Melbourne Storm vs Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles @AAMI Park, Sunday 2:00pm

No matter who you go for, last Saturday was a sad day for League fans all round as Billy Slater was taken off on a stretcher after a late hit from Canberra forward Sia Soliola. It was so serious he couldn’t remember the past two weeks of his life. He will be missing this game while Cameron Smith has been named to play despite he himself being under a bit of an injury cloud. In massive news for Manly, all of Blake Green, Apisai Koroisau and Brenton Lawrence have been named to play after missing last weeks clash against St George.

Down in the Northern Beaches the salary cap drama continues to drag on despite Manly’s stance that they have not done anything wrong. It got so bad that captain Dale-Cherry Evans was forced to front the media and deny the allegations himself. Manly coach Trent Barrett has said that he’s tried his best to shield the team from it but how long until it starts to affect them? Up until last week they were pretty resilient but could last weeks loss against St George show that it is finally starting to get to them?

Earlier this season an entertaining game in Lottoland resulted in a 30-26 Melbourne win. We should prepare for more of that this time around as the two best teams of the past decade face off for what should be another great game.

Why Manly will win: When Manly conceded 52 points last week against St George it was the first time that they had put the half-century put against them since 2004. Redeeming themselves is at the fore-front of what Manly will be trying to do this Sunday.

Our Tip: Manly by four.
 

Gold Coast Titans vs Wests Tigers @Cbus Super Stadium, Sunday 4:00pm

Gold Coast were expected to be a dark-horse for this year's top four after 2016's finals appearance. Wests meanwhile were supposed to be challenging for the top eight with their big four of James Tedesco, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks and Aaron Woods. Nothing has gone to plan for either team with injuries derailing the Gold Coast's season and likewise selfishness somewhat for Wests' season. This game means nothing in the grand scheme of things yet will mean so much to the clubs playing it as both will desperately want to finish this season on a high.

Last round the Gold Coast battled until the end going down to Penrith 24-16. While for Wests they did the same in an excruciating 17-16 loss to Parramatta. Both sides are slowly but surely building towards next year but both will also render their seasons this year disappointing to say the least.

Tim Grant is a hard-working front-rower who has made just under 300 tackles for Wests this season. In a poor team this season he has been one of the few players who can be happy with their performances throughout the year. He’ll no doubt be racking up a few more tackles this game.

Why Wests will win: Recently Wests coach Ivan Cleary was quoted about how he thought his team had improved this season. He’s on the money as despite the losses still being racked up under him they have shown a bit of toughness and heart under his tutelage. Against a weak opponent that improvement should finally result in a much needed win.

Our Tip: Wests by four.