Fantasy NRL: Smith storms back into fantasy frame

Nathan Friend will post big scores if the Warriors keep making mistakes. Photo / Getty Images

Melbourne skipper turns around early season run of poor form.

After five rounds of Dream Team Fantasy NRL it's time to evaluate the ownership trends of our game players.

Round five produced some huge fantasy performances, largely by widely owned players. However, there are still plenty of big guns hovering under the radar and fantasy flops that owners should not be persisting with.

Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith must have himself in his fantasy team as he turned around his early-season run of poor form with a big round five.

Hopefully you took my advice on Smith last week with a grain of salt and simply benched him for a round as he once again looks relevant for fantasy teams ahead of a clash with the Dragons who give up plenty of fantasy points.

Aside from Smith, three other players went past the 70-point mark in round five and all deserve your attention.

Nathan Friend ($373,000) is a one-category wonder but will keep posting big scores if the Warriors continue to make mistakes and are starved of possession.

Sam Burgess ($415,000) is an elite front row option and will become even more valuable once Origin season begins.

Not enough fantasy players own Shaun Fensom ($332,000), who has been the No1 second rower in the game over the past 18 months. Get your bets on this tackling machine now.

Speaking of players who deserve more or less fantasy attention, there are a number whose values need to be reviewed.

Boyd Cordner ($309,000) seems to have been on a fantasy tear since the latter stages of last season and deserves higher ownership among second rowers, while Simon Mann-ering ($268,000), like 2013, is off to another slow start and can be benched until he shows some form.

In the halves, Shaun Johnson ($279,000) is the most-owned player despite not being close to the top-10 scorers in his position while John Sutton ($407,000) is not widely owned despite being one of the best fantasy halves in 2013.

Dream Team Fantasy NRL players have placed a lot of faith in the cheap, but so far impotent Sam Tomkins ($155,000). Thirty-six per cent of teams own Tomkins as a back despite him averaging less than 18 points per game. Another fullback struggling for fantasy form this year is Billy Slater ($397,000) who can be safely dropped from your side.

Instead, look to Pat Richards ($130,000), who is providing the most bang for your buck in the backs, or Will Chambers ($408,000) who's on a try-scoring tear at present.

The big player news this week sees Jared Waerea-Hargreaves return from suspension to face the Eels while Tigers fullback James Tedesco is set to miss up to nine weeks with an ankle injury and can be dropped.