Manly Sea Eagles vs Parramatta Eels – Thursday night – Brookvale Oval

Green shoots are emerging at Brookvale - not on the actual field of course, I'm talking about the performance of the team. The last four rounds have seen victories over the Sharks, Roosters and Warriors and a narrow loss to the Rabbitohs. That's good, but it's not great, and it's a step down from the Manly of old. The win last week pleased me (at backable odds.....zing!) but they're facing another quick turnaround combined with the joys of international travel. Meanwhile the Eels are sitting third on the ladder, just behind two teams they've already played. That tells you the Eels have been facing stiffer opponents than most and they're holding their own. It's also worth noting that both these sides have played the Bulldogs this season - the Sea Eagles got flogged by the Dogs at Brookvale while the Eels flogged the Dogs at ANZ. Now it's never that simple in this competition and the Sea Eagles have improved since then, but I'm liking the look of that Eels spine and they're working behind a pack of performing (and under-rated) forwards. The Eels rarely walk away from Brookvale with two points, and I'd be much more confident if Tim Mannah were available, but it's the visitors for mine in what could be the game of the round.

Verdict – Eels by 4

Result - Eels 22 defeated Sea Eagles 10

North Queensland Cowboys vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Friday night – 1300SMILES Stadium

While the big names at the Cowboys get plenty of accolades (and they should) it's worth stepping back occassionally and having a look at the performances of some of the trenchermen in the seventeen. Ethan Lowe doesn't get a lot of attention, but he's topping their tackle count, he's carting the ball up more than anyone else, he's breaking the line and he's racked up three tries. Not shabby at all. In fact, the Cowboys starting back-row have scored seven tries this season, and interchange forward Scott Bolton has a pair to boot. At first glance you'd expect the Rabbitohs attack to challenge the Cowboys more than the Dragons did two weeks ago, but the Bunnies looked pretty predictable with the ball last week (against the team running last). The Cowboys aren't running last, and they're back at home where they are undefeated and their cumulative point tallies stand at 96 points scored and just 14 points conceded. Twice they've held teams to zero. Give your love to a Cowboy man. He's gonna love you as hard as he can can.

Verdict – Cowboys by 10

Result - Cowboys 44 defeated Rabbitohs 18

Gold Coast Titans vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Saturday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium

The last time the Dragons had such an unsuccessful tour of Queensland was when Marc Hunter and his band were self-imploding in the late seventies - are you old enough (to get that reference)? Two games down and not a point to show for it. Ironically, Marc Hunter was scoring plenty in the seventies (heroin mostly). To be fair (to the football team...not Marc Hunter) their opponent this Saturday is a peg down from the Broncos and the Cowboys, but I can't help but think that the Dragons can't wait to get back to Sydney and prepare for ANZAC Day. Much like the band, the Dragons have added three kiwis to their line-up on Saturday (Marshall, Faifai Loa and Havili), but they'll be looking forward to ANZAC Day too. The Titans are beating the poor teams and competing against the good teams, and that's good enough for this. Take me to the April Sun at Cbus.

Verdict – Titans by 8

Result - Dragons 19 defeated Titans 14

Canterbury Bulldogs vs New Zealand Warriors – Saturday night – Westpac Stadium

A quick glance at the odds for this game and you'd be wondering why the bookmakers can't split these two. Take a second look and you'll notice that this is one of those games the Bulldogs take to New Zealand. Take a third look and you'll be back where you started, wondering why the bookmakers can't split these two. Perhaps it's the travel, with the Bulldogs backing up from a Monday night in Melbourne for a Saturday night in Wellington. I get that. I'm also pleased to see Lolohea getting a chance in the halves for the Warriors - I singled him out as a rising star at the start of the season and he's been stuck on a wing ever since. I'm looking forward to what his partnership with Johnson could deliver. Still..it's the Bulldogs surely. And besides, Ms Thinker wants the Dogs scoring plenty of tries so she can stare into those deep blue pools that are the eyes of Kerrod Holland. And it's good news for the Thinker on a Saturday night too. I can just sit back, watch a bit of footy, give Ms Thinker a second glass of wine during the last 20 minutes. Then I just have to wait for the final hooter and for Ms Thinker to pounce. You'd like the lights turned off darling? Fair enough.

