Melbourne Storm vs Parramatta Eels @AAMI Park, Saturday 7:30pm

Melbourne will be trying to hold onto top spot with a host of players missing against the Eels. Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Cameron Munster, Cooper Cronk, Tim Glasby and Will Chambers are all on Queensland duty ahead of Origin III, so the likes of Jahrome Hughes, Brodie Croft and Slade Griffin all come in.

Croft, just 19, will be full of confidence after stepping up with a match-winning field goal recently against North Queensland Cowboys when Cronk was again away with the Maroons.

Parramatta will be hoping to take advantage and get a win to boost their chances of a first top-eight finish since 2009. They are currently in eighth thanks to a piece of Mitchell Moses magic in extra time to get them a 13-12 win over Canterbury Bulldogs last weekend. Defeat against the Storm will leave them looking over their shoulder at the likes of Panthers, Warriors and Rabbitohs.

Why Melbourne will win: Melbourne showed in a one-point defeat away against the Roosters that they can still perform when their Origin players are unavailable, so don’t discount them this weekend. The Storm have won eight of their last nine games at home, so the atmosphere at AAMI Park could be crucial.

Our Tip: Melbourne by four.

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs vs Newcastle Knights @Belmore Sports Ground, Sunday 4pm

This will be an emotional game for local boy Josh Reynolds who plays his final game at Belmore as a Bulldog before his move to the Tigers next season. The club are marking the occasion by renaming the hill in Reynolds’ honour for the day and will hand out face masks of the popular five-eighth to fans.

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The Bulldogs will want the crowd to give them a boost as they battle desperately for a place in the top eight. An overtime defeat last time against Parramatta increased the chances of them missing the finals for the first time under coach Des Hasler. Another loss against the struggling Knights and their season will effectively be over.

The Knights, rock bottom and on the back of a 33-12 home defeat against fellow strugglers Wests Tigers, must do without Dane Gagai who is on Origin duty. Joe Wardle replaces him in the starting line-up. Bulldogs are missing Brett Morris, David Klemmer and Josh Jackson, with Marcelo Montoya, Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Sam Kasiano coming in

Why Canterbury will win: It’s a flip of a coin here really as both teams have largely under-performed this season. Canterbury only gets the nod because of the Josh Reynolds factor.

Our Tip: Canterbury by 10.