Rabbitohs: 1 Alex Johnston 2 Joel Reddy 3 Dylan Walker 4 Bryson Goodwin 5 Aaron Gray 6 John Sutton 7 Luke Keary 8 George Burgess 9 Cameron McInnes  10 Dave Tyrrell  11 Ben Lowe 12 Chris McQueen 13 Jason Clark 14 Issac Luke 15 Nathan Brown 16 Tim Grant 17 Thomas Burgess 18 Daryl Milard 19 Chris Grevsmuhl

Eels: 1 Reece Robinson 2 Semi Radradra 3 Ryan Morgan 4 Brad Takairangi 5 John Folau 6 Corey Norman 7 Luke Kelly 8 Tim Mannah (c) 9 Nathan Peats 10 Danny Wicks 11 Manu Ma'u 12 Tepai Moeroa 13 Anthony Watmough 14 Junior Paulo 15 Richie Fa'aoso 16 Peni Terepo 17 Pauli Pauli

Chris Boulous writes:  The premiers face a season-defining Origin period without the services of Adam Reynolds (injury) and will be without Queensland superstar Greg Inglis. Last year they won two games out of three without GI and will be hoping for a similar stretch this year on the back of their own big three – Alex Johnston, Issac Luke and George Burgess.  Their opponents are missing only Will Hopoate (NSW) from last week's team but have been missing composure and execution all season. No doubt the Eels will be hoping to replicate their round four win and move off the bottom of the ladder.

Tip: Eels by 4

Wests Tigers v Cowboys

Wests Tigers: 1 James Tedesco 2 Kevin Naiqama 3 David Nofoaluma 4 Chris Lawrence 5 Pat Richards 6 Mitch Moses 7 Luke Brooks 8 Matthew Lodge 9 Dene Halatau 10 Keith Galloway 11 Curtis Sironen 12 Kyle Lovett 13 Martin Taupau 14 Ava Seumanufagai 15 Jack Buchanan 16 Sauaso Sue 17 Delouise Hoeter 18 Brendan Santi 20 Joel Luani

 Cowboys: 1 Lachlan Coote 2 Matthew Wright 3 Justin O'Neill 4 Kane Linnett 5 Antonio Winterstein 6 Michael Morgan 7 Ray Thompson 8 Ben Hannant 9 Jake Granville 10 Sam Hoare 11 Gavin Cooper 12 Ethan Lowe 13 John Asiata 14 Rory Kostjasyn 15 Glenn Hall 16 Ben Spina 17 Kelepi Tanginoa

Chris Boulous writes:  What happens when you take the six best players out of a game? We will find out at Campbelltown when the Tigers, minus Robbie Farah and Aaron Woods, host the Cowboys missing Johnathan Thurston, Michael Morgan, Matt Scott and James Tamou. The expectation is for the young Tiger cubs to expose the frailties in the Origin-depleted visitors' line-up courtesy of Luke Brooks and James Tedesco. But winning is a habit and after seven straight wins have the Cowboys forgotten how to lose? Fittingly, Dene Halatau has been named captain for the first time in his career for the match in which the club celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 2005 grand final win over the Cowboys.

Tip: Tigers by 10

Raiders v Bulldogs

Raiders:  1 Jack Wighton 2 Edrick Lee 3 Jarrod Croker (c) 4 Sisa Waqa 5 Jordan Rapana 6 Blake Austin 7 Mitch Cornish 8 Paul Vaughan 9 Josh Hodgson 10 Frank-Paul Nuuausala 11 Josh Papalii 12 Iosia Soliola 13 Shaun Fensom 14 Kurt Baptiste 15 Jarrad Kennedy 16 David Shillington 17 Shannon Boyd

