NRL Tipping: Bulldogs to edge classic, Wayne’s woes and loser gets sacked in Round 17

The cold is sweeping through Australia, just in time for Beanies for Brain Cancer Round this weekend.

Look, it’s not actually cold in most of Australia – at least, not if you’ve ever lived somewhere that isn’t Australia – but a good idea is a good idea. If you’re watching on telly and suddenly everyone is wearing a hat, that’s why.

The main weather event that most of rugby league has been waiting for is here on Thursday, with sweeping winds set to roll through Penrith’s game against Canterbury.

With the game’s two best torpedo exponents in action in Matt Burton and Nathan Cleary, it’ll be bombs away. Who’d be a fullback, eh?

After that, there’s a stacked Saturday of derbies, sort-of derbies and general weirdness, before a Sunday that could end with an actual sacking.

Oh, and at the end of it all, we get Origin squads for the Game 3 decider too. What a weekend – here’s how it went ahead of time.

Panthers v Bulldogs

The master and apprentice face off as Ivan Cleary hosts Cameron Ciraldo in our Thursday night opener.

Alternatively, it could be the prospects and the gatekeepers: Canterbury are the heirs apparent to the Panthers’ Premiership crown and would put down a huge marker by beating the four-time champions here.

While Penrith have started slowly, they’re very much hitting their straps now. All the big guns are available, including Nathan Cleary, who will play despite fitness concerns ahead of the Origin decider.

The Doggies didn’t play last week and should be rested, but the Panthers arrive off their biggest result of the year, winning in Auckland without their Origin stars.

It’s all set up for a CommBank classic.

Tip: Bulldogs

Storm v Sharks

Remember just a month ago, when the Sharks beat Melbourne and announced themselves as Premiership contenders?

What a time to be alive. Bombing Iran was just a twinkle in Benjamin Netanyahu’s eye and we were all worried about tariffs with China. Ah, memories.

In case you’ve been shivering in a bunker since – no, not you Chris Butler – you might have missed the Cronulla have been quite rubbish since making that statement at Shark Park, losing to the Roosters, Warriors and Broncos and making hard work of the Dragons.

The Sharks actually won last year in Melbourne (at least in the regular season), prompting many to make similar claims about their ability. Now, like Roger Daltrey, we won’t be fooled again.

The Storm keep coming. They should have plenty too much here.

Tip: Storm

Dragons v Eels

Sometimes this sport is good because it’s good, other times it’s good because it’s hilariously bad.

You can make up your own mind on what the meeting of the Dragons and Parramatta in Wollongong will be. Quality can be at a premium when these meet, but don’t doubt the entertainment value: the last three meetings have seen 175 points scored but only 11 points difference.

There was a Golden Point thriller earlier in the year, a 44-40 game last year and a 26-20 comeback for the Eels the year before that. Points and drama are everywhere, even if tackling is sometimes optional.

In this edition, we get a re-run of the Clint Gutherson-Zac Lomax revenge mission, plus Jack de Belin against the club he will join next year and Jason Ryles against the club he played 156 times for.

Oh, and Kyle Flanagan is reportedly on his last legs in the halves, with even father Shane set to pull the plug if the poor form continues.

There’ll be tries, there’ll be narrative, there’ll be tears before bedtime.

Tip: Dragons

Manly v Tigers

The Sea Eagles have taken an axe to their backline in the hope of sparking something this week – and saving coach Anthony Seibold’s job in the process.

Tom Trbojevic is into the centres, Lehi Hopoate goes to the back and Jason Saab to NSW Cup as part of a rejig that has already been widely previewed as a last roll of the dice for the coach.

Not content with losing to the Knights and Titans in consecutive weeks, they now face a Wests Tigers side who could really, really rub it in.

There’s narrative everywhere when these two meet. When men were men, Wests were Wests and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri, this was the Silvertails v Fibros derby, a true clash of cultures.

Now, it’s El Isaaco, as Tigers bete noire Isaac Moses gets to see his clients – Luke Brooks, Ethan Bullemor, Tommy Talau, Matt Lodge and Seibold himself – go up against the club he so spectacularly stiffed this year via Lachlan Galvin’s contract.

Speaking of wrangling, no fewer than three Fainu brothers will turn out for the Tigers, having left Brookvale due to the ever-hyped political climate on the Beaches.

Look, it’s not quite blokes bringing bits of asbestos to games like they did in the 1980s, but time moves on.

Tip: Manly

Broncos v Warriors

There might be 2,280km between Brisbane and Auckland – that’s about the same as England to Greece – but this is actually something of a local derby.

Half of Southeast Queensland is of Kiwi extraction and you can expect plenty of them to be at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday afternoon, where the Wahs have traditionally enjoyed great support.

They might be needed, as these two teams could be at an inflection point. The Bronx looked like shutting the book on the season last week, but rose from their deathbed to down the Sharks in the second half and re-ignite hopes of being something other than horrendous in 2025.

The Warriors, on the other hand, were facing at a half-strength Penrith team and choked badly, leading many to bring out the flat track bully label, and not for the first time this year.

For Andrew Webster’s Wahs, this would be a good time to put in a performance. For Michael Maguire’s Broncos, every week has to be good from now on.

Tip: Warriors

Everyone else

Newcastle get a Friday 8pm kick off to lose to the Raiders, who continue to be blessed with the softest draw possible. Yes, the Knights won last week, no they won’t win this week.

Saturday’s prime time is Wayne Bennett’s return to The Dolphins to face his former charges, who were humbled by Newcastle last week.

Redcliffe have, that aberration aside, been decent of late and particularly good in attack. Souths haven’t been great, but can at least call on their premier 1-7 for the first time in about three years. Expect points.

Sunday is a Spoonbowl full of XXXX as the Cowboys face the Titans on the Gold Coast to see who gets their coach sacked. It’ll probably be Todd Payten, who looks out of ideas. North Queensland have checked out and await rescue.

Tips: Raiders, Dolphins, Titans