Roosters vs Cowboys

Matchup - James Maloney vs Robert Lui. Both Mitchell Pearce and Jonathan Thurston are in premiership winning form, but Maloney and Lui play very important roles. Expect to see Maloney sniffing around the big lads for any sort of offload or short ball and his kicking game will be vital as you'd imagine Pearce will be put under the pump. Lui's role will be a bit more interesting - Maloney and Pearce are proven performers, while Lui has been consistently hot and cold. If he runs the ball, links with JT and Michael Morgan as well as executing his kicking game perfectly, boom. Otherwise the Roosters can target JT because they know the Cowboys don't offer much else.

Key Men - James Tamou has come off the bench in recent weeks with Ashton Sims playing so well. Obviously Matt Scott has been a gun as well which gives the Cowboys a pretty impressive big boy unit. Tamou coming off the bench will give them some more fire power after 20 odd minutes. Interestingly, Dylan Napa's suspension has meant that Sam Moa will start after coming off the bench to give the Roosters a lift recently. Tamou will come on when the likes of Remi Casty and Isaac Liu come on so expect to see Tamou ready to rip someone a new bumhole.

Keep An Eye On - Tautau Moga is a former Rooster who'll be up for a biggun, as will Cowboys' coach Paul Green who is also a former Chook. Both coaches will be out to one up each other and they'll be doing the ol' 'he'll expect us to this, so let's do this, but then he'll expect us to do that so let's just do this' type of thing.

Verdict - Fo really tho, Cowboys. The Cowboys look to have got the mix right - 3 good props, JT, powerful back rowers, talented outside backs and a fullback who'll get involved. Oh and JT on top of all that.

Sea Eagles vs Bulldogs

Matchup - Jayden Hodges vs Michael Ennis. The reason I've singled this matchup out as the only matchup worthy of the Matchup title (if you say that lots it becomes maccchup), is because it represents the game, both sides and how I reckon things will pan out. Hodges is a rookie, someone who has come in and done a decent job in Matt Ballin's absence while Ennis has been at his dickhead/great guy best. Expect Ennis to be out to dominate Hodges in all aspects, Hodges will be the underdog, the guy you don't expect much from and I think Manly will be in similar situation as Hodges.

Key Men - Brett Stewart, well with their stocks looking pretty thin, I'm pretty sure the Snake will need to be near his best for Manly to compete. Sure, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran will be key, but Stewart's class and quality will be the icing on the cake which could be a deciding factor. Frank Pritchard also looms as someone who can have a huge impact, he's kinda snuck back in to first grade and will come of the bench. I mean anytime you've got Pritchard coming off the bench is good.

Keep An Eye On - Niggle. Shit, there'll be plenty of niggle. Besides that, I reckon Anthony Watmough's absence could be ok with Dunamis Lui starting at lock. Lui's pretty much a prop and having another up the guts type of bloke will only help Manly + James Hasson coming on to their bench.

Verdict - Who knows, I've made arguments with myself for both sides. Manly definitely have the potential to do something pretty cray cray, but the Doggies are big, angry and skillful. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Manly win on the back of DCE and Foran putting in a historical performance ... ??