Bulldogs: 1 Sam Perrett 2 Curtis Rona 3 Tim Lafai 4 Chase Stanley 5 Corey Thompson 6 Josh Reynolds 7 Moses Mbye 8 Aiden Tolman 9 Michael Lichaa 10 James Graham (c) 11 Frank Pritchard 12 Tony Williams 13 Greg Eastwood 14 Sam Kasiano 15 Tim Browne 16 Lloyd Perrett 17 Antonio Kaufusi 19 Danny Fualalo 22 Herman Ese'ese

Chris Boulous writes: On paper the easiest game of the round. The Raiders are unchanged from their last start and return home keen to make up some ground during the Origin period. The Bulldogs have lost five of their last six games and will be without Origin quartet Josh Morris, Trent Hodkinson, Josh Jackson and David Klemmer. Last year's grand finalists welcome back centre Tim Lafai from injury as they search for three straight wins in Canberra with Origin discard Josh Reynolds out to impress. But at their theme song suggest I expect the Raiders to hit em hard, so they see green.

Tip: Raiders by 12

Knights v Broncos

Knights: 1 Dane Gagai 2 James McManus 3 Sione Mata'utia 4 Joseph Leilua 5 Akuila Uate 6 Kurt Gidley (c) 7 Tyrone Roberts 8 Kade Snowden 9 Tyler Randell 10 David Fa'alogo 11 Joseph Tapine 12 Tariq Sims 13 Jeremy Smith14 Chad Redman 15 Chris Houston 16 Korbin Sims 17 Jack Stockwell

Broncos:  1 Jordan Kahu 2 Daniel Vidot 3 Jack Reed 4 Dale Copley 5 Lachlan Maranta 6 Anthony Milford 7 Ben Hunt 8 Jarrod Wallace 9 Andrew McCullough 10 Adam Blair 11 Alex Glenn 12 David Stagg 13 Jo Ofahengaue 14 Joe Boyce 15 Francis Molo 16 Corey Oates 17 Kodi Nikorima

Chris Boulous writes:  The Knights won the first leg of their home stand double and are heavy favourites to make it consecutive wins against a depleted Broncos outfit. Of their five players on representative duty, the Broncos will miss the impact of forwards Sam Thaiday, Matt Gillett and Corey Parker who provide the majority of their go-forward. For the Knights, Tariq Sims continues to impress and could come into contention for NSW in game two. The teams traded big wins last year and expect Newcastle to rack up a decent margin this week unless Wayne Bennett can conjure up another baby Broncos miracle against his former team.

Tip: Knights by 7

NSW v Queensland

NSW: 1. Josh Dugan, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Josh Morris, 4. Michael Jennings, 5. Will Hopoate, 6. Mitchell Pearce, 7. Trent Hodkinson, 8. James Tamou, 9. Robbie Farah (c), 10. Aaron Woods, 11. Beau Scott, 12. Ryan Hoffman, 13. Josh Jackson 14. Trent Merrin, 15. Boyd Cordner 16. David Klemmer, 17. Andrew Fifita

Queensland: 1. Billy Slater, 2. Darius Boyd, 3. Greg Inglis, 4. Justin Hodges, 5. Will Chambers, 6. Johnathan Thurston, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Matt Scott, 9. Cameron Smith (c) 10. Nate Myles, 11. Aidan Guerra, 12. Sam Thaiday, 13. Corey Parker 14. Daly Cherry-Evans, 15. Josh McGuire, 16. Matt Gillett, 17. Jacob Lillyman 18. Dylan Napa

NSW search for consecutive series wins against a Queensland team brimming with class, experience and four potential future immortals. For all the talk about the halves, Origin games are won in the middle and if NSW are to win they must follow the New Zealand blueprint of attacking the Queensland-led Kangaroos forward pack by being aggressive from the opening whistle. Of the many great head-to-head match ups, the battle of the No.9s and captains Robbie Farah and Cameron Smith is pivotal in terms of getting their respective teams forward and providing a quality kicking game. No doubt the ANZ Stadium crowd will help the Blues but they face an uphill task against a great Queensland team.

Tip: QLD by 6