Parramatta Eels vs Gold Coast Titans @ANZ Stadium 

Thursday, 7:50pm 

Stat Fact: In 2013, Round 11 these two teams played each other in Mudgee, NSW and the result was a massive 42-4 win in favour of the Gold Coast. 

Big Talking Point: Neil Henry vs Jarryd Hayne, the feud between the coach and the million-dollar man continues to make all the wrong headlines as their team's season gets worse. Hayne reportedly claimed Henry didn’t talk to him in the week leading up to their crushing 26-point loss to St George last round while Henry it is believed never wanted Hayne on his playing roster and was strongly against his signing. Henry and Hayne met with the board with CEO Graham Annesley involved in all of those meetings. Henry could be sacked, Hayne could be gone, it’s very much up in the air. It’s hard to see any positives from this for the Gold Coast and it could very well end up badly for all involved. 

What Will Happen: The unknown. Both teams flopped last round and have everything to play for. For Parramatta the lure of a Top Four spot is their while for the Gold Coast they are involved in a dog fight with several other teams in an attempt to avoid the Wooden Spoon. Despite this match being a tough one to predict expect it to be a tough and fiery encounter given the background noise coming into it and the incentives for both teams to win. 

What Won’t Happen: A desirable outcome for the Gold Coast. Neil Henry has reportedly lost the dressing room while Hayne is resembling something closer to a $100K a year player. As they have shown recently the drama surrounding the club is too much for them to handle. As a result of this an easy Parramatta win should occur despite their own troubling loss last weekend to the last-placed Newcastle Knights. 

Our Tip: Parramatta by 20. 

South Sydney Rabbitohs vs New Zealand Warriors @ANZ Stadium 

Friday, 6:00pm 

Stat Fact: Away from Mt Smart Stadium this year New Zealand are a shocking one of eleven. 

Big Talking Point: How bad New Zealand have gotten. Last round they fielded New Zealand international Isaac Luke from the bench. That just highlights how poor the form is of many of their players this season. In total they have won just one third of their games this year and could still mathematically finish last. Stephen Kearney has had a terrible first year as coach while many of the players should be ashamed of themselves. Leading on from that another big talking point is their rebuilding for the future which was on full display last weekend against Canberra. In the halves were Ata Hingano and Mason Lino while the number nine was Nathaniel Roache. This spine has an average age of around twenty-one years old. At the very least the future does look bright for the New Zealand club if they continue to bring through talented youngsters such as these ones. 

What Will Happen: A smashing. Last round at home against Canberra New Zealand were lucky to not lose by more than the twenty points that they did. But away against a resurgent South Sydney side that is finally starting to show what its capable of, things could get very, very ugly for the New Zealanders. 

What Won’t Happen: Alex Johnston going scoreless. For the season he has nineteen tries which currently leads the NRL. He is one up on Suliasi Vunivalu and two up on Jordan Rapana. He has been ballistic this season and you should expect him to get around two or three this game against a spineless New Zealand defence. 

Our Tip: South Sydney by 30. 

Brisbane Broncos vs St George Illawarra Dragons @Suncorp Stadium 

Friday, 7:50pm 

Stat Fact: Jordan Kahu of Brisbane is ranked third in this years point scoring charts. He has 164 for the season at an average of 8.2 per game. 

Big Talking Point: For Brisbane, Benji Marshall will be departing at the end of the season to go back to where it all began for him to the Wests Tigers. He has been a very good buy for Brisbane this season and has both started and come of the bench this year. He is a very solid pickup for the Leichardt club. As for St George for them the major talking point is that they kept their finals hopes alive last round with a twenty-six point smashing of the Gold Coast. Paul McGregor’s side needed a win and they delivered with force. Benji’s Brisbane farewell tour and St George’s finals hunt make this an interesting encounter to watch. 

What Will Happen: A very strong defensive effort from both sides. Brisbane they have conceded only 10 points over their last two games while St George will know they can’t out-score Brisbane so they’ll have to be on point defensively. Also with both sides featuring the likes of Adam Blair and Paul Vaughn you know it’ll ring true when both teams run out on Friday night. 

