With one final chance to push for Origin selection, desperation will be the order of the day for many players and their teams as the NRL season hits the halfway point. Here is The Roar’s NRL expert tipping panel for Round 12.

While most of the panel had a fairly good week last week, The Barry again leading the way alongside The Crowd with six a piece, poor old AJ had a stinker.

Tipping one out of eight, he moves further behind the rest of the field. David and myself had five, while Mary had four on account of additionally tipping South Sydney to beat Penrith, which obviously didn’t happen.

Overall, it’s still The Barry leading The Crowd by a point, but David and Mary are now five and seven points behind the lead respectively, while I sit eight off the pace. AJ is now 20 behind The Barry and looking forward to a clean slate for Origin, I’m sure.

This week’s games are a bit of a mixed bag. The Broncos will look to snap one of Australia’s worst sporting hoodoos against the Storm, while Friday serves up a double-header which more neutral fans will leave than take as the Cowboys play the Warriors and the Tigers play the Dragons.

The Panthers go into Saturday’s clash with the Bulldogs as the shortest-price favourites imaginable, before the Rabbitohs play the Eels in the game of the week, and the Roosters face the in-turmoil Raiders.

The Titans play the Sharks in Coffs Harbour, and the Sea Eagles play Newcastle to close out the round. Not many of those matches stand out as must-watch TV, but then, Sunday’s games last weekend were both supposed to be bell-ringers and we got a bit of a damp squib instead, so what do I know?

Remember to get your tips into the form below by 6pm (AEST) this evening to join The Roar’s NRL tipping competition for 2021 and be featured as part of The Crowd’s tips for Round 11.

Maybe leading the column away will result in a change of fortunes for AJ? Anyway, he needs some luck. Let’s see what he has in store for us this week.

AJ Mithen

Tips: Broncos, Cowboys, Tigers, Bulldogs, Eels, Raiders, Titans, Sea Eagles

A grand total of one for me last week and I can’t lie, that makes it difficult to go back to back as your tipping inspiration. Never mind, I’ve shaken that off and here comes another eight!

Brisbane to score the inspirational win over the Storm, who are bashed up after playing the best team in the comp last Saturday.

Cowboys over Warriors because I love Todd Payten and I will never, ever, tip New Zealand.

Tigers over Dragons. The Saints are borderline cooked.

Yes, I’m on Canterbury to knock over the Panthers. It’ll also be a moral victory because they’ll keep the Penrith juggernaut under 88 points.

Eels over Bunnies. Quietly but effectively going along, are the Eels.

The beautiful Canberra Raiders have cleaned house during the week and are fully prepared to dust the suspended and injured Roosters by at least 56.

Titans over Cronulla who are just disgusting.

Finally, Trbojevic over Newcastle. The Knights are in deep poopy and when your coach is bagging the fans, they’ve got more problems than a mathematics textbook…

The Barry

Tips: Storm, Cowboys, Tigers, Panthers, Rabbitohs, Roosters, Titans, Sea Eagles

I’d like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands where our clubs will play and of the lands our clubs represent in this indigenous round and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

You put your Milford in, you take your Milford out, you take your team list and you shake it all about. While the Broncos will be heartened by victory against the injury-ravaged Roosters, the injury-ravaged Storm are a completely different proposition.

Who’d have thought the Warriors and Cowboys would be playing for a potential top eight spot? Tough one. I lean towards home ground advantage, even without Jason Taumalolo.

Dragons versus Sharks last week was a contender for worst game of the season. The Tigers’ recent pattern is loss-win-loss-win-loss, so they’re due. They have heaps of points in them lately. I’m not sure the Dragons can keep up if it gets into a high-scoring shootout.

The Bulldogs lost 42-0 to the Panthers in Round 26 last year but ‘only’ 28-0 in Round 2. Bookies have the Panthers as 99 per cent likely to win… and I think that’s only because they can’t wind their price in lower than $1.01.

A fascinating clash between Souths and Parra, top four teams who were embarrassed last week. Despite having 50 put on them I think Souths have more upside.

Brad Arthur needs his head read for not immediately hooking Waqa Blake. He’s worth at least 12 points to the opposition and Souths will be looking to run their dangerous left edge back in form.

Another interesting one between the Roosters and Raiders. A couple more outs for the Roosters. Their team has more spare parts than Frankenstein’s monster. Now or never for the Raiders with Jack Wighton, Josh Hodgson and Jordan Rapana returning. I’m tipping Roosters but $4 for the Raiders is enticing.

David Fifita is back for the Titans and that’s enough for me. Teams that have kept Fifita quiet have put an enforcer on him. Not sure who plays that role for the Sharks. Great to see Shaun Johnson back… hopefully it’s not just for a couple of weeks.

Kalyn Ponga back for the Knights. Bradman Best returns, too, replacing the equally alliterative Simi Sasagi, unlucky to miss out after a sharp debut last week. Interesting to see how the Sea Eagles respond from last week. If they don’t take their foot off the pedal they’ll win by plenty.

Scott Pryde

Tips: Storm, Warriors, Dragons, Panthers, Eels, Roosters, Titans, Sea Eagles

Looks a simple enough week on paper, but I’m sure I’ll find a way to do an AJ and tip one.

Melbourne will smoke the Broncos. The men from Brisbane have lost their last ten against the Storm and 20 of their last 22. Besides that, the Storm are just really, really good, even with their injuries worries.

