Canberra Raiders vs Canterbury Bulldogs – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

It's Magic Round folks, and that's enough of an excuse for us all to watch Olivia Newton-John in cowboy boots. You're welcome. The Raiders will be nice and fresh after a week off, and pleased with the news that their coach is staying put for some time yet. Two weeks ago they surprised many with a narrow win over the Sea Eagles at Brookvale - their halves combination are young (Weekes is 22, Strange is 19) but look like footballers to me. Rapana returns from injury and takes over at fullback. With hardly anyone noticing, the Raiders are in the top eight, and doing better than almost everyone had expected. The Bulldogs are on the cusp of the top eight themselves, and I expect they'll end up there in September. They continue to improve and they have match winners sprinkled throughout their roster. Recent victories (Roosters, Knights, Tigers) and competitive losses against premiership contenders away from home (Storm, Panthers) reads like top eight form. I have to believe in the Bulldogs - nothing can stand in their way. A terrific contest to kick off magic round.

Verdict – Bulldogs by 4

Result – Raiders 24 defeated Bulldogs 20

Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos – Friday night – Suncorp Stadium

Manly have announced that this will be their last 'home' game during Magic Round. Given they were beaten by 26 in 2023 and by 38 in 2022 I'm not surprised. With the injuries to Tom Trbojevic and Jason Saab their prospects of an improved showing in 2024 have been greatly diminished. They lost to the Dolphins at this ground just a week ago, and you'd have to think this would be harder. The Broncos proved they can without Adam Reynolds last week with a comfortable victory over the Eels in Sydney. This looks easier. Jock Madden looks set to return in the halves, and Tyson Smoothy got plenty of minutes at dummy half last week with the injury to Billy Walters. Expect Mam and Walsh to be carving up the Sea Eagles late in both halves. Looks like fun.

Verdict – Broncos by 14

Result – Broncos 13 defeated Sea Eagles 12

Gold Coast Titans vs Newcastle Knights – Saturday afternoon – Suncorp Stadium

The Gold Coast are so short of playmakers in their squad they've called on a pair of hookers in the halves on Saturday afternoon (there's a joke about the Gold Coast in there somewhere but I'll keep it to myself). The Titans are without Brimson, Foran, Boyd, Campbell, Sami and Smith-Shields - they'll need to keep cobbling together a backline however they can, so hookers it is. They did well to hold out the Cowboys last week, but the Knights are in a patch of fair form. It looks like Kalyn Ponga has received his boat or bathroom or whatever it was that someone promised his Dad, so the issues with the third party appear to be resolved. David Fifita should be up for a big game, given his contractual reverse tuck triple somersault this week. I doubt it's enough this weekend.

Verdict – Knights by 8

Result – Knights 28 defeated Titans 24

Cronulla Sharks vs Sydney Roosters – Saturday night – Suncorp Stadium

The twilight game is the highlight game. When Magic Round was scheduled this wasn't even considered the biggest game of the day (more on that later), but it's probably the biggest game of the round. The Sharks, ridiculed by some and mostly by me, proved themselves against a genuine opponent last week - beating the Storm in Melbourne with their most important player sitting out the game. Hynes is likely to be back for this, but the Sharks face a red-hot Roosters, a team that have scored an astonishing 138 points in their last three games. The Sharks miserly defence isn't likely to leak points easily, but if there are chinks in the armour the Chooks will find them. Manu is out for a week and he's all but irreplaceable, but the rest of the Roosters backline is singing and their off-contract back-rower (Crichton) has been the best player in the NRL for the last two weeks. The Sharks have a poor record against the Roosters in recent times and a poor record at Suncorp Stadium too.

Verdict – Roosters by 4

Result – Sharks 38 defeated Roosters 30

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs North Queensland Cowboys – Saturday night – Suncorp Stadium

Last plays 12th, as the team that's lost five games in a row takes on the team that has (Thinker checks notes) lost five games in a row. This is the main event on Saturday night, but it doesn't feel like it. It's easy to forget that the Cowboys were undefeated after the first three weeks of the season. It's also worth remembering that their last three losses were all by narrow margins. They might be closer to finding form than we realise, and they do appear to have a pack of forwards that can dominate this contest. The Bunnies haven't given us any indication that they can turn things around this season. There's plenty of experienced heads in their line up - Walker is 34, Cook is 32, Wighton is 31. Perhaps they're just getting old.

Verdict – Cowboys by 14

Result – Cowboys 28 defeated Rabbitohs 22

New Zealand Warriors vs Penrith Panthers – Sunday afternoon – Suncorp Stadium

This game could have been anything, but with the Warriors out of form and missing both Johnson and Tuivasa-Sheck, as well as the absence of Cleary for the Panthers, it's looking a little closer to nothing than it is to anything. Nicoll-Klokstad and Martin are the halves for the Warriors - they're both terrific players but that doesn't look like their natural habitat. Asking them to steer around a team that have been clunky in attack all year is a big ask, but I genuinely hope they go well. The Panthers won without Cleary last week, and not for the first time this season. Cole joins Luai in the halves on Sunday, so both sides will be bringing an unusual halves combination on Sunday. The Panthers supporting cast is a strong ensemble, and it's hard to tip against them.

Verdict – Panthers by 10

Result – Warriors 22 defeated Panthers 20

Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels – Sunday afternoon – Suncorp Stadium

The Storm suffered their biggest loss of the season last week, but they didn't lose by much. The loss showed me (at least) just how important Jahrome Hughes is to the Storm roster. He's indicated he has no interest in playing for anyone else, so I hope the Storm reward him appropriately with his next contract. He'll be rested for one more week, so Wishart joins Munster in the halves for at least one more week. The Eels are resting Moses for at least one more week too. There were signs of life from the Eels in round ten - not enough to win but enough to give their fans hope. Dylan Brown was much more involved than usual and in a good way - perhaps the absence of other key players has forced him to put up his hand. A game I expect will surprise on the upside. I'm anticipating an entertaining competitive affair. The Storm have had plenty of experience in close games this season, and they usually win then. And they don't lose two in a row very often either.

Verdict – Storm by 1

Result – Storm 48 defeated Eels 16

Wests Tigers vs Redcliffe Dolphins – Sunday night – Suncorp Stadium

These sides met in round five which wasn't so long ago, and it was even at this venue. It's a Tigers home game in name only in that regard. The Dolphins won that last game 26-16, and there's no real reason to think they can't repeat the result on Sunday. The return of my favourite player (Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow) is the sprinkling of magic needed to close out the round.

Verdict – Dolphins by 10

Result – Dolphins 24 defeated Tigers 12

Wally Lewis - round eleven selections (in bold)

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

• RAIDERS vs Bulldogs
• Sea Eagles vs BRONCOS
• TITANS vs Knights
• SHARKS vs Roosters
• Rabbitohs vs COWBOYS
• Warriors vs PANTHERS
• STORM vs Eels
• Tigers vs DOLPHINS