NRL Fantasy teams analysis: Round 8

Broncos: Unchanged. Payne Haas (shoulder) has been named and Billy Walters officially starts at hooker. Walters didn't get a lot of minutes last week despite starting and dropped $25k. He's barely worth selling now but can't be relied upon in your 17. Te Maire Martin was impressive at the back in his return to the NRL and could be a handy buy if he keeps the role while Tesi Niu is out. Kobe Hetherington's time as Pat Carrigan's replacement as lock isn't producing anything in Fantasy terms.

Sharks: Dale Finucane returns from a head knock at lock with Cam McInnes dropping to the bench. Wade Graham is listed in the reserves as he approaches a return from an ankle injury. Siosifa Talakai's first-half 97 had to be seen to be believed and he's jumped a whopping $117 in just a week (and$339k overall). Anyone who's jumped on already is laughing but his price tag is getting out of hand now for those still wanting to pick him up. Otherwise Nicho Hynes remains one of the best players in Fantasy this year with another 78 points last week. McInnes has dropped $204k now but won't be a buy until (or unless) he nabs a big-minute starting role.

Titans: A reshuffle at the back with AJ Brimson going to fullback and Jamayne Isaako out, with Phil Sami returning to the backline, David Fifita to the pack and Kevin Proctor going to the bench. Will Smith starts in the halves and Tanah Boyd joins the interchange where Herman Ese'ese replaces Jarrod Wallace. Fifita owners will be relieved to see him back in the forwards. Smith could make some short term price rises if he stays in the starting side. Beau Fermor has peaked for now, with Erin Clark also about at his maximum price.

Panthers: Unchanged. Nathan Cleary should be in your team as captain as soon as possible. Backline stars Izack Tago, Stephen Crichton and Taylan May are all still getting the job done. Jarome Luai and Charlie Staines are in far more teams than they should be. It looks like Soni Luke could take significantly more minutes from Api Koroisau than Mitch Kenny was; Koroisau isn't quite a sell yet but he could be next week if the trend continues.

Rabbitohs: Isaiah Tass starts at centre for the suspended Taane Milne and Siliva Havili replaces Jacob Host (shoulder) on the bench. The all-middle bench suggests Jai Arrow could be playing exclusively on an edge which isn't ideal for his output. Tass isn't an option with only one week until Milne returns. Taaffe had an off night against the Tigers; he's a hold for now but ideally outside your playing 17. Cameron Murray and Damien Cook have both been in beast mode for a while and are justifying their hefty price tags on a weekly basis.

Sea Eagles: Tolutau Koula takes over at centre after Morgan Harper's struggles last week. Andrew Davey (shoulder) is out and Haumole Olakau'atu misses a week suspended. Martin Taupau and Sean Keppie both return in the front row with Toff Sipley dropping to the bench and Ethan Bullemor starts in the back row. Ben Trbojevic and Kurt De Luis join the bench. Dylan Walker (knee) has been named. Josh Schuster finally appears in the reserves for the first time this year as he approaches a return. Koula starting in the centres is good news for his owners and there's a chance he holds the spot indefinitely. Daly Cherry-Evans' scoring has dropped off a fair bit in the past fortnight but he's still a keeper.

Warriors: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (HIA) and Aaron Pene (suspension) each has a week off, Ed Kosi is dropped and Josh Curran (knee) will miss at least a month. Rocco Berry and Viliame Vailea are the new wingers, Bayley Sironen starts in the pack and Eliesa Katoa and Jack Murchie join the bench. There wasn't much to get excited about in the Warriors' huge loss last week: Jazz Tevaga (56) top scored but his minutes are too unreliable to be an option while Euan Aitken (47) remains a gun keeper at CTR. Tohu Harris will probably be back before Curran, who is a sell regardless. Put Vailea back on the watch list, pending his performance this weekend and next week's team sheet. Jesse Arthars had two big scores but his price is heading back down and he should be sold.

