North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla Sharks – Thursday night – Queensland Country Bank Stadium

How to pick a winner when you have doubts over the credentials of both teams. I've no idea, so perhaps you should wait until some of the smarter tipsters let you know what they think. The Cowboys went through a period where they were low flying, racking up big wins over the Rabbitohs and the Storm, and beating the Tigers by the largest margin in just about forever. Since then, they've lost successive games to the Titans and the Broncos and are spluttering in attack. Meanwhile, the Sharks are winning again and actually beating some reasonable teams. Can they beat the genuine premiership contenders this season? I think not. But perhaps the Cowboys aren't genuine contenders after all. The other point of reference is from round 9 when these sides met in Sydney. On that occasion the Sharks dominated 44-6. I don't expect a result like that, not up in Townsville when the Cowboys have so much on the line, but I'm very reluctantly tipping the Sharks in what would be something of an upset result. It would certainly upset me.

Verdict – Sharks by 7

Result – Sharks 32 defeated Cowboys 12

New Zealand Warriors vs Manly Sea Eagles – Friday night – Daniel Anderson Stadium, Auckland

First and foremost I should mention the name of the venue, it's a temporary thing, but it's terrific. There's a range of fundraising initiatives across the round for Daniel Anderson - one of those things the NRL does very well. Now that I have that out of the way, I'm going to suggest something that could be a little bit silly - the Manly Sea Eagles can make the top 8 this year. I've said some silly things in the past, but that could be the silliest of them all. To do so, they'll need to win each of their last three games this season, and this is definitely the hardest of the three. But, this isn't beyond them. Their performance against the Panthers last week would have beaten most other teams, and a repeat of that effort might be enough here. There's still some doubts over Egan, Nikoll-Klokstad and even Johnson (although he will almost certainly play). With the Warriors top four finish essentially locked in I'm willing to tip an upset here. Note that even if the Sea Eagles do win their last three games they will need teams ahead of them on the ladder to fall over. So there's a lot of moving parts that need to move the right way for Manly. Should it happen, don't forget that I was the crazy lunatic willing to look like an idiot and predict such an outrageous outcome.

Verdict – Sea Eagles by 1

Result – Warriors 29 defeated Sea Eagles 22

Parramatta Eels vs Sydney Roosters – Friday night – CommBank Stadium

The Roosters have three players in their seventeen with the same surname, and they're not related to each other. It's probably happened before, and they were probably called Smith too. Here's two teams just outside the top eight with their fingers on the precipice - the losing team can plan their end of season holiday. The Eels will be pleased to see Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Maiko Sivo returning from suspension, but the loss of Mitchell Moses is a big one. He's their organiser, primary kicker and goal kicker. The new halves pairing of Asi and Brown won't have played together often, and the pressure is on to make it work quickly. Meanwhile, Drew "I'll do anything" Hutchinson is the halfback for the Chooks as Sam Walker nears his return to first grade. He scored a double last week in that role - not a bad result for a Mr Fix-it. A shout out to one of the Smiths, Billy Smith, who had a wretched run with injuries but is showing us how good he can be when he gets to play football. In a disappointing season for the Roosters, his season has been a shining light.

Verdict – Roosters by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Roosters 34 defeated Eels 12

Wests Tigers vs Redcliffe Dolphins – Saturday afternoon – CommBank Stadium

It's seems unusual that the team that is clearly last on the ladder is a red hot favourite here. It's unusual, but it makes sense. The Dolphins have won just one of their last nine games and the list of players they lost to HIA protocols and injuries last week is extensive - Stone, K Bromwich, Marshall-King, Tabuai-Fidow and Lemuelu. In recent weeks the Tigers have had competitive losses to the Raiders and the Warriors away from home. That should be good enough here. It's enough to get Dragons fans nervous.

Verdict – Tigers by 14

​​​​​​​Result – Tigers 24 defeated Dolphins 23

Gold Coast Titans vs Penrith Panthers – Saturday night – CBus Super Stadium

I can't imagine many of you are planning on tipping the Titans on Saturday night - if the Panthers bus broke down on the way to the ground they'd stand a chance. Respectfully, the Titans spine of Kini, Campbell, Weaver and Randall doesn't look like it has the class or experience to trouble a side that are rarely troubled by anyone.

Verdict – Panthers by 20

​​​​​​​Result – Panthers 40 defeated Titans 14

St George Illawarra Dragons vs Melbourne Storm – Saturday night – WIN Stadium

The Dragons may awaken from their season slumber if the Tigers win earlier in the round, but even a fired-up Dragons aren't likely to test a Storm outfit trying to secure a top four finish. Ryan Papenhuyzen is perhaps one week away from his return to first grade - his performances for the Sunshine Coast Falcons indicate he's come back in fine fettle. This is the Dragons last game of the year in Wollongong. It would be nice if they gave fans in the Gong something to cheer for, but they've lost four of their five games at this venue, and their only win was a narrow (and fortuitous) victory over the Tigers.

Verdict – Storm by 10

​​​​​​​Result – Storm 38 defeated Dragons 28

Newcastle Knights vs South Sydney Rabbitohs – Sunday afternoon – McDonald Jones Stadium

Back in the day the Sunday afternoon road trip to Newcastle used to be a proper headache for visiting teams. It's feeling like that again now, with the Knights on a genuine winning streak and selling this game out days ago. Before this string of wins the Knights were in 14th place, and now they are entrenched in the top eight and appear destined for a finals finish. It's no surprise that much of this success has coincided with the dynamic form of Kalyn Ponga. Given many of us wondered if he would ever play the game again at one point this season, we should just appreciate it while we can. The battle of the fullbacks (Ponga v Mitchell) is a tasty contest - either player could win this game in a moment of brilliance. We all know the Bunnies can turn it on and beat anybody, but they haven't done that for a while now. Given that, I'm with the home side in what should be the game of the round.

Verdict – Knights by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Knights 29 defeated Rabbitohs 10

Canberra Raiders vs Canterbury Bulldogs – Sunday afternoon – GIO Stadium

The Raiders appear to be in some sort of death spiral but they catch a break on Sunday, taking on a team that are spiralling more quickly than they are. Croker returns in the centres and I imagine the coach had some interesting feedback for the squad after last week. With that in mind, and the return to a venue where the Bulldogs haven't won a game for nearly a decade, and the Raiders get an opportunity to find some much-needed form before the finals.

Verdict – Raiders by 16

​​​​​​​Result – Raiders 36 defeated Bulldogs 24

Wally Lewis - round twenty five selections (in bold)

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

• COWBOYS vs Sharks
• WARRIORS vs Sea Eagles
• Eels vs ROOSTERS
• TIGERS vs Dolphins
• Titans vs PANTHERS
• Dragons vs STORM
• Knights vs RABBITOHS
• RAIDERS vs Bulldogs