This is what happens when you try and write 3000 words in 3 hours while multitasking:

– Thursday night has the clash of the season as Penrith host the Melbourne Storm in Penrith with the nation watching on, and the equation is simple – If the Panthers win by 3 points or more, they will leapfrog the Storm into top spot, and if the Storm win, it’s as you were, 2 games clear of the Panthers and 1 hand on the J.J. Giltinan Shield.

– Manly host the New Zealand Warriors at Brookvale in the Friday 6pm slot, before both teams will go and kick on in the Northern Beaches on a Friday night bender.

– The big Friday night on Channel Nine has the Sydney Roosters hosting Parramatta, fresh off their utter botch job last Friday night to go from 34-20 ahead to lose 34-36 to the Panthers, and with defending like that, you have to think what the best attack in rugby league will do to the Eels.

– With a first finals berth since 2016 in sight, Canterbury host the Redcliffe Dolphins up at Salter Oval in Bundaberg, a matchup that would serve as a Week 1 finals matchup if the finals started tomorrow with the Bulldogs in 5th and the Dolphins in 8th.

– With the more well-known JT now a Hall of Famer, the North Queensland Cowboys host the Canberra Raiders in Townsville, and last Saturday confirmed why nobody rates the Cowboys as a serious contender come September, because if you can’t knock off half a Brisbane Broncos team, let alone lose to them by 24 points, you’ll look like Raygun in the eyes of the world.

– The Wests Tigers host South Sydney at Campbelltown, and that’s all I have to say about that.

– St George-Illawarra host the Gold Coast Titans at WIN Stadium, and it was a dodgy old week for Saints after the Berries towelled them up, the Dolphins kicked them out of the Top 8 thanks to their Golden Point win, then the Kyle Flanagan judiciary hearing went against them, while last week was an enormous step back for the Titans in getting pistol whipped 44-0 at home by Cronulla, who weren’t exactly setting the world on fire up until last week, and had fallen victim to the Titans in Coffs Harbour just under 2 months back.

– And the Cronulla Sharks host the Knights at Shark Park, and the old saying goes just keep swimming, well the Sharks need to just keep winning given they’re level on points with the Roosters in the run for 3rd, and just 1 win ahead of Canterbury behind them in 5th.

Alright, now for the Succinct Round 24 Tips…

Round 23 Score = 6/8

Running score after Round 23 = 110/172 (63.9%)

Lock of the Week

DOING THE EAGLE ROCK AT BROOKVALE.