Test 1

Manly head into Ocean Protect Stadium on Friday night as the competition's hottest team — seven wins from eight under interim coach Kieran Foran, rocketing to fourth on the ladder — and the Sharks' biggest selection crisis of the season couldn't have come at a worse time. Nicho Hynes will miss the clash after suffering a minor calf strain at training, with further tests needed to determine the full extent of the injury, forcing talented debutant Niwhai Puru into the halves alongside Braydon Trindall. Craig Fitzgibbon has named Origin trio Blayke Brailey, Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora, with Cameron McInnes starting in his 100th game for the club. For Manly, Origin stars Haumole Olakau'atu and Tolu Koula are listed in reserves to be monitored, while Lehi Hopoate returns from suspension, and Ben Trbojevic was added to the casualty ward after a head knock before being cleared to play after the HIA was reclassified from category 1 to category 2. Jason Saab — whose hat-trick powered Manly's dominant 46-18 win over the Tigers in Magic Round — looms as the match-winner, and with the Sharks sitting outside the eight on differential and desperately needing points, the pressure is all on Cronulla. Advanced analytics gives the home side a 62% chance of victory, and rightly so — without Hynes pulling the strings, Manly's five-game winning streak rolls on. Manly by 8.

San Antonio's season is on the line Thursday as they host a shorthanded but surging Oklahoma City squad that leads this series 3-2 — and the Spurs' Frost Bank Center has never felt more consequential. Victor Wembanyama is averaging a staggering 30.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game in this series, yet OKC limited him to 4-of-15 shooting in Game 5 while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 32 and the Thunder hit 43.8% from three. The Thunder go in again without Jalen Williams, ruled out with his left hamstring injury, and Ajay Mitchell is also ruled out with a calf strain — yet they still won Game 5 comfortably. The Spurs are fully healthy, with Fox (ankle) and Harper (adductor) both off the injury report, Fox having returned for the last two games of the series. Fox has averaged 13.5 points on 44.4% shooting with 5.5 assists in his two appearances this series, providing the veteran calm this young roster desperately needs. San Antonio beat OKC four times in the regular season and this crowd will be electric. But with Gilgeous-Alexander having won his second straight MVP award and OKC boasting the league's best defensive rating and net rating all season, the defending champions have the edge even short-handed. Wembanyama must dominate or go home — but expect a desperate Spurs win to force Game 7, with the Alien finally feasting on his own floor.

Song (22-9-1) meets Figueiredo (25-6-1) in Macau on home soil for the first time in eight years, and the matchup couldn't be more stark: Song's Sanda/Muay Thai arsenal pumps out 4.4 significant strikes per minute against a BJJ black belt in Figueiredo who averages just 2.6, has been outstruck in each of his last ten fights, and once again carries weight-cut baggage — missing by 2.5 lbs at UFC 324 in January, where both men lost on the same card (Song to O'Malley, Figueiredo to Nurmagomedov); to his credit, Figueiredo arrived early in Macau this week and insists he came in lighter, and the market has already moved hard, installing Song as a -590 favourite — but the sharper bet, per most analysts, is Song by finish: his heavy leg kicks will slow Figueiredo's entries, the grappling threat will dissipate as fatigue sets in, and Song stops a fading 38-year-old champion by TKO in round three.

Fresh off a record seven-game losing streak that stunned the NRL world, Melbourne Storm limp into AAMI Park having surrendered second-half leads against the Bulldogs and are stranded 15th on the ladder — territory Craig Bellamy's men haven't occupied in decades. The Roosters arrive with genuine momentum, their one defeat snapping a six-game winning streak, and Stats Insider gives Sydney a 63% chance of winning, predicting a 26–21 final scoreline. Daniel Tupou is out with a calf injury, but Origin stars Tedesco, Walker, Radley, Collins, Robson and Toia have all been named, while Daly Cherry-Evans takes on a greater role steering the team through the Origin period. The standout is centre Hugo Savala, who has scored five tries in his last five games — an irresistible streak the Storm's leaky defence will struggle to contain. Melbourne have won seven of their last eight against the Roosters, but this is not that Storm. Sua Fa'alogo has scored six tries in his last six at AAMI Park and could spark a home upset, but expect the Roosters' superior form and depth to prevail in a tight one.