I’d like to back the Cowboys at home, but I’m just not sure they will be able to get the job done. Call it a hunch, but when the Warriors have the best completion rate in the competition compared to the Cowboys down in 14th, I think there is something to read about there.

Dragons. They just have to win this one. In all truth, they may not.

Injuries and suspensions have left a yawning hole of talent at the club, but they just can’t afford to lose this one – if for nothing else than two losses in the same season will mean I never ever hear the end of it from The Roar’s editor Daniel Jeffrey.

Panthers over Bulldogs. Pick a number north of 50 and that is a fair chance of being the winning margin.

Speaking of 50 and the Rabbitohs have now let in 50 against two of the current top four. The third member of that group besides themselves probably won’t get that many points, but they will win.

The Raiders are an absolute rabble. They’d be lucky to beat most of the bottom eight sides at the moment, let alone a team like the Roosters, who will win by a mountain.

Cronulla’s defence might have held up last week against the Dragons, but… that was the Dragons. This is the Titans with David Fifita back. It might be high-scoring, but the Gold Coast will win and win well.

And the same could be said about Tom Trbojevic and the Sea Eagles. They will win and win well over the Knights who are struggling horrendously.

David Holden

Tips: Storm, Warriors, Tigers, Panthers, Rabbitohs, Roosters, Titans, Sea Eagles

Has there ever been a season where it has been more crucial to have a strong top 30? If there has been, I don’t remember it.

Injuries and suspensions are impacting most clubs, with some struggling to name 18 fit players. It changes the way we tip too. I spend a bit more time checking team lists now.

First up, we get Brisbane and Melbourne at Suncorp. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I recall that the Storm’s win-loss record in Brisbane is off the scale. The Broncos were better last weekend, but they have trouble stringing two together. Melbourne have no such issue and will win.

We know for sure that the Cowboys and Warriors will be high scoring. Picking a winner will be a bit more difficult.

With Jason Taumalolo out, the Cowboys might struggle a bit in the middle. Give the Warriors some field position and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Reece Walsh can create enough opportunities to win.

Just imagine a Broncos halves pairing of Sam Walker and Walsh. Someone stuffed up big time in Brisvegas.

We round out Friday with the Tigers and Dragons. The Tigers started a resurgence of sorts less than a month ago against St George and I expect them to win again. Wests probably should have won last weekend but it’s much easier to pick them when they are not shooting for two in a row.

It’s first versus last on Saturday afternoon. This is just plain nasty from the NRL as Bulldog fans could be scarred for life from this mauling. Call it off, Peter V’landys; just give the Panthers the two points and be done with it. It’s the humane thing to do.

The Rabbits and the Eels: two early season favourites, two last start losers. The Rabbits were thumped by the Panthers but their left side attack will fancy their chances against the Eels’ defence. Reagan Campbell-Gillard is a big omission for the Eels. Rabbits to bounce back.

What is going on at the Raiders? Some millennials break up by text, I don’t believe George Williams would break up with the Raiders that way. They get three key players back but I don’t think it matters.

The Raiders look gone for the year and Ricky may have stayed with Canberra a little too long.

Chad Townsend would have felt pretty good last Friday night after kicking the winning field goal in a very average game. His mood would have soured after finding out he is out of the 17 this week.

Some of the cavalry return for Cronulla and they take on a better looking appearance. However, the Titans have plenty of points in them and should get the chocolates.

The Knights get some players back, with Kalyn Ponga and Bradman Best lining up. The real question is how do the Sea Eagles back up after the emotion of last week’s win.

If their form lines were similar, I would pick the Knights on the back of this. But the form lines are way different.

Sea Eagles to continue their run.

Mary Konstantopoulos

Tips: Storm, Cowboys, Tigers, Panthers, Eels, Roosters, Titans, Sea Eagles

Despite the Brisbane Broncos’ impressive win over the Sydney Roosters last week, the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers are a cut above all the other teams in the competition.

Melbourne will win this game on Thursday night and I’m also expecting the Storm to score plenty of points. They are a team that love playing at Suncorp Stadium.

The Cowboys seem to have found their feet mid-way through the season. The contest between the teams battling for those final positions in the eight have been competitive this year, but in front of a home crowd and with several key players returning including Coen Hess and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, I’m predicting a Cowboys win.

In what may come as a shock, I am tipping the Tigers in the next game. The Dragons lost last week due to poor game management and have also been in the press this week regarding Matt Dufty.

The Tigers see the return of James Roberts and I think can do enough to beat an unsettled Dragons squad.

The Panthers will beat the Bulldogs, the only question is by how many.

The next game will be fun. Two teams desperate for a win for two different reasons.

Parramatta will be determined to prove that last week against Manly was an ‘off week’ and Souths will be desperate to bounce back after two big losses over the last two weeks.

I’m tipping with my heart here and predicting Parramatta will win… but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned with Waqa Blake retaining his spot.

The next game is also tough to predict, but for me, the Roosters will come back calm and composed after several players lost their cool last week against the Broncos.

I can’t tip the Raiders this week given how poorly their season is going and the added conversation about the departure of George Williams is enough to settle even the best of teams.

The Titans will outscore the Sharks in a game where I am predicting plenty of points and the Sea Eagles will continue their march to the top four with a win over the Knights.

Remember to get your tips in on the form below by 6pm tomorrow to be counted as part of The Crowd for this weekend.