Verdict – Bulldogs by 4

Result - Warriors 24 defeated Bulldogs 20

Brisbane Broncos vs Newcastle Knights – Saturday night – Suncorp Stadium

I've been to quite a few Broncos/Knights clashes over the years. I can recall a game in about 2007 when the Broncos cracked the 70 mark (I think they even slotted a field goal that game). I can also recall a golden point game in about 2004 when (I think) Kurt Gidley slotted the winning field goal. Sadly I won't be able to attend this game - there's a fair chance I'll still be pinned under Ms Thinker when they kick off, but if the Knights are good enough to take this game to golden point I'll be very surprised. I'm glad they got the win last week (even though I didn't tip them), and it was great to see 22,000+ at the game to support a team that are doing it pretty tough. They'll be doing it pretty tough on Saturday night too.

Verdict – Broncos by 31 (another field goal)

Result - Broncos 53 defeated Knights 0

Canberra Raiders vs Cronulla Sharks – Sunday afternoon – GIO Stadium

If the game on Thursday night doesn't deliver then this game can step up and give us a show. The Sunday afternoon timeslot can often bring out the best in the Raiders. Unfortunately it can also bring out the worst in the Sharks, but they've won three games in a row, and one of those was a Sunday afternoon game just last week. That was one courageous victory over the Titans too, losing three important players (Maloney, Lewis, Fifita) to injury during the 80 minutes. Lewis sits out this game but his replacement (Bukuya) is no slouch. That Maloney returns is most important, as this game is likely to be one of those 6 tries to 5 contests. In the end goalkicking may prove the difference. They need Maloney there slotting goals, because his opponent on the day (Croker) doesn't miss many either. The Raiders were poor last and there's every chance they'll bounce back at home, but I'll stick with the more consistent Sharks. Points by the brazillions in these two backlines and these two goalkickers....back the total points overs if the weather is fine and the track good.

Verdict – Sharks by 2

Result - Sharks 40 defeated Raiders 16

Wests Tigers vs Melbourne Storm – Sunday afternoon – Leichhardt Oval

The Storm have settled into a win-loss, win-loss pattern at the moment. They lost last week, so my selection all but picks itself. Clearly they aren't playing at their best, but Cyclone Bellamy will be upgraded to a Category 4 system after that loss to the Bulldogs on Monday night. That should be enough to get them over the line here, particularly with the injury to Aaron Woods. That's four losses in a row for the Tigers - they've settled into a loss-loss, loss-loss pattern.

Verdict – Storm by 7

Result - Storm 19 defeated Tigers 18

Sydney Roosters vs Penrith Panthers – Monday night – Allianz Stadium

Attention shoppers...we have a red spot special in the store on Monday night. Head on up to our fresh meat section where, for one night only, you can get Panther meat for $1.70 a kilo. You heard that right shoppers...that's $1.70 about the Panthers which is incredible value. Note that we'll also be giving away the roast chickens on Monday night too. They were fresh in round six but they peaked (for that game) and are past their best. Note that Tyrone Peachey has been named on an extended bench for the big black cats. If he gets named in the seventeen I suggest you buy even more Panther. Shop responsibly.

Verdict – Panthers by 8

Result - Panthers 20 defeated Roosters 16

Wally Lewis - round seven selections (in bold)

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

• Sea Eagles vs EELS
• COWBOYS vs Rabbitohs
• TITANS vs Dragons
• BULLDOGS vs Warriors
• BRONCOS vs Knights
• RAIDERS vs Sharks
• Tigers vs STORM
• Roosters vs PANTHERS