What Won’t Happen: A Top Eight finish for the Red V. Despite their positive victory last week against the Gold Coast, Brisbane present a completely different challenge. Brisbane are raring up to make a run at the Premiership and unfortunately for St George this spells some bad news. There will be no finals this year for St George. 

Our Tip: Brisbane by 12.

Brisbane Broncos vs St George Illawarra Dragons @Suncorp Stadium 

Friday, 7:50pm 

Stat Fact: Jordan Kahu of Brisbane is ranked third in this years point scoring charts. He has 164 for the season at an average of 8.2 per game. 

Big Talking Point: For Brisbane Benji Marshall will be departing at the end of the season to go back to where it all began for him to the Wests Tigers. He has been a very good buy for Brisbane this season and has both started and come of the bench this year. He is a very solid pickup for the Leichardt club. As for St George for them the major talking point is that they kept their finals hopes alive last round with a twenty-six point smashing of the Gold Coast. Paul McGregor’s side needed a win and they delivered with force. Benji’s Brisbane farewell tour and St George’s finals hunt make this an interesting encounter to watch. 

What Will Happen: A very strong defensive effort from both sides.  For Brisbane they have conceded only 10 points over their last two games while St George will know they can’t out-score Brisbane so they’ll have to be on point defensively. Also with both sides featuring the likes of Adam Blair and Paul Vaughn you know it’ll ring true when both teams run out on Friday night. 

What Won’t Happen: A Top Eight finish for the Red V. Despite their positive victory last week against the Gold Coast, Brisbane present a completely different challenge. Brisbane are raring up to make a run at the Premiership and unfortunately for St George this spells some bad news. There will be no finals this year for St George. 

Our Tip: Brisbane by 12. 

Newcastle Knights vs Melbourne Storm @McDonald Jones Stadium 

Saturday, 3:00pm 

Stat Fact: Melbourne have won the past four clashes between these two teams. The last of these was a 28-point victory earlier this season up in Melbourne. 

Big Talking Point: The revival of Newcastle. For so long this season it had appeared that Newcastle were destined to finish last for the third season running. Apparently Newcastle don’t like to follow scrips though as they have in the space of three weeks beaten St George, New Zealand and Parramatta. The likes of Wests and Canterbury are now looking below them with fear knowing they could be the door-mat of the competition pretty soon. No matter who you support you can’t feel but a bit happy for this rejuvenated Newcastle outfit. 

What Will Happen: One of Nathan Brown’s finest hours as a coach. Newcastle at home will beat the first placed Melbourne Storm for the absolute scalp of the season. Newcastle are playing with a passion at the moment not seen from them in recent seasons. Melbourne will also be greatly fatigued from their last round win against Sydney. The Novocastrians will want this one just a little bit more than Melbourne. 

What Won’t Happen: Brock Lamb’s demons revealing themselves. Since their three match winning streak young Newcastle half Brock Lamb has been in brilliant form. Expect this to continue against Melbourne despite this being his toughest assignment to date (being opposed against the likes of Cooper Cronk). He’ll have a good game and let his rich vein of form continue. 

Our Tip: Newcastle by 6. 

Sydney Roosters vs Wests Tigers @Allianz Stadium 

Saturday, 5:30pm 

Stat Fact: Daniel Tupou of Sydney, this season has 11 tries and four try assists from only nineteen games. 

Big Talking Point: The cruel way in which Wests won their last round game against the ever inconsistent Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. With only two minutes to go they scored and converted to win the game 30-26. But the try realistically should not have been awarded due to the 50/50 obstruction that happened to Dale Cherry-Evans and that the final pass appeared to be forward. Wests will say the win was fair, Manly will obviously say otherwise. One thing is for sure though and that is Wests are a different side to the one that was coached by Jason Taylor. They’ll look to catch another prey this Saturday. This presents a real danger game for Sydney. 

What Will Happen: A high scoring affair. The last two games between these two teams have produced a massive one-hundred and eight points. Expect fifty or more to be scored this game as well. If that’s not enough both teams have numerous attacking threats that should put on an absolute show at Allianz. Also look for the departing James Tedesco to play well against his future side in the Sydney Roosters. He by his own standards hasn’t been in great form lately and will want to change that against his future employers. 

