ANZ Stadium, Thursday Night
Rabbitohs and Roosters. Does it get more traditional than this?
Both teams go into their round four clash in good form with Souths grinding out a strong win in Newcastle last week while Sydney are 3-0 and sitting pretty in second position on the ladder after a controversial win against Penrith.
An injury to your number one player is usually enough to throw a team off for a little while however, Michael Maguire has kept this South Sydney team rolling following their round one loss. Adam Reynolds has put himself forward as a primary contender for a Blues jersey with his early season form while the rotation of Robbie Farah and Damien Cook is working a treat for the red and green army. Five-eighth Cody Walker leads the league in try assists (six) after the opening three rounds as Souths look to be coming together nicely as a team.
Despite a clear forward pass leading to their game-winning try last week, the Roosters are 3-0 and it cannot be denied that they are an in-form team right now. The battle of the halves will be immense in this game and with Reynolds performing on the other side of the park, Luke Keary and Mitchell Pearce have been just as good for the tri-colours. Blake Ferguson could be a big in for the Bondi boys come Thursday night.
The bookies are heavily favouring Sydney in this one but we believe it could be a lot closer than people think.
Roosters by 4
Pepper Stadium, Friday Night
Both these teams head into round four at 1-2 and probably both have cases to have winning records but that isn't to be.
For Penrith, unlucky is a light way to put their defeat to Sydney last weekend but they must find some consistency in their performances if they want to head deep into September.
The Panthers attack struggled last week against the Roosters line and will be hoping their forward pack can march them up the field once again.
Meanwhile, the Knights, despite losing last week, have already shown this season they're up for the fight. Their scoring output has doubled from last season with the left edge of Peter Mata'utia and Nathan Ross producing seven tries in their opening three matches. Their defence is also on the rise and having won five of their last eight in Penrith, their confidence will be high.
Once again, the bookies have Penrith installed as heavy favourites and if they decide to show up, they could blow the Knights out of the water.
Panthers by 10
Suncorp Stadium, Friday Night
Wayne Bennett's men head into Friday Night on the back of two successive losses by a cumulative three points and run into a red hot Canberra team looking to string together two wins of their own for the first time this season.
The Broncos come up against their third Top 4 hopefuls in as many weeks and will need to lean on their strong defensive display - 53 points conceded in opening three rounds - to hold off the green machine who put 46 points on the scoreboard last weekend.
Canberra has a horrific record at Suncorp - lost eight of their last nine - but will be looking to put that behind them after registering their first two competition points last weekend. Josh Papallii and Blake Austin and have superb to start the 2017 campaign and will look to wear down the Brisbane defensive wall that has held firm so far this season.
If Brisbane can find their offensive mojo, they will be hard to stop.
Broncos by 6
Lottoland, Saturday Afternoon
These two teams come into Saturday on the back of strong performances away from home. Manly thumped the Cowboys in arguably the surprise of the season while the Bulldogs went across the ditch and beat the Warriors rather comfortably in the end.
For Manly, Tom Trbojevic lit up the NRL world with a length of the field try after intercepting a Jonathan Thurston kick last week and continues to run the ball at speed and with purpose from the back of the Manly line. The fullback is averaging over 200 metres a game and will take some stopping from the blue and white men.
The Bulldogs meanwhile have one of the most imposing front rows in the competition. With Aiden Tolman and James Graham leading the line, they have the potential to dominate field position if given the chance on Saturday afternoon. Greg Eastwood, Josh Jackson and Sam Kasiano are also there to give them a hand and should Manly cough up the ball, you can bet your bottom dollar these guys will bulldoze the Manly line.
With this proving to be one of the games of the round, you can toss a coin to see who wins this lotto. But at home and coming off their best performance in quite some time, we'll back Manly to take home the points.
Sea Eagles by 4
ANZ Stadium, Saturday Night
Both teams head into ANZ Stadium looking to bounce back after poor losses last weekend.
