place and they close out the home and away season with an away game against the Chooks and an away game against the Storm. Ouch! The Chooks haven't lost two games in a row all year, and their club captain returns for this clash to add some composure and experience to what is still a young side. They'll also have plenty of incentive to turn up for this game, as the Bunnies should stick their whiskers in front in the race for the minor premiership on Friday night. Assume the Chooks will get their beaks back in front by Sunday night. The two oldest clubs in the competition, neck and neck to the line in the race for the top of the table. The only way it could get any better is if these sides were to face off in the final round of the regular season. Let me just have a quick look-see at the games for next round............................

Oh Boy! 

Verdict – Roosters

Result - Titans 30 defeated Roosters 22

Parramatta Eels vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Monday night – Parramatta Stadium

If the Eels can beat the Dragons by about 110 points, and if they then beat the Knights in Newcastle in the old boys game, and if the Dragons lose at home to the Warriors next weekend, the Eels can avoid the wooden spoon. Just wanted to give the boys something to aim for on Monday night. But before you all tip the Eels (and they may end up starting favourites in this game - Thinker shakes his head), let me share something with you all. The Dragons have struggled to score points all season. They've scored 20 or more points on just five occasions, and they've scored 30 or more points only once. Their opponent when they scored more than 30 points? Yep, that's right. The Dragons have won their last seven matches against the Eels, and the most points the Eels have scored in those seven games was fourteen. I think the Dragons can find twenty points on Monday night against this opponent, and twenty points should be enough.

Verdict – Dragons 20 : Eels 12

Result - Eels 26 defeated Dragons 22

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

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

• BRONCOS vs Knights
• Tigers vs RABBITOHS
• BULLDOGS vs Panthers
• WARRIORS vs Raiders
• Sea Eagles vs STORM
• SHARKS vs Cowboys
• ROOSTERS vs Titans
• Eels vs DRAGONS