What Won’t Happen: A content Ivan Cleary. Despite his sides controversial win over Top Four hopefuls Manly last weekend they still had to come back a bit to do it (score board wise). He’ll have been on them during the week to start their game stronger. Look for Wests to try and get firing early rather than having to work doubly as hard to get back into the game. 

Our Tip: Sydney by four. 

North Queensland Cowboys vs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks @1300SMILES Stadium 

Saturday, 7:30pm 

Stat Fact: Jayson Bukuya of Cronulla has completed a remarkable 498 of 544 tackles this season, that’s good for a 92% success rate. 

Big Talking Point: It’s all coming from the North Queensland camp as utility Ray Thompson has announced that he will retire at the end of the season. As it stands he has played 111 games for North Queensland as well as having represented both the Papa New Guinea national team as well as the Indigenous All Stars. He is a great player and a great bloke who will be missed by all of North Queensland. As well as this current starting centre Justin O’Neil has suffered a dislocated elbow which is expected to keep him sidelined until the end of the regular season. The team is already low on troops and this will just be another massive headache for head coach Paul Green to solve. 

What Will Happen: One of two things will happen. Either North Queensland will show up like kids with little toy guns or the more likely, realistic option being they show up and play the brave, inspiring footy they have played since Johnathan Thurston went out with an injury. Last week they went down to Penrith 24-16 and that type of footy was on display. Expect a close game again this weekend but for Cronulla to just prevail. 

What Won’t Happen: A soft game. Ever since North Queensland’s 39-0 victory over Cronulla in the second week of the finals in 2015 they have developed a bit of a rivalry. Since then their games have been decided by six, three, 12 and four points respectively. This rivalry should develop even further this game with Cronulla fighting to get two lives in the finals and North Queensland hanging on desperately to eighth spot. 

Our Tip: Cronulla by two. 

Canberra Raiders vs Penrith Panthers @GIO Stadium 

Sunday, 2:00pm 

Stat Fact: This season Canberra have lost six games by six points or less. If they had converted half of those into wins they would be in fifth spot rather than tenth. 

Big Talking Point: Free up your Sunday afternoons Ladies & Gentleman because we are about to be treated to one of the games of the season. Penrith are in sixth on 28 points while Canberra sit on 24 points. A win for Penrith and they’ll be playing finals footy while a loss for Canberra all but ends their season. But a win for Canberra and the gap is only one game with Penrith still having to face St George and Manly in their final two games. If this isn’t incentive enough for you to watch Nathan Cleary facing off against Canberra’s halves could prove to be one of the positional battles of the season. Get your popcorn ready because we are in for an absolute spectacle. 

What Will Happen: Free-flowing and entertaining footy played by two attacking based teams. Jordan Rapana and Joseph Leilua have a combined 25 tries this year while Nathan Cleary alone has 10 tries and 8 try assists this season. So basically beautiful looking footy will be played. 

What Won’t Happen: Players still having energy after the conclusion of 80 minutes. These two sides will be so desperate to win this clash that they’ll leave absolutely everything they have out on the field and then some. Physically this will prove to be an energy sapping game. As well as that Penrith won’t win meaning Canberra will close the gap to a single game. 

Our Tip: Canberra by one. 

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs vs Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles @ANZ Stadium 

Sunday, 4:00pm 

Stat Fact: Last round Manly led the Wests Tigers 20-6 before going down 30-26. As for Canterbury in their game against South Sydney they were only down 14-8 before eventually going down 28-14. 

Big Talking Point: Rising young Manly star Brad Parker has been ruled out for around 4-6 weeks with a lateral meniscus tear. In the place of Brian Kelly Parker had been in great form including scoring a try in Manly’s route of Sydney two weeks ago. Despite now likely being out for the season he should return back better next season and raring to go for Manly next year as he is one of the clubs best youth prospects. 

What Will Happen: Brian Kelly will return in Parker’s place. He’ll show his major strength in his speed. But his poor defensive tendencies could also be on display against Canterbury. For Manly’s sake hopefully he is able to fix it a bit against their poor defence. 

What Won’t Happen: Manly losing. A loss and their spot in the eight is suddenly up for grabs to the likes of St George or Canberra. They have to win in Homebush at all costs and against the struggling Canterbury this game should provide the perfect bounce-back for the inconsistent Northern Beaches side. 

Our Tip: Manly by 14