The Eels lost 26-12 to the Titans last week after leading 12-0 after 17 minutes and must bounce back unless they want to fall back into the mid-table pack. Five-eighth Clinton Gutherson was instrumental for the Eels on both sides of the ball, scoring once before completing 26 tackles for the match. Corey Norman returns to pair with Gutherson in the halves.
Meanwhile, Cronulla suffered a shock loss to St. George at home last weekend and will be looking to avoid slipping to 1-3 after Saturday night. Cronulla's pack will want to step up after a sub-par performance last week which saw their back five combine impressively for a total of 844 metres run, 47% of the teams total. New recruit James Segeyaro is in line for a club debut and could provide the boost they need to secure the win.
As hard as it is seeing the premiers fall to a 1-3 record, the inclusion of Corey Norman will be a big enough boost to see Parramatta return to their winning ways.
Eels by 6
Cbus Super Stadium, Saturday Night
North Queensland head south to their nearest geographical rival on Saturday night to take on a Gold Coast side beaming with confidence after a last start win against the previously undefeated Eels.
Barring one penalty goal, the injury-ravaged Titans peeled off 26 unanswered points last week and might just do the same this week if the Cowboys defence doesn't find their groove.
The inexperienced and youthful Titans produced a dominant second half display last week and will be looking to build on that momentum. Debutant dale Copley has been named to start in the centres for the home side.
Despite being riddled by injury, JT's men will be looking to put their poor home display behind them let by JT himself. The Cowboys have scored just 49 points this season - compared to 76 this time last season - which puts them in the bottom quarter of the league, a stat most unlike the boys from up north. Jake Granville will also be looking to lift after a quiet performance last week.
$10 million man Jason Taumalolo remains sidelined through suspension while Justin O'Neill's knee injury will keep him out for an indefinite amount of time.
It's hard to see the Cowboys coming up with nothing for two weeks in a row but they'll have to be up for the fight against the Titans at home.
Cowboys by 10
Leichhardt Oval, Sunday Afternoon
Top vs bottom in round three. Who's excited?
Craig Bellamy's men sit atop the NRL ladder and at the bottom of media exposure as they continue to grind their way through the competition. Against Brisbane, their offensive game looked liked it belonged at the bottom of the ladder but they managed to find a way with a stroke of luck on Josh Addo-Carr's game winning try. Addo-Carr's start to the season has been fantastic and it will need to continue that way with opposite winger Suliasi Vunivalu out for 4-6 weeks with a shoulder injury. Billy Slater starts at fullback for the injured Cam Munster and will be looking to add a bit of polish to his first game in over 12 months.
For the Tigers, their league-worst attack doesn't bode well for them against an always structured and stingy Storm defence. After a hot start against Souths (34 points), the Tigers attack has gone brutally cold with just one try in 160 minutes of football.
With assistant coach Andrew Webster at the helm following Jason Taylor's sacking, we hope to see a rejuvenated Tigers side on the field come Sunday afternoon. With all of the talent they have on their list, it surely cannot go to waste.
The Storm will have to be wary of a refreshed Tigers side in front of their home faithful and despite some key injuries to the boys from down south, we can't go passed them in this one. It should be closer than the usual top v bottom clash though.
Storm by 8
UOW Jubilee Oval, Sunday Night
When you think of Shaun Johnson, you immediately think of excitement and lots of points. Unfortunately for the Warriors, it hasn't been the case so far in 2017.
The Bulldogs took care of them in Dunedin last weekend however they will receive a much-needed boost with the debut of Keiran Foran. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck also returns to fullback which will give Stephen Kearney's men a bit more structure around the park.
The Dragons will head to Jubilee with the same 17 that defeated the reigning premiers last week as they look to remain up the pointy end of the ladder. The Dragons pack instrumental for the red V last week with Paul Vaughan leading the way for them with 204 metres.
Defensively, they've also been impressive over the opening rounds of the season and we can see that run continuing with a win to round out round four.
Dragons by 6