Wally Lewis's NRL Form Guide

Wally Lewis's NRL Form Guide - Round 17

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Wally Lewis is a Channel 9 sports presenter, former Kangaroo captain, State of Origin legend and one of rugby league's greatest ever players.

This week's games:
Titans v Sea Eagles
Knights v Dragons
Eels v Panthers
Storm v Raiders
Bulldogs v Rabbitohs

Read Wally's tips, then add him to your competition and take him on in our brand new tipping competition.

What a game to decide the 2008 State of Origin series !

But the game has produced plenty of drama on and off the field, and that could well damage the chances of some teams as they attempt to remain on track for a finals berth. There's certain to be plenty of pressure on many clubs this weekend, and it is a very timely bonus for six teams enjoying a bye.

Good luck this weekend!

	TITANS v SEA EAGLES
Skilled Park, Friday 7:45pm AEST LIVE on Channel Nine at 7:30pm, with expert commentators Ray Warren, Peter Sterling, Matthew Johns and Andrew Johns.
Four or five weeks ago, this game would have been a cracker. But the Titans shocking injury toll has robbed this game of the fan fare that would have been associated. While their position on the ladder may still look good, the Titans have their co-captains Luke Bailey and Scott Prince out for the season, and Queensland origin forward Ashley Harrison is struggling to regain fitness after the bruising interstate battle. He may be out for up to three weeks. And Aaron Cannings is now also on the unavailable list and out for six weeks. When you report that Manly are fully fit, the decision is simple.
Tip: Sea Eagles	Player to watch: David Williams - Sea Eagles		Ref: Jared Maxwell
Titans: 1 Preston Campbell, 2 Ben Jeffery, 3 Luke O'Dwyer, 4 Brett Delaney, 5 Jordan Atkins, 6 Mat Rogers, 7 Brad Davis, 8 Michael Henderson, 9 Nathan Friend, 10 Michael Hodgson, 11 Anthony Laffranchi, 12 Mark Minichiello, 13 Ashley Harrison. Interchange: 14 James Stosic, 15 Brad Meyers, 16 Daniel Conn, 17 Josh Graham.		Sea Eagles: 1 Brett Stewart, 2 Michael Robertson, 3 Steve Bell, 4 Steve Matai, 5 David Williams, 6 Jamie Lyon, 7 Matt Orford (c), 8 Brent Kite, 9 Matt Ballin, 10 Josh Perry, 11 Anthony Watmough, 12 Glenn Stewart, 13 Steve Menzies. Interchange: 14 Heath L'Estrange, 15 Glenn Hall, 16 Adam Cuthbertson, 17 Mark Bryant, 18 Michael Bani.
$3.75	Betting		$1.30
L.L.W.L.L	Last five		L.L.W.L.L

	KNIGHTS v DRAGONS
EnergyAustralia Stadium, Saturday 7.30pm AEST
This is the match of the round. A couple of players will still be sore from the Origin encounter, but their team mates will de determined to chalk up a win in what is a very important encounter. Previous clashes between these two in Newcastle have been quite spiteful affairs. On current form the Dragons deserve favouritism, but the Knights will be hard to beat, especially on their home soil. The Dragons are seaching for the seventh successive win, and aren't short on confidence.. as they've won eight of the ten battles at EnergyAustralia. Their biggest danger is that Ben Creagh and Mark Gasnier are out, and Origin centre Matt Cooper is struggling to back up.
Tip: Dragons	Player to watch: Jason Nightingale - Dragons		Ref: Sean Hampstead
Knights: 1 Kurt Gidley, 2 James McManus, 3 Wes Naiqama, 4 Adam MacDougall, 5 Cooper Vuna, 6 Chris Bailey, 7 Jarrod Mullen, 8 Steve Simpson, 9 Danny Buderus (c), 10 Jesse Royal, 11 Chris Houston, 12 Cory Paterson, 13 Zeb Taia. Interchange: 14 Scott Dureau, 15 Ben Cross, 16 Richard Fa'aoso, 17 Danny Wicks.		Dragons: 1 Brett Morris, 2 Jason Nightingale, 3 Josh Morris, 4 Matt Cooper, 5 Wendell Sailor, 6 Jamie Soward, 7 Ben Hornby, 8 Justin Poore, 9 Dean Young, 10 Jason Ryles, 11 Beau Scott, 12 Chase Stanley, 13 Lagi Setu. Interchange: 14 Kirk Reynoldson, 15 Dan Hunt, 16 Jarrod Saffy, 17 Rangi Chase, 18 Michael Lett, 19 Matt Prior, 20 Stuart Webb.
$2.00	Betting		$1.80
L.W.W.L.L	Last five		W.W.W.W.W

