So last week was another 5/8, and looking ahead to Round 21, because at this stage we can’t even look past Friday, it seems this weekend’s clash between Manly and Melbourne will be used to mark the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Brookvale, and nobody will ever forget where they were at a quarter past 8 o’clock on August 26, 2011, when two careless soldiers named Stewart and Blair fired the first shots, leading the deaths of millions:

Lest We Forget.

Total Score = 111/152

Picks are Underlined

Newcastle Knights (11th) vs Brisbane Broncos (15th) at Suncorp Stadium, Thursday 7:50pm AEST

Mitchell Pearce is back, and guess where the Knights are headed?

CAMELOT!

CAMELOT!

CAMELOT!

It’s only a model.

Canberra Raiders (9th) vs St George-Illawarra Dragons (10th) at Cbus Super Stadium, 6pm AEST

So the Dragons have cracked through most of the Barbeque suspensions and Zac Lomax has figured out that Queensland is north of New South Wales, but fair dinkum, who the hell knows what’ll happen here.

The Raiders are schizophrenic, the Dragons are a boat without a rudder, so bugger it, let’s go with the Raiders, and I’ll sign off by saying…

PETER HARVEY, CANBERRA.

Parramatta Eels (4th) vs South Sydney Rabbitohs (3rd) at Cbus Super Stadium, Friday 8:05pm AEST

Dad, why did Queensland shut the border to New South Wales?

Well, it was during the time of Emperor Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and it was to keep the Rabbitohs out…. too many Random Souths Guys in Queensland.

On another note, I should mention that Souths have won 16 out of 19 games this season to date, which is already better than the 15 wins (Out of 24) they had during the Home & Away portion of their 2014 premiership run, and yet right now they’re only 3rd on the ladder by a fairly sizeable points differential to the Panthers.

And yet, nobody really considers them a premiership chance because they had a half century put on by both the Storm and Panthers in the space of 3 weeks.

New Zealand Warriors (12th) vs Cronulla Sharks (8th) at Cbus Super Stadium, Saturday 3pm AEST

The Sharks won against the Warriors in the last ever NRL game to be played in New South Wales a month ago, and they’ll probably win in Queensland this time, but the Sharks will have to remember..

WARRIORS ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD.

Sydney Roosters (5th) vs Penrith Panthers (2nd) at Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 5:30pm AEST

With Parramatta slowly falling back to the pack thanks to that shutout loss to the Chooks last week, the Eastern Suburbs team, despite having an injury list the size of Mount Kosciuszko, are level on points with the Eels in the hunt for the final spot in the Top 4, although they have to take on a Panthers team, fresh off getting clubbed to death by a raging Storm, that have finally regained Nathan Cleary on an extended bench, which means he could be playing this week or the next, and Tevita Pangai Jnr is all set for his Panthers debut.

The Panthers desperately need Cleary back, because without him they’ve turned into a team that would barely look good in an Elimination Final

Of course, this is the first time the Roosters and Panthers haven’t played each other at Panthers Stadium since the end of 2019.

Manly Sea Eagles (6th) vs Melbourne Storm (1st) at Suncorp Stadium, Saturday 7:35pm AEST

The best player in the game in Tommy Turbo finally gets a shot at the best team in the game in the Melbourne Storm, but it’s impossible to pick against the 6-time Lockdown champions of Australia in pursuit of their 400th win in a row, and they’ll probably take down the Sea Eagles like Randy Johnson took down that dove with a fastball.

Canterbury Bulldogs (16th) vs Wests Tigers (13th) at Cbus Super Stadium, Sunday 1:50pm AEST

The ‘Who Cares Cup’ for Round 21, and if the Tigers lose this, and there’s every chance that they will because they’re a very average team who couldn’t even hold off the Warriors, then they should start filming scenes for Season 2 of Tales From Tiger Town, especially the season finale in a few weeks time.

For some reason I don’t think they will be…. So in the meantime, here’s a Tiger sinking one of the best chips ever seen at Augusta:

Gold Coast Titans (7th) vs North Queensland Cowboys (14th) at Cbus Super Stadium, Sunday 4:05pm AEST

The Titans attack against this Cowboys defence?

Give me the boys from the Goldie, who are going to be the most entertaining thing to hit the Glitter Strip since those Monster Trucks that supported the Gold Coast 600!