Manly Sea Eagles vs Sydney Roosters – Thursday night – 4 Pines Parks

This game went and made itself very controversial all of a sudden. As the biggest mind in rugby league I expect the whole world is waiting for my thoughts on this one...so here goes:

I feel sorry for the seven Manly players who are (likely) standing themselves down from this very important game. As far as I am aware, none of them have shared their thoughts publicly on this in the same way that Israel Folau did a few years back. Now I don't agree with these seven players, but they had kept their position on this to themselves. My workplace has a Pride Day too. Staff can wear colours or a badge or put a flag on their desk to support the cause, but it's a personal choice. What complicates this is adding it to the jersey, because every player has to wear an identical jersey. I'm surprised this has only reared it's head now and not sooner (I assume someone has been working on the design for a while). Perhaps as an alternative they could have had rainbow socks for Thursday night, and players could choose to wear them or not wear them. They could still release the jersey if they want to sell them to the public. Anyhoo, what was looking like a really interesting game is now looking like an embarrassment and it's disappointing. Chooks, by default.

Verdict – Roosters by 14

Result – Roosters 20 defeated Sea Eagles 10

New Zealand Warriors vs Melbourne Storm – Friday night – Mt Smart Stadium

The Storm are, quite possibly, in the worst slump ever. Despite that, they are just one win outside the top four and have the third best points differential. For almost every other team in the NRL that's a very good season, but the Storm have benchmarks above and beyond the typical. I'm sure the coaching staff and team know exactly what they have to do to turn this around, but they've had more serious injuries this season than every other team and they've simply run out of top-liners. It's why they've reached out to other teams looking to loan some players. I'm not convinced they'll have a lot of luck, but getting Reece Walsh for the rest of the season is a possibility. This would be the time to make that happen, as they head across the ditch for the Warriors second 'home' game of the year. It's also a chance for some of the Kiwis in the Storm squad to catch up with family and friends, so it's a nice time for everyone. If the Storm do want to lure Walsh to Melbourne they probably want to be impressive on Friday night, and the Storm regularly rack up a score against the Warriors. That seems unlikely, but I'll tip them for the win.

Verdict – Storm by 4

Result – Storm 24 defeated Warriors 12

Parramatta Eels vs Penrith Panthers – Friday night – CommBank Stadium

The Eels will play finals football this year - they are currently in 7th position and have quite a buffer between them and a group of sides tied for 8th. It's plausible that one of those teams may overtake the Eels, but two teams is much less likely. That said, the Eels appear to have commenced their traditional late season slump, a disappointing trend for Eels fans in recent seasons. They have won two of their last four, but those wins came against the Tigers and the Warriors. They're facing a sterner test on Friday night, but they are the only team to beat the Panthers this year. The Panthers will also be without Luai and Crichton, so I can't rule the Eels out in this. Mind you, we saw the depth of the Panthers roster when they rested seven players and beat the Tigers. The Tigers then came out a week later and all but beat the side currently in 2nd place. The Panthers have all but wrapped up the minor premiership and one wonders if the coach may want to start putting some key players in cotton wool. He lost two Origin players last week, so it has to be on his mind. It's the game of the round.

Verdict – Panthers by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Eels 34 defeated Panthers 10

Gold Coast Titans vs Canberra Raiders – Saturday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium

The NRL career of Kevin Proctor went up in smoke on the weekend after a bout of baffling stupidity. He'll be joining a Super League club for next year I expect. It speaks volumes that as a young man his career was free of controversy during nine years at the Storm. The bloke moves to the Gold Coast, older and wiser, and has made a series of stupid choices ever since. That's the magic of the Gold Coast I suppose...it's a funny place. The Titans haven't won a game at home since round four, and while their last two performances have shown us glimpses of the form that saw them play finals football last season, glimpses are not enough. The Raiders have a fair run home this season and their finals prospects are well and truly alive. They'll need to win this, and they will.

Verdict – Raiders by 8

​​​​​​​Result – Raiders 36 defeated Titans 24

Cronulla Sharks vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Saturday night – PointsBet Stadium

The Sharks proved they could match it with the best of them with a competitive performance against the Panthers. They didn't win, but they weren't far away. Form doesn't get any stronger than that. The Bunnies haven't lost since Mitchell returned from injury, and he's clearly one of those true top-liners that lifts a team when they are on the park. With that in mind, the Rabbitohs forwards just need to give themselves a little chat, tell each other that if they can match the Sharks forwards in the middle, the Bunnies backline will win more games than they lose. With the suspension to Sharks elder statesman Dale Finucane, that task just got a little bit easier. With an eye to the finals series, this could be one of those games you just have to watch.

Verdict – Rabbitohs by 1

​​​​​​​Result – Sharks 21 defeated Rabbitohs 20

Brisbane Broncos vs Wests Tigers – Saturday night – Suncorp Stadium

The Tigers will still be smarting, and rightly so, after a loss that was controversial at best. They need to pick themselves up and carry on, and fast. A contest with the other top four QLD-based team awaits, and the Broncos won't be taking them lightly. Not a lot of changes for either side, but Billy Walters is back from injury and returns in the dummy half role. The biggest change for the Tigers is that their coach will be with them for this game, but last week they played better when he wasn't there.

Verdict – Broncos by 8

​​​​​​​Result – Tigers 32 defeated Broncos 18

Newcastle Knights vs Canterbury Bulldogs – Sunday afternoon – McDonald Jones Stadium

These sides last met in Magic Round where the Knights prevailed 16-6. Since that victory have won just twice - over the Warriors and the Titans. They've also lost Ponga, presumably for the season, and with that we can assume their prospects for the season are over. To be fair, they already were. The Bulldogs have fared much better in recent weeks. They've won three of their last six, but were competitive when they lost against quality opponents (Panthers, Rabbitohs and Sharks). They've also become quite the entertainers, with an attack that can be a joy to watch. Daytime conditions should suit their play. They could rack up some points in this.

Verdict – Bulldogs by 16

​​​​​​​Result – Bulldogs 24 defeated Knights 10

St George Illawarra Dragons vs North Queensland Cowboys – Sunday afternoon – Netstrata Jubilee Stadium

Ben Hunt has one hand on the Dally M medal this season and he's almost single-handedly kept the Dragons in finals contention. He's not the only one out there, but he is regularly the difference between winning and losing. We call those players match-winners, and he's having the best season of his life. The Dragons are, for the most part, beating the teams they should and struggling against the teams in the top eight. They've played top eight sides ten times this year and won only twice. In round 14 the Cowboys beat them up in Townsville quite comfortably, and a similar result beckons here.

Verdict – Cowboys by 10

​​​​​​​Result – Cowboys 34 defeated Dragons 8

Round twenty selections (in bold)

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

• Sea Eagles vs ROOSTERS
• Warriors vs STORM
• Eels vs PANTHERS
• Titans vs RAIDERS
• SHARKS vs Rabbitohs
• BRONCOS vs Tigers
• Knights vs BULLDOGS
• Dragons vs COWBOYS