Carolina lead this Eastern Conference Final 2-1, but the Bell Centre roars tonight for a Canadiens side that has earned every inch of this improbable run — and they need a win desperately. Montreal stunned Carolina 6-2 in Game 1, before the Hurricanes took Games 2 and 3 by identical 3-2 overtime scores. Lane Hutson — logging a team-high 26:01 per game — is the undeniable standout, leading Montreal in playoff scoring and carrying a six-game point streak of eight assists into this series. For Carolina, Nikolaj Ehlers has been electric, scoring twice in Game 2 including the overtime winner, with one of those goals a highlight-reel individual effort past two Montreal defenders. The Hurricanes swept their first two opponents — the first team to do so back-to-back since the 1992 Blackhawks and Penguins — and started the playoffs 8-0, the first team since the 1985 Oilers. Both teams are relatively healthy, with Montreal's Patrik Laine the notable long-term absentee, while Carolina's Alexander Nikishin recovered from his concussion in time for the Flyers series, leaving the Canes' injury report essentially bare. Historically, Carolina own the head-to-head, winning both previous playoff series against Montreal in 2002 and 2006. The Hurricanes remain the Stanley Cup favourites. Yet Montreal swept all three regular-season meetings by a combined 15-8, and at a raucous Bell Centre with their season on the line, expect the Habs to level this series — Hutson pulling strings from the blue line and Dobes standing tall — before Carolina's depth eventually proves too much in seven.

Penrith's injury cloud — Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Brian To'o and Casey McLean all Origin doubts — is the only real storyline keeping this alive, but even a half-strength Panthers machine has been too clinical for most opponents in 2026. The Warriors, gutted by two ACL blow-outs in a fortnight with Boyd and Tuivasa-Sheck both season-done, are travelling without their co-captain Mitch Barnett rested and star playmaker Luke Metcalf still yet to feature since Round 5. Andrew Webster's side has won their last four in Australia and Watene-Zelezniak — 12 tries in seven games — will terrorise any backline; but Penrith are 9-from-10 at CommBank and 10-from-11 all-time against the Wahs, and with Liam Martin returning from a knee injury to bolster the pack and Brian To'o's eight tries in seven career games against this exact opponent, the Panthers have too many weapons. Penrith to win by 12.

The two-way monster is the story of 2026, and Shohei Ohtani — batting .273 with 89 total bases while posting an other-worldly 0.60 ERA on the mound — remains the most terrifying weapon in baseball as the Dodgers (34-20) close out this Rockies series at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles has won five of their last six, backed by a pitching staff running a league-best 2.11 ERA over their last 13 games, and despite Max Muncy nursing a bruised wrist and closers Edwin Díaz and Blake Snell both sidelined, the roster depth is simply too much. Colorado's Troy Johnston is a bright spot at .323, but a team 14.5 games back, losers of six of their last seven, with Kris Bryant on the 60-day IL and Kyle Freeland sporting a bloated 7.04 ERA, has no answer for this Dodgers machine. Back the home side with confidence — Dodgers win.

Melbourne head to Alice Springs sitting 7-4 and sixth on the ladder, one of the season's genuine surprise packets under Steven King, averaging 100 points per game and winning four of their last five — including an 18.12 (120) demolition of Hawthorn and a 32-point win over West Coast — before a gut-punch three-point loss to the Bulldogs last Sunday. The Demons go in without key defender Jake Lever, concussed in the dying stages of that defeat, while Brody Mihocek faces a fitness test. GWS arrive crackling with dangerous momentum after last week's historic 26.10 (166) to 13.10 (88) obliteration of Brisbane — the highest-scoring quarter in VFL/AFL history — with Toby Greene booting five goals and ex-Demon Clayton Oliver racking up 37 disposals, 11 clearances, and eight tackles. But the Giants remain wildly unpredictable: they lost to West Coast the week before and are without Jack Buckley (hamstring) and Lachie Whitfield (hamstring tendinopathy, test). With the MCG-like Traeger Park surface suiting Melbourne's running game, Max Gawn's ruck dominance and Kysaiah Pickett's 25-disposal, nine-tackle engine, back the Demons to win — but don't rule out Greene conjuring another moment of sorcery that keeps this one tight until the final siren.