Saturday, ANZ Stadium, 7.30pm

Referee: Steve Lyons

The Bulldogs are beaten being to a pup sorry, pulp on a weekly basis lately. In the past five rounds, the Warriors have put 40 points on them, the Dragons 30, the Tigers 56, the Cowboys 36 and the Panthers 52. They look like they can't wait until the season ends.

The Eels should be able to further add to their misery with a thumping win. The Eels continued their late-season recovery with a 40-12 win over the Tigers on Monday. It remains to be seen if they have left it too late to go all the way to the finals, but on form the Bulldogs shouldn't get in their way. In fact, it shapes as a valuable opportunity for the Eels to get their points for-and-against differential back into the black, where they may need it to make the finals in the event of a tie.

The Bulldogs seem to have had the spirit knocked out of them by events on and off the field. Injuries made them vulnerable to heavy losses and the heavy losses hurt their confiednce. Then, superstar Sonny Bill Williams walked out on them to play rugby union. That was obviously very hard for the players to take. The Eels have won three out of their past four. They have obviously improved, but are still not at their best. But near enough should be good enough to ensure a big win for them here.