SATURDAY
Manly Sea Eagles v New Zealand Warriors
Brookvale Oval, 5.30pm
The Sea Eagles return to Brookvale following their post-siren win against the Sharks last week. Anthony Watmough is back in but Brett Stewart remains out with a hamstring injury. I have been pretty impressed with the Warriors since James Maloney was put in at halfback. Their last two wins may not have been spectacular, but they are playing simple field position off the back of a high completion rate. No bets here, it will be a case of sit back and watch to see what kind of indicators we can take out of it and see how these two teams are travelling.
Mike’s Best Bets: None
North Queensland Cowboys v Canberra Raiders
Dairy Farmers Stadium, 7.30pm
Matt Orford has been ruled out with a back injury…..at least that’s what we’re being told. It could be a good excuse to cover up the fact that he has been dropped, and if replacement halfback Sam Williams turns in a solid performance, Matt Orford’s back injury might suddenly need quite a while to heal (wink wink, nudge nudge) Apart from Orford there are also some forwards who need to pull their weight, but it’s going to be hard to find form against a solid Cowboys line up playing in front of their home crowd. Coach Neil Henry will no doubt have his troops putting emphasis on their second half efforts after they faded last week and lost the second half of the game despite taking away the 2 competition points.  The Cowboys are going to be more acclimatised on what is expected to be a hot night.
Mike’s Best Bets: None
Sydney Roosters v Brisbane Broncos
Bluetongue Stadium, 7.30pm
It’s off to Gosford for the 2000 grand finalists for the battle between 2nd and 9th. It’s still been much talked about that Brisbane have not conceded a 2nd half try at all in 5 rounds and they’ll be looking to make it 6. The biggest talking point though is that Todd Carney will not take the field, but we know that Braith Anasta will slot into 5/8th as if Carney never existed. Roosters are favourites but will need to play for field position if they want to get on top. They will need to play a lot of footy down the tram lines and I reckon it would be good to take some metres with kicks on the 3rd and 4th tackles.
Mike’s Best Bets: None
