Fantasy NRL: Time to start planning for finals

Robbie Farah of the Tigers. Photo / Getty Images.

With just three rounds of the regular season yet to play, it's time to start planning for finals footy in Dream Team Fantasy NRL.

Though the finals picture is still largely up in the air, there are a number of teams that are firmly out of contention for the playoffs.

These teams contain plenty of big fantasy names that will disappear from relevancy in a month's time and so you need to be wary of holding on to too many of them in order to give yourself the best chance in finals footy.

The Tigers, Titans, Knights, Raiders and Sharks are all no chance to progress to the pointy end of the NRL season. The list below highlights their key fantasy players and indicates which are too valuable to drop straight away.

Tigers
Robbie Farah - HOLD
Aaron Woods - DUMP
Curtis Sironen - HOLD
Chris Lawrence - DUMP
Pat Richards - DUMP

Titans
James Roberts - HOLD
Nate Myles - DUMP

Knights
Dane Gagai - HOLD
Tyrone Roberts - DUMP
Robbie Rochow - DUMP
Chris Houston - DUMP

Raiders
Jarrod Croker - HOLD

Sharks
Paul Gallen - HOLD

Of those players I've recommended holding on to, Dane Gagai ($326,000), Jarrod Croker ($283,000), and James Roberts ($237,000) all have great match ups this coming weekend and can be safely started.

I'd also particularly recommend getting Paul Gallen ($264,000) into your team as he's currently owned by a strangely low 15% of fantasy coaches.

Other team with particularly good match ups this week are the Rabbitohs and Dragons.

The Rabbitohs are an expensive lot but Sam Burgess ($457,000) is an elite captain option while Dylan Walker ($286,000), David Tyrell ($480,000), Chris McQueen ($514,000) and Adam Reynolds ($386,000) are all great plays if you have the cash.

From the Dragons, Jason Nightingale ($294,000) and Josh Dugan ($237,000) are your best bets for points while I still don't trust Trent Merrin as an option in the front row.

In a quiet week of team news, Dragons back rower Ben Creagh is the only big fantasy name missing from the team sheets. He could be a late inclusion but is not worth waiting on in my opinion.

However, a number of very relevant fantasy players return to the field only to face difficult match ups this weekend.

Konrad Hurrell ($387,000), Steve Matai ($400,000) and Tariq Sims ($228,000) return and are normally solid options but all can be waited on to pick back up, given their opponents.

The sneaky play of the week is Mitch Aubusson ($518,000) whose lofty price tag could be worth it this week as he lines up at hooker for the Roosters against the Warriors.

Top pick
Mitch Aubusson, Roosters

Value pick
Josh Dugan, Dragons

On the bench
Ben Creagh, Dragons (in doubt to play)