Brisbane Broncos vs Penrith Panthers – Thursday night – Suncorp Stadium

The Panthers were pre-season premiership favourites but have won only twice this season, and only against poor opposition. We salivated at the potential of this Panthers backline but they've scored only ten tries in those six losing games. Something is missing. Trent Merrin has earned himself another Test jersey but he's missed 14 tackles in his last three games. He has some (bad) company in that Panthers pack as Campbell-Gillard and Peter Wallace have been found out in defence in recent weeks too. I expect the Broncos to focus on that, with Milford and Nikorima ready to expose the Panthers right up the hi-diddle diddle. The Broncos have had an extra day to prepare and are preparing at home. The logical tip.

Verdict – Broncos by 8

Result – Broncos 34 defeated Panthers 18

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

Note that the Rabbitohs are playing this home game away from home, although Manly fans are notoriously poor travellers so the Bunnies should have the majority of the support in the crowd. The shoulder charge by Burgess (George) was deemed worse than the shoulder charge by Burgess (Sam).  George takes a seat on the sideline as a consequence. Manly have surprised most of us (especially me) with the quality and consistency of their performances this season. I have to accept they'll turn up to play...and they're good enough. The Cherry-Evans/Green partnership in the halves is working, and their fullback has slotted in to fill the space once filled by Brett Stewart. The local lad looks like he'll be wearing the number one jersey on the northern beaches for the next decade. This is a football team, and I'm tipping them here.

Verdict – Sea Eagles by 4

Result – Sea Eagles 46 defeated Rabbitohs 8

North Queensland Cowboys vs Parramatta Eels – Friday night – 1300SMILES Stadium

All eyes will be on the Cowboys line-up on Friday night, with Jonathan Thurston named on the extended bench. Rugby League may be a team game, but Thurston is among a handful of players that can make a mockery of that truth. I've tipped against the Eels in their last two victories and I'm taking them on again. Surely I'll get it right...eventually. Coen Hess has replaced Gavin Cooper as the Cowboys try-scoring back-rower – he's racked up 6 tries in 6 games. With that in mind, the Eels will be watching Hess like a hawk, so it's probably time to back Gavin Cooper in try-scoring markets. It's so darn crazy it just might work.

Verdict – Cowboys by 4

Result – Eels 26 defeated Cowboys 6

Gold Coast Titans vs Newcastle Knights – Saturday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium

15th plays 16th but fans of both teams can, at the very least, appreciate the efforts of both sides. While both are competing against superior opponents, the Titans do appear to have more upside.The Titans forwards look set to dominate, and one has to assume that Peats, Taylor, Roberts, Hayne and Elgey (off the bench) can create enough try-scoring opportunities on the back of that.

Verdict – Titans by 10

Result – Titans 38 defeated Knights 8

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Canberra Raiders – Saturday night – ANZ Stadium

For some time I've had doubts about the ability of the Bulldogs to cross the stripe. Thus far in season 2017 they are averaging a snifter more than 15 points per game. That's not enough, particularly against the Raiders who are racking up (on average) 25 points per game. That's a lot of points for a team who have lost as many games as they've won, and the Bulldogs haven't scored 25 or more points in a game all year. You score more points than your opponent and you win folks...it's not rocket surgery.

Verdict – Raiders by 8

Result – Bulldogs 16 defeated Raiders 10

Wests Tigers vs Cronulla Sharks – Saturday night – Leichhardt Oval

Aaron Woods has announced when he will make his announcement (I'm disappointed he didn't announce when he was going to announce when he will make his announcement but I'm hard to please). I suspect he's holding off until after he has played this game at his 'spritual home'. Given that, I'm expecting a bit of a battle here and I've got this game pencilled in as the match of the round. The Sharks will be keen to win after the shock loss last week, and the stripey cats could step up for Woodsy. The Sharks are clearly the better team and I'm tipping them, but I'm expecting a closer contest than most.

Verdict – Sharks by 4

Result – Sharks 22 defeated Tigers 16

New Zealand Warriors vs Sydney Roosters – Sunday afternoon – Mt Smart Stadium

Where the bloodity heckity heck are my team lists for the Sunday games? Sheezus McSneezus won't somebody think of the Thinker? Anyhoo...the four teams playing on Sunday are the same four teams that played on ANZAC Day, which seems fair. And I think it's fair to say that the two ANZAC Day games gave us the highest standard of NRL we saw for the round – perhaps everyone just lifted given the occasion. Now these sides have to lift again, and I'll take a little punt on the Warriors having a little more to play for this weekend. They're at home where they are an entirely different proposition and there is an ANZAC Test coming up.

Verdict – Warriors by 2

Result – Warriors 14 defeated Roosters 13

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm – Sunday afternoon – WIN Stadium

Again no team lists are available at the time of writing so I'm shooting fish in a very dark barrel with this prediction. One thing I do know is that Gareth Widdop is out for six weeks. I can't say that means the Dragons can't win, but it certainly makes it an awful lot harder. As for the Storm, they are a pretty predictable piece of machinery regardless of who laces on the boots. I may be in the dark, but it's dark purple.

Verdict – Storm by 10

Result – Storm 34 defeated Dragons 22

Wally Lewis - round nine selections (in bold)

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

• BRONCOS vs Panthers
• Rabbitohs vs SEA EAGLES
• COWBOYS vs Eels
• TITANS vs Knights
• Bulldogs vs RAIDERS
• Tigers vs SHARKS
• Warriors vs ROOSTERS
• Dragons vs STORM