Melbourne Storm (3rd) vs Sydney Roosters (7th) – Friday night – AAMI Park

In the NRL era, which turns 25 this year, at least one of these two teams has played in the grand final on 17 occasions. They are, by any measure, the two highest performing teams throughout the history of the NRL competition. One of them falls out of contention on Friday night, while the other survives for at least another week. Both sides are testing the depths of their capacities this week, trying to find viable footballers to slot into their depleted backlines. Last week, the Storm lost Coates, Tonumaipea and Papenhuyzen while the Roosters lost Manu, Suaalii and Billy Smith. Smith, who has done more than most to get back to first grade, played with a broken jaw for much of last week. He deserves better. Papenhuyzen silenced a heaving crowd and half the country when he was injured against the Broncos. He deserves better too. I wish them both well with their recoveries, and will celebrate their returns to the game. It's something of a miracle that the Roosters are still here. They were 14th on the ladder not so long ago, and they found a way to beat the Sharks last week when they had every reason not to. You can't doubt their spirit. The Storm may have dished up their worst performance of the season last week - soundly beaten by a team that has given them next to no trouble for more than a decade, and kept scoreless. It was a baffling display, but several times this season the Storm have bounced back from a poor performance and reminded us all that they are a team to be reckoned with. I expect they will do that again, particularly at home.

*update - Jahrome Hughes has been ruled out

Verdict – Storm by 10

Result – Storm 18 defeated Roosters 13

New Zealand Warriors (4th) vs Newcastle Knights (5th) – Saturday afternoon – Go Media Stadium, Auckland

This is the third meeting of these sides this year, with the Warriors prevailing in round one at Wellington and the Knights prevailing in round six at Newcastle. Home ground advantage returns to the Warriors on Saturday. Both clubs have been selling out their homes games for quite a while now, and it's no surprise to see the House Full signs go up 30 minutes after tickets went on sale. 700,000 people in New Zealand watched the Warriors loss to the Panthers last week - an enormous figure in a country with a population not much bigger than Sydney. They are a team with a nation behind them - it's terrific for them, and it's great for the game more broadly. The Knights are on quite the winning streak and if they win this they equal the all-time record for consecutive wins, set when Andrew Johns was at the peak of his powers. Winning in front of a hostile crowd is quite the task, and I'm concerned that during their winning streak of ten, the four away games were against much easier opposition (Bulldogs, Raiders, Dolphins, Dragons) than this. The injuries to Hastings and Fitzgibbon hardly help, and neither does an extended game in week one of the finals. The Warriors game last week was played 24 hours earlier and they've had more time to prepare at home for a must-win match. Johnson is being kept in cotton wool but is set to return, and he's probably in the best form of his career. Up the Wahs!

Verdict – Warriors by 7

Result – Warriors 40 defeated Knights 10

Wally Lewis - finals week two (in bold)

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

• STORM vs Roosters
• WARRIORS vs Knights