	STORM v RAIDERS
Olympic Park, Sunday 2.00pm AEST
The final make up of the Storm side will be important, and with 9 of their players recovering from the Origin encounter, a few of them are certain to be a little bruised. But playing on their beloved home ground will be a huge advantage, and Craig Bellamy won't be keen to lose three games in a row. ( Storm v Parramatta last weekend, NSW v QLD Wednesday night) Bellamy is classic example of the coach that retains a supreme desire for success, and he won't be interested in anything else than guiding his Storm troops home. The Raiders will be desperate to win, but Melbourne in Melbourne are something else.
Tip: Storm	Player to watch: David Milne - Raiders		Ref: Ben Cummins
Storm: 1 Billy Slater, 2 Steve Turner, 3 Matt Geyer, 4 Israel Folau, 5 Anthony Quinn, 6 Greg Inglis, 7 Cooper Cronk, 8 Jeff Lima, 9 Cameron Smith (c), 10 Brett White, 11 Michael Crocker, 12 Ryan Hoffman, 13 Dallas Johnson. Interchange: 14 Jeremy Smith, 15 Adam Blair, 16 Sika Manu, 17 Joseph Tomane, 18 Antonio Kaufusi .		Raiders: 1 David Milne, 2 Justin Carney, 3 Colin Best, 4 Joel Monaghan, 5 Bronx Goodwin, 6 Terry Campese, 7 Todd Carney, 8 Troy Thompson, 9 Glen Buttriss, 10 Dane Tilse, 11 Glen Turner, 12 Joe Picker, 13 Alan Tongue (c). Interchange: 14 Josh Miller, 15 Ryan Hinchcliffe, 16 Trevor Thurling, 17 Michael Weyman, 18 Brett Kelly .
$1.10	Betting		$7.00
W.W.L.W.L	Last five		L.L.W.W.L

	EELS v PANTHERS
Parramatta Stadium, Saturday 3.00pm AEST
The Another top notch encounter on the way. Neither of these two have set the world on fire this season, but they are quite capable of a stunning performance at the drop of a hat. Neither give much confidence to footy tipsters, and that's the case for this one too. So toss a coin if you like. I'm tipping the Eels because this game is being played on their home soil, but there isn't a lot of confidence behind the decision. The Panthers are capable of an upset, but when?
Tip: Eels	Player to watch: Brett Finch - Eels		Ref: Shayne Hayne
Eels: 1 Luke Burt, 2 Taulima Tautai, 3 Krisnan Inu, 4 Joel Reddy, 5 Jarryd Hayne, 6 Feleti Mateo, 7 Brett Finch, 8 Nathan Cayless (c), 9 Mark Riddell, 10 Josh Cordoba, 11 Nathan Hindmarsh, 12 Daniel Wagon, 13 Chad Robinson. Interchange: 14 Matthew Keating, 15 Fuifui Moimoi, 16 Weller Hauraki, 17 Brendan Oake, 18 Todd Lowrie, 19 Tony Williams.		Panthers: 1 Rhys Wesser, 2 Lachlan Coote, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Maurice Blair, 5 Brad Tighe, 6 Wade Graham, 7 Luke Lewis, 8 Tony Puletua, 9 Masada Iosefa, 10 Petero Civoniceva (c), 11 Frank Pritchard, 12 Trent Waterhouse, 13 Nathan Smith. Interchange: 14 Matthew Bell, 14 Junior Moors, 15 Tim Grant, 16 Keith Peters, 17 Jarrod Sammut, 18 Shane Rodney .
$1.40	Betting		$3.00
L.W.W.L.W	Last five		W.L.L.L.D

	BULLDOGS v RABBITOHS
ANZ Stadium, Monday 7.00pm AEST.
In a weekend blessed by close encounters, this one could be another. Maybe. Neither give tipsters around the country too much confidence, but they are quite capable of producing an open attacking display. With big Sonny Bill available, perhaps he's the key.
Tip: Bulldogs	Player to watch: John Sutton - Rabbitohs		Ref: Jason Robinson
Bulldogs: 1 Brent Crisp, 2 Hazem El Masri, 3 Daryl Millard, 4 Tim Winitana, 5 Heka Nanai, 6 Arana Taumata, 7 Ben Roberts, 8 Jarrad Hickey, 9 Corey Hughes, 10 Fred Briggs, 11 Sonny Bill Williams, 12 Andrew Ryan (c), 13 Reni Maitua. Interchange: 14 Lee Te Maari, 15 Brad Morrin, 16 John Kite, 17 Aaron Groom.		Rabbitohs: 1 Luke Capewell, 2 Nathan Merritt, 3 Jamie Simpson, 4 Beau Champion, 5 Fetuli Talanoa, 6 Craig Wing, 7 Chris Sandow, 8 Scott Geddes, 9 Issac Luke, 10 Roy Asotasi (c), 11 Luke Stuart, 12 David Fa'alogo, 13 John Sutton. Interchange: 14 Beau Falloon, 15 Shannon McPherson, 16 Manese Manuokafoa, 17 Michael Greenfield, 18 David Kidwell.
$2.30	Betting		$1.60
W.L.L.L.L	Last five		L.L.W.W.W