Sydney Roosters vs Manly Sea Eagles – Thursday night – Sydney Cricket Ground

14th plays 10th, and while both teams will publicly say they can still make the top eight, I expect they would be having doubts privately. The Roosters would need to win everything from here and they do have a reasonable run home, but even then they need the results of six teams above them going their way. It's over. I can't quite say that about the Sea Eagles whose last two games of the year are against the Bulldogs and Tigers, but they have a few significant hurdles before that (Panthers, Warriors), and they may have to win one of those games to get there. The Chooks need to find the attack they discovered against the Titans two weeks ago, but at least they know they have it in them...somewhere, and there record at the cricket ground is still solid. They couldn't trouble the Broncos last week, but clearly this is easier. Note that these sides met recently (round 18) where the Sea Eagles prevailed at home in a tight low-scoring contest. Home side advantage and the ominous sense of 'now or never' has me siding with the Chooks on this occasion.

Verdict – Roosters by 4

Result – Roosters 26 defeated Sea Eagles 16

Gold Coast Titans vs New Zealand Warriors – Friday night – CBus Super Stadium

The Titans kept their finals hopes alive with a surprise win over the Cowboys on Sunday - I think it was one of their best performances all year. If they can maintain that level they would probably win this too. The Warriors will be nice and fresh after a week off. In their two previous outings following the bye rounds the Warriors lost narrowly to the Broncos in round 13 and then absolutely flogged the Dragons in round 17. More importantly though, the Warriors recent results are first rate. In their last three games they have scored 111 points and conceded just 42. That's solid enough, but all the more impressive given their opponents in those three games were all in the top eight. The trip to Australia shouldn't worry the Warriors too much either - they've won 6 of 9 games here this season, and I expect they'll have a few fans on the Gold Coast to cheer them on in this.

Verdict – Warriors by 8

Result – Warriors 28 defeated Titans 18

Penrith Panthers vs Melbourne Storm – Friday night – BlueBet Stadium

This is quite the opportunity for the Melbourne Storm - they can make a real statement about their premiership prospects if they give this game a shake. This could also be a precursor to week one of the finals, which could see a repeat of this game at this venue if current ladder positions hold. We have a handy and recent guide to this contest from round 18, when these sides met in Melbourne. In that contest the Storm jumped out to a 12-0 lead, only for the Panthers to win quite comfortably in the end (34-16). What makes that Panthers win all the more impressive is that they did it without Nathan Cleary. At home, the Panthers have lost just one game this season, and that was to the Broncos by a point. They're a much better side now than they were at the start of the season. Perhaps the Panthers are the team that can make a real statement about premiership prospects on Friday night. A shout out to Ryan Papenhuyzen, who makes his long-awaited return (in Queensland) from a patella injury that couldn't be any worse. I wish him well, and I wish the Ipswich Jets well, who have to take on a Sunshine Coast line-up that also includes Justim Olam.

Verdict – Panthers by 10

​​​​​​​Result – Panthers 26 defeated Storm 6

North Queensland Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos – Saturday afternoon – Queensland Country Bank Stadium

This loomed as the game of round 23, until the Cowboys run of wins hit a speed bump last weekend. It's taken some of the gloss off what will still be quite the event up in Townsville on Saturday. The suspension of Valentine Holmes shakes things up quite a bit too. I assume Chad Townsend takes over as goal kicker, but the replacement centre has me scratching my giant head. Perhaps it's Brendan Elliot, or they shift a winger and bring back Kyle Feldt. Wait and see on that one. These sides met back in round two where the Broncos won fairly comfortably (28-16). The Cowboys have improved since then, but the Broncos have shown no sign than their season is going to taper off like it did in 2022. Much of that has to do with Adam Reynolds, whose leadership and sensible decision-making stops the Broncos turning into a pack of confused pelicans. They might even win a minor premiership this season, and the last time they did that their coach was playing in the halves. An unusual timeslot (3pm) for such an important game - blink and you'll miss what could be one of the games of the year.

Verdict – Broncos by 4

​​​​​​​Result – Broncos 30 defeated Cowboys 14

Redcliffe Dolphins vs Newcastle Knights  – Saturday night – Optus Stadium, Perth

I think most of us expected the Dolphins to struggle toward the end of the season, and we are seeing that play out now. It doesn't mean their inaugural season in the NRL hasn't been a success, but it does show how hard it is to pull a squad together in a short space of time. In other sporting competitions, new teams are often given significant advantages to get up to speed as soon as possible. The Dolphins were given sweet nothing by the NRL, and had to stand on their own fins. They'll be a finals force in next to no time, you can all be sure of that, but they'll struggle on Saturday night against the Knights in Perth, you can all be sure of that too. A round of applause for Kalyn Ponga while I'm here. Many of us (including me) feared we may never see him play NRL again, but here he is, one of the form players in the competition.

Verdict – Knights by 16

​​​​​​​Result – Knights 30 defeated Dolphins 28

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Cronulla Sharks – Saturday night – Optus Stadium, Perth

The Bunnies must have had a whole bunch of flight credits that were due to expire. It's the only explanation for the extraordinary national tour they are currently enduring as we approach the business end of the season. For those unaware, prior to this trip to Perth the Bunnies have played games in Auckland, Sydney, Sunshine Coast and Tamworth. After the Perth game, they have matches in Cairns and Newcastle. For a Sydney-based team, that's an enormous amount of travel, particularly for a team that carried a heavy Origin representative burden this year. They're up against the Sharks here, who are on equal points with the Bunnies but look like the team that will drop out of the top eight. Their only recent wins have been against the Tigers, Dragons and Bulldogs, and they won't be playing those teams again this season. While warming up, these teams will probably watch the Knights go past them on the ladder in the first game in Perth. Unless there's a draw, only one of these teams can leapfrog them again.

Verdict – Rabbitohs by 14

​​​​​​​Result – Sharks 26 defeated Rabbitohs 16

Parramatta Eels vs St George Illawarra Dragons – Sunday afternoon – CommBank Stadium

The suspension of Dylan Brown didn't de-rail the Eels season, but it clearly hasn't helped. He's back this week as the Eels try to squirm their way back into the top eight. A win here is an absolute must, because they have games against the Panthers and the Broncos ahead of them. I don't think they can do it, but it probably doesn't matter what I think. It's more important that the Eels think they can. They should be too good here, particularly with the suspened de Belin excluded from the Dragons list.

Verdict – Eels by 16

​​​​​​​Result – Eels 26 defeated Dragons 20

Canberra Raiders vs Wests Tigers – Sunday afternoon – GIO Stadium

A scare for the Raiders last week, and with their troublesome points differential this is one team that call down the ladder quickly if they lose a few in a row. They have a few winnable games in the draw, so they should sneak through, but a loss will have Ricky biting his nails and racking up fines at the post-game press conference. Just about everyone has pencilled the Tigers in for the wooden spoon this season, bu I wouldn't rush to that conclusion. They'll need to win two more games this year to avoid that fate, but I think that's entirely possible. The Sunday games are a bit ordinary this round, but the Tigers might surprise a few with a competitive effort in this. I can't quite tip them, but I think they'll go close.

Verdict – Raiders by 1

​​​​​​​Result – Raiders 22 defeated Tigers 18

Wally Lewis - round twenty three selections (in bold)

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

• ROOSTERS vs Sea Eagles
• Titans vs WARRIORS
• PANTHERS vs Storm
• Cowboys vs BRONCOS
• Dolphins vs KNIGHTS
• RABBITOHS vs Sharks
• EELS vs Dragons
• RAIDERS vs Tigers