Melbourne Storm vs Canberra Raiders – Thursday night – Sunshine Coast Stadium

The Raiders have won four of their last five and have a better record than most against the premiership favourites. Winning is contagious, and they've been beating competitive sides in that tussle for positions in the middle of the ladder. This, however, is their first test against a very good side in a while. They did beat the Sea Eagles in round 17 but did so when they were without the Trbojevic brothers and Cherry-Evans. Earlier in the year the Raiders were convincingly beaten by Panthers in round five, the Eels in round six, the Storm in round 11 and the Roosters in round 12. In round 11, the Storm beat the Raiders 34-10 in Canberra. That seems like a typical result for the Storm, but they won that game without Munster, Hughes, Papenhuyzen and Grant. That quartet will be playing on Thursday night, and they add Kaufusi and Asofa-Solomona (unavailable last week) to their seventeen. They're also returning to the Sunshine Coast - a venue where they haven't tasted defeat.

Verdict – Storm by 14

Result – Storm 26 defeated Raiders 16

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Penrith Panthers – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

The Dragons haven't won a game since the sausage sizzle, and while all their suspended players have served the sentences it does look like their season has well and truly derailed. Great job Dragons...I'm sure your fans and members are pleased. While the party-goers are all back they are missing both Ben Hunt and Tariq Sims (non party-goers). That tells me that the Dragons dumbest players will be left to make on-field decisions on Friday night - so get ready for some poor on-field choices. Koroisau (who has made a few poor choices himself) won't be available here, while the Panthers can afford to tread carefully with the return of Nathan Cleary given the stellar performances from Matt Burton. Pangai Junior is likely to be unavailable for at least another week. The Panthers form has slipped a little in recent times, partly through the absence of some key players and the impact of Origin football. I suspect they will return to their best come finals football. Note that a top two finish provides no advantage over a top four finish this season, as there are no home games for the Sydney clubs. They'll win this though, and easily,

Verdict – Panthers by 20

Result – Panthers 34 defeated Dragons 16

Brisbane Broncos vs Sydney Roosters – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

I had my second Pfizer jab earlier this week and I haven't noticed any unusual symptoms. That said, I'm tipping the Broncos this week, so I may have broken my brain. The Roosters are super professional but their list of unavailable players is so long (and so good) I'm actually going to post them here as a list:

• Boyd Cordnor
• Jake Friend
• Brett Morris
• Josh Morris
• Luke Keary
• Angus Crichton
• Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
• Lindsay Collins
• Joseph Suaali
• Matt Ikuvalu
• Billy Smith

Find me two more NRL players and that list, fit and well, would make the top eight in this competition. With a win here the Roosters are probably in the top four at the end of this round. It's extraordinary given that list of unavailables. Meanwhile the Broncos, whose season has been slightly better (and I mean slightly) than last season will need to find the occasional moment of joy where they can find it. Knocking off a proper football team, in front of actual fans, could be one of those joyous moments. Flegler returns to bolster their pack, while Brodie Croft has played his last game in Broncos colours and is off to Salford in the north of England. I hope he likes the cold.

Verdict – Broncos in a miracle

​​​​​​​Result – Roosters 21 defeated Broncos 20

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Gold Coast Titans – Saturday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium

The Rabbitohs are chasing their tenth win in a row on Saturday. It's an incredible run of results, all the more incredible because the week before it started they conceded 56 points to the Panthers. A fortnight prior to that they lost 50-0 to the Storm. Experts will tell you we have never had a premiership winner lose a game by 50 or more points (during that season) in the history of the competition. Since that big loss to the Panthers, the Rabbitohs are averaging more than 41 points per game. When your list of creative attackers is Mitchell, Walker, Reynolds, Cook, Murray and Marshall that comes as no surprise. Their forwards are mostly unsung heroes, and I suspect they like it that way. Tevita Tatola is possibly the best interchange forward in the NRL this year, and most of us wouldn't recognise him in the street. These sides last met in round seven, and it was one of the funniest games of the season. David Fifita scored the Titans first three tries and they led 24-10 at half-time. After that, Benji Marshall delivered what was perhaps the best 40 minutes of football in his long and illustrious career as the Bunnies poured on 30 points in the second half. Both these sides are playing better now than they were then, so this could well be the game of the round. Sadly this game gets the Saturday afternoon timeslot so a lot of people won't get to see it. 

Verdict – Rabbitohs by 7

​​​​​​​Result – Rabbitohs 36 defeated Titans 6

North Queensland Cowboys vs Wests Tigers – Saturday night – Queensland Country Bank Stadium

The Cowboys have had their competitive moments, but they haven't won a game since May. Taumalolo has busted another hand (is that the third time this year?) so one would assume that's the end of his season. Taulagi and Burr also drop out after failing HIA's. The Tigers have named the same seventeen that beat the Bulldogs last week. Their form isn't terrific but at least they are winning a game here and there. Theoretically they could still make the eight but they'll need a string of wins starting now. The Cowboys beat the Tigers 34-30 in round five but I expect the Tigers to come out on top this time around.

Verdict – Tigers by 8

​​​​​​​Result – Tigers 24 defeated Cowboys 16

Manly Sea Eagles vs Parramatta Eels – Saturday night – Sunshine Coast Stadium

The Eels appear to be circling the drain and unable to drag themselves away from the plughole. They've now lost their last three and each loss has been worse than the loss that preceded it. Three of their last four games are against teams that are better than them, and they've now lost Reed Mahoney for the season. They've scored just 22 points in their last three games and I can't see where the points are going to come from. Back in round 11 the Sea Eagles beat the Eels 28-6. This could be worse, and the Sea Eagles look the team most likely to replace the Eels in the top four.

Verdict – Sea Eagles by 18

​​​​​​​Result – Sea Eagles 56 defeated Eels 10

New Zealand Warriors vs Canterbury Bulldogs – Sunday afternoon – Moreton Daily Stadium (Redcliffe)

When a team has given up the first thing that falls over is their defence, which is why I was worried about the Warriors when they leaked 60 points to the Bunnies in round 19. But the Warriors are nothing if not unpredictable, and since then they have notched up narrow low scoring victories over the Tigers and the Sharks. I don't think the Bulldogs have given up, but their last win was in round seven. Welcome to Redcliffe everyone - the future of rugby league and the place where yours truly was born and almost bred. I'll check the COVID rules and see if I'm allowed to cross the bridge and go and sit in the sun on a Sunday afternoon by the bay.

Verdict – Warriors by 8

​​​​​​​Result – Warriors 24 defeated Bulldogs 10

Cronulla Sharks vs Newcastle Knights – Sunday afternoon – Moreton Daily Stadium (Redcliffe)

Since round 10 the Sharks have had the sweetest of draws - they've basically played one good team since then, when the Sea Eagles put 40 on them. You'd think they'd have shored up a top eight finish given the circumstances, but they're sitting in 10th and their prospects look bleaker by the week. They're playing the team in 9th who are in better form and have an easier run home. Will "nigglepants" Chambers has been so annoying even his own team have punted him this week. Harsh...but fair.

Verdict – Knights by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Knights 16 defeated Sharks 14

Wally Lewis - round twenty two selections (in bold)

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

• STORM vs Raiders
• Dragons vs PANTHERS
• Broncos vs ROOSTERS
• RABBITOHS vs Titans
• Cowboys vs TIGERS
• SEA EAGLES vs Eels
• WARRIORS vs Bulldogs
• Sharks vs KNIGHTS