Raiders: Possible cash cow Harry Rushton is back out of the team after one game, with Elliott Whitehead returning on an edge pushing Corey Harawira-Naera to the bench. Brad Schneider has almost peaked, Tom Starling has worked into some form while any back-five Raiders are currently a liability in Fantasy.

Bulldogs: Brent Naden, Jake Averillo and Ava Seumanufagai return from COVID layoffs with Jayden Okunbor, Jacob Kiraz and Billy Tsikrikas out. Matt Burton is now looking like a sell after a drop-off in his scoring over the past two rounds. Tevita Pangai jnr had one of his 'on' weeks against his old club but will probably continue to mix good and bad scores. Max King has almost peaked after $286k in price rises but there's certainly no rush to sell.

Roosters: Kevin Naiqama comes in for the suspended Daniel Tupou while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Victor Radley return to the starting 13 for Nat Butcher and Siosiua Taukeiaho. James Tedesco finally came good with a tackle bust-heavy 64, but you'd want to see it more than once before snapping him up at a reduced price. A return to 80 minutes was no help for Angus Crichton owners and he can be moved on.

Eels: Unchanged, with Dylan Brown again in the centres. Brown was looking like the breakout Fantasy gun of 2022 a few weeks ago but is now looking like a potential liability, needing a try to scrape out a decent score in a big win over the Knights with his halves partner Mitch Moses the one doing the elite scoring. Isaiah Papali'i is the third-highest scoring player this year after his two-try 87. Will Penisini's price is moving along nicely now.

Cowboys: It's the same 17 as named last week, although there could again be some game-day reshuffles between the starters and the bench. Jason Taumalolo has four straight 50-plus and his minutes are also steady at around 60 after a reduced load in the opening rounds. Heilum Luke cancelled out his game-day benching with a try while Val Holmes had a down game in round seven. Jeremiah Nanai continues to frustrate with his demerits, although you'd have to say his sin-binning last week was rather unlucky. Reuben Cotter has made over $100k this year but looks to have peaked.

Knights: Dane Gagai is out, with Simi Sasagi starting at centre and Jesse Sue joining the bench. Brodie Jones (elbow) has been named. It was a horror week for the Knights in both NRL and Fantasy in round seven, with the big loss to the Eels resulting in dire Fantasy scores across the board. Chris Randall's early rest is hopefully not a trend; he has peaked but was looking like a borderline keeper until last week. Kalyn Ponga's 100 in round six may have been a false dawn while all of Kurt Mann, Jake Clifford and Leo Thompson can be sold. Jones has a couple more price rises left.

Storm: Tyran Wishart replaces Chris Lewis on the bench in the only change. Four tries helped Xavier Coates to just the third 60-plus score of his career. If you're still holding he'll make a bit more money over the next few weeks but try not to rely on him in your 17. Round seven was one of those weeks it really hurt not to own Ryan Papenhuyzen while Cam Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant all got in on the action. Josh King has peaked but there's no urgency to sell just yet.

Dragons: Tariq Sims starts for Jayden Su'A (knee) with Tyrell Fuimaono joining the bench. Jack Bird appears to have been cleared of a broken arm and has been named. Despite an impressive win over the Roosters there wasn't much in the way of Fantasy scores for the Dragons last round, with Bird (17) failing to finish the game and Ben Hunt's phenomenal performance not really translating onto the stats sheet. There's not much doing here at all Fantasy-wise.

Wests Tigers: Star To'a takes over at fullback for Daine Laurie (knee) with Oliver Gildart starting at centre. Kelma Tuilagi returns from illness with Alex Seyfarth going to the bench. With back-to-back 50s, a dominant halves role and goal kicking duties, Jackson Hastings is looking more like a legitimate option. Tuilagi has a few price rises left. David Nofoaluma has two tries and 133 Fantasy points in two games but was averaging 26 before that with three sub-20 scores. Star To'a is already a bit too pricey to be a tempting option in his new fullback role.