St George Illawarra Dragons vs Newcastle Knights – Friday night – Jubilee Stadium

For those of us that thought the quality of the Origin spectactle on Wednesday night was a bit below par, I urge you to find something else to do on Friday night. Holmes (Dragons) and Ponga (Knights) have been named to play so lets assume that's the case for now. The Knights have, to a point, improved their attack in recent weeks but I need to attach a disclaimer to that. Recent big wins over the Panthers and the Rabbits (round 9) were against teams that were missing many of their best, and if you put a question mark against those performances, everything else has been consistently poor. They lost to the Titans and the Eels in successive weeks, playing in Newcastle. Their only wins away from home include a 2 point victory over the Tigers and those games against the under-strength teams I mentioned earlier, and those two games were played at neutral venues. A win here and the Dragons could find themselves in the top eight. I struggle to imagine them ending the season in that position, but these are the sort of games they have to win to do so.

Verdict - Dragons by 4

Result - Dragons 20 defeated Knights 6

Gold Coast Titans vs Melbourne Storm – Saturday afternoon – Cbus Super Stadium

Seven Origin players have been named to back up on Saturday. All of them played for QLD so they'll be feeling the bruises a little more. The three Titans backing up are all forwards, so they'll be feeling the pain even more, particularly Tino whose head wasn't looking pretty at full time on Wednesday night. Harry Grant had a few scrapes too, but I think they were mostly superficial. With games won in the middle I'm expecting the Storm to have an edge there. The Titans have no issue scoring points, but their defence has been letting them down. The Storm are clinical enough to take advantage of such a weakness. Points aplenty.

Verdict - Storm by 16

Result - Storm 28 defeated Titans 16

North Queensland Cowboys vs Wests Tigers – Saturday night – Queensland Country Bank Stadium

The Tigers begin their post-Galvin era and it's not the first time the Tigers have lost a (potential) future star to another club. Tigers fans will remember that both Tedesco and Mitchell Moses started their careers in Tigertown, only to do their best work at a rival Sydney club. Notably, all three were managed by the same player agent when they decided to leave the Tigers. A coincidence perhaps, but perhaps not. Both sides are coming off a bye last week but the Cowboys do have four plays backing up from Origin - all have been named on Saturday. Thus far this season, the Tigers have won just one from five against top eight teams. The Cowboys aren't a lot better with two from five, but their points differential in those five games (-20) is vastly superior to the Tigers in their five games (-96). That's a fair indication of their levels and you would expect the Cowboys to get the points in this.

Verdict - Cowboys by 8

Result - Cowboys 32 defeated Tigers 28

Manly Sea Eagles vs Brisbane Broncos – Saturday night – 4 Pines Park

Brookvale was quite the fortress early in the season, but Manly have now lost their last three at their spiritual home. They're resting two Trbojevic brothers this weekend while brother Ben returns. Cherry-Evans has been named to back up and he usually does. A rare treat for the Broncos, with just two players backing up from Origin duty. Typically they're a club that carry a heavier burdon than most at this time of year, but not this season. Haas and Carrigan look likely to back after both were close to best on ground for their respective states on Wednesday. New fullbacks for both clubs on Saturday, with Hopoate taking over from Tom Trbojevic for Manly and Arthars replacing Cobbo for the Broncos. Manly were poor against the Eels last week and while the Broncos weren't much better in their last hit-out against the Dragons, they should be fresh and firing after the bye.

Verdict - Broncos by 4

Result - Sea Eagles 34 defeated Broncos 6

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs New Zealand Warriors – Sunday afternoon – Accor Stadium

6th plays 3rd, and it's fair to say both clubs are doing better than most expected. Webster has his Warriors winning in Australia - vitally important to their finals prospects. Imagine if they finished top two and could then qualify for a grand final without leaving New Zealand? I've said plenty of nice things about Wayne Bennett over the years (despite all the times he grunted at me when he used to run past my house). Given the roster issus the Bunnies have had he's done an incredible job, but that's just what he does. The Warriors have lost just the one game in Australia this season, and that was to the Storm in Melbourne. While they lost last week, a competitive effort against the Raiders is good enough to win this. If Mitchell backs up from Origin he could pick this game up by the scruf of the next and get it done. He's been named, but keep an eye out for team changes. With that mystery hanging over my head, I'll tip the visitors.

Verdict - Warriors by 4

Result - Warriors 36 defeated Rabbitohs 30

Penrith Panthers vs Parramatta Eels – Sunday afternoon – CommBank Stadium

17th plays 15th - doesn't sound exciting but this might be the closest game of the round. Despite coming last, the Panthers have five players backing up from Origin and all look set to play. So too, Moses and Lomax for the Eels. A home game for the Panthers on paper, but played at the Eels home ground, and they'll have the majority of the support in the crowd. The Eels are aiming for three wins in a row and are improving each week, but I feel like the Panthers have a little more upside, and goodness gracious me they need to win some games or their season is over. Hopefully Cleary sorts his goal-kicking out because they might need it on Sunday.

Verdict - Panthers by 1

Result - Panthers 18 defeated Eels 10

Sydney Roosters vs Canberra Raiders – Sunday night – Allianz Stadium

The high-flying Raiders have just one player backing up from Origin, and Hudson Young only played for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, the Roosters have five players coming back from the midweek silliness, including four of their starting forwards. The Raiders engine room is one of their real strengths, so advantage Raiders on that front. Both were impressive winners last week but the Raiders have had less interruptions while they prepare for Sunday and that could prove the difference. 

Verdict - Raiders by 4

Result - Raiders 26 defeated Roosters 24

Wally Lewis - round thirteen selections (in bold)

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

• DRAGONS vs Knights
• Titans vs STORM
• COWBOYS vs Tigers
• SEA EAGLES vs Broncos
• RABBITOHS vs Warriors
• PANTHERS vs Eels
• Roosters vs RAIDERS