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

Manly led 20-0 last week. Then Brett Stewart succumbed to injury and it was downhill skiing from there. He won't be playing this weekend either, and to make matters worse the Rabbitohs fullback heads to Gosford on the back of a hat-trick against the defending premiers. Very few teams scored three tries against the Roosters last year, and Greg Inglis did that on his own. The rest of the Rabbitohs line-up is intact from their impressive first round win, and there's every reason to believe we'll see more of the same from the Bunnies. The Sea Eagles are too good a side to rule out entirely, and they do welcome back Jason King and The Wolfman, but these Rabbits were very good in round one and they don't seem to mind the trip to Gosford. The game of the round.

Verdict – Rabbitohs by 1-12

Result - Sea Eagles 14 defeated Rabbitohs 12

Brisbane Broncos vs North Queensland Cowboys – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

Thank goodness both these sides won last week - it should mean another five or six thousand turn up on Friday night and we'll get to see a game of footy in front of a decent crowd for a change. All that cavernous emptiness at ANZ stadium certainly takes some shine off the game does it not? It's a little like those enormous wine glasses they give you at snooty restaurants - then they charge you $16 for a centimetre of semillon sauvignon bleugh. Just give me a normal wine glass and fill the darn thing I say. Sixteen bucks will get you a pie and a beer at Suncorp (both in plastic) but you'll also get to see what is usually a cracking game of football. There were positive signs for the Broncos and their makeshift playmaking roster in round one, but I think I need to see it one more time before I'm convinced.

Verdict – Cowboys by 4

Result - Broncos 16 defeated Cowboys 12

New Zealand Warriors vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Saturday afternoon – Eden Park

This is a Claytons home game for the Warriors, and if they've ever won a game at Eden Park I certainly can't remember it. I've ended up tipping them here but I can't say I'm brimming with confidence. Astonishingly, the Warriors are the shortest priced favourites all weekend. I have to say that backing the Warriors at $1.31 is a pretty unhealthy habit to get into. It's not crystal meth bad, but if your teenage children started taking $1.31 about our Kiwi cousins you'd be a very worried parent. They get picked here because I look at their line-up on paper and they just look tremendous. I can't say that about the Dragons, and they may have been flattered by a pretty woeful Tigers outfit. This will be a tough game for me to watch - I may have to close my eyes and think of Ms Thinker to get through it.

Verdict – Warriors by 2

Result - Dragons 31 defeated Warriors 12

Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers – Saturday night – AAMI Park

Ms Thinker told me on our honeymoon that timing is everything, and the Panthers couldn't have picked a worse time to travel to deepest darkest Melbourne. Cooper Cronk returns from injury, Billy Slater plays his 250th game for the club, and Cameron Smith breaks the all-time club record with his 263rd appearance. And Smith has just re-signed for four more years in purple. Penrith impressed last week, but Melbourne in Melbourne is a tougher nut to crack than Newcastle in Penrith. Eleven losses from their last twelve meetings demonstrates just how tough it is.

Verdict – Storm by 10

Result - Storm 18 defeated Panthers 17

Sydney Roosters vs Parramatta Eels – Saturday night – Allianz Stadium

The Eels have taught me many things in recent years, but the most important thing they have taught me is thus - never, ever get carried away on the basis of one Parramatta performance. Time and again they follow up a good win with an embarrassing loss - against anyone. This time they are away from home and they face the defending premiers who don't want to start the season on 0 from 2. I'm hearing there's been a steady stream of bets for the Eels in this game. Madness I tells ya. Back the Roosters and get in the queue. You can trust me - I got 2 from 8 last week.

Verdict – Roosters by 12

Result - Roosters 56 defeated Eels 4

Gold Coast Titans vs Wests Tigers – Sunday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium

The Dragons struggled to score points all season in 2013, but they racked up 44 in 80 minutes against the Tigers in round one. Can the Tigers turn things around in one week and contain the Titans on a warm afternoon at home? Erm no...no they cannnot. Aidan Sezer and Albert Kelly impressed me last week, and Sezer may be on the cusp of a breakout season. The Titans at $1.35 look a little skinny - better to consider the 9.5 handicap at $1.91. Or even better still, find one of those 'which half of the game will have the most points' bets, and back the second half. The Tigers will focus on their defense at training this week. We'll see some improvement in the first 40 minutes but, like The Thinker on his honeymoon, they can't keep it up for 80 minutes.

Verdict – Titans by 16

Result - Tigers 42 defeated Titans 12

Newcastle Knights vs Canberra Raiders – Sunday night – Hunter Stadium

I've talked forever about the importance of the spine of a team - numbers 1, 6, 7 and 9. There's some chance the Knights will be without their first choices in all those positions this weekend. Boyd and Mullen are definitely out, and Gidley and Roberts have been named but need to pass medicals. Even if they do pass and play their training this week will be interrupted. Canberra rarely perform when they travel to the Hunter but they were big winners on their last visit (44-14). Another win like that would surprise me but there were encouraging signs against the Cowboys. At pretty juuicy odds I'm willing to give them a chance.

Verdict – Raiders by 4

Result - Raiders 26 defeated Knights 20

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Cronulla Sharks – Monday night – ANZ Stadium

The list of unavailable Sharks for this game is quite a football team - Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita, Luke Lewis, Anthony Tupou, Beau Ryan and Jeff Robson. Small mercies that Todd Carney and Chris Heighington should be back on Monday night, but I can't imagine those ins make up for all the outs. Both these sides were pretty insipid in attack in the first round. It can take a while for the attacking combinations to gel, but these sides look a long way from their best attacking footy at the moment. Back the unders, whatever it is, and take the home side.

Verdict – Bulldogs by 4

Result - Bulldogs 42 defeated Sharks 4

Wally Lewis - round two selections (in bold)

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

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