North Queensland Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos – Friday night – 1300SMILES Stadium

It would be presumptious to assume this weekend will give us the best weekend of football we'll see this season, but it may also be true. The last four games between these two sides have given us some of the best rugby league you are ever likely to see. These sides met in round four where the Broncos prevailed in Brisbane by a point. Then they met again in round 11 where the Cowboys prevailed in Townsville by a point. That round 11 game was game number 250 for Jonathan Thurston, and his effort to lift his side over the line in the final ten minutes sums up everything about the man as a player and a competitor. The Cowboys are short favourites on Friday...a little too short if you ask me. The Broncos were clinical in their disposal of the Storm in Melbourne in round 25, while the Cowboys struggled to get any sort of attack going throughout their loss to the purple machine last weekend. I'm hardly confident – we don't know what's happening with Jimmy the Jet (I'm assuming he won't be there) and that's a concern, but my biggest concern is goal-kicking. In what is likely to be a close game that could be the difference between winning and losing. I have more faith in Thurston handling the goal-kicking pressure over whoever puts their hand up for the Broncos (Kahu...probably). Note that when the Cowboys won by a point in round 11, the Broncos kicked just 1 of 3 conversions, while Thurston didn't miss a thing. They aren't meeting in a grand final again, but I'm glad we get to see these two sides one more time this season. The Broncos are $2.75 for a reason. Perhaps I'm mis-reading the formlines badly, but I'm with the visitors.

Verdict – Broncos by 2

Result - Cowboys 26 defeated Broncos 20

Canberra Raiders vs Penrith Panthers – Saturday night – GIO Stadium

The two best backlines square off in what should be a points frenzy on Saturday night. Those named in jerseys 1 through 7 have scored 75 tries for the Raiders and 62 tries for the Panthers this season. On face value that looks like the Raiders have an edge in attack, but if you dig deeper you'll notice an important change that has taken place with the Panthers this season. At the start of the year I was critical of the Panthers in attack. In the first nine rounds of the year they were scoring virtually the same total every game - it didn't seem to matter who they were playing, they were stuck in a range between 12 and 23, and I pointed out (quite rightly) that it wasn't enough. If the Panthers wanted to make the top eight their attack needed to improve. It has. Things started to click when Coach Griffin made some key changes in key positions. Wallace got shifted out of the halves and into the number 9 jersey, Jamie Soward got shifted to London and James Segeyaro got shifted to Leeds. This current Panthers spine (Wallace, Cartwright, Cleary and Moylan) works, and the Panthers backline is singing on the back of it. They've scored 199 points in their last six outings and they're playing with a confidence that is both infectious and entertaining. The Raiders attack has been much the same, but while things changed for the better for the visitors, things have changed for the worse with the Raiders. Josh Hodgson is their best player and he's probably one of the five best in the NRL this season. He's been named, but I doubt he'll be there, and it would be even worse if they risked him and he pulled up after ten minutes. Blake Austin is a more likely inclusion, but he has been out of action for a while. So the Raiders face their most important game of the season thus far with line-up changes in key positions. Against most opponents you could back them to carry on, but not this opponent. This opponent is one of the few that can match the Raiders for points. The Raiders are a warm favourite and deserve to be at home, but it's the Black Cats I say. They are purring.

Verdict – Panthers by 8

Result - Raiders 22 defeated Panthers 12

Wally Lewis - finals week two (in bold)

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

• COWBOYS vs Broncos
• RAIDERS vs Panthers