Aaron Cruden is our pick for player of the week in the upcoming round of Fantasy Super Rugby. Photo / Getty Images
Despite three key teams being on a bye this weekend, fireworks are set to fly as several potent offenses take each other on over the weekend.
The Crusaders, Hurricanes and Rebels are all on a bye this weekend, so hopefully you planned ahead for this reduction in available players. This week is a great reminder to coaches to always check two rounds ahead to plan your player trades around byes.
Despite being on a bye, there is one key piece of news related to these teams and that is that Crusaders winger Robbie Fruean, owned by 19% of teams, has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a broken arm.
This weekend I see three key fixtures taking place that will influence fantasy coaches' trades this round.
First up, the Chiefs play the Highlanders on Friday night where four of the top 10 scorers in our game so far will feature. Aaron Cruden, Waisake Naholo, James Lowe and Lima Sopoaga are all averaging over 45 points per game and all are likely to take the field.
The Blues then take on the Lions at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday night where I'm predicting the home side will fire up. Frank Halai returns from injury to bolster the back three while Jerome Kaino and Luke Braid have been top five options on the back row despite the team's poor form.
Finally, the Reds and the Waratahs face off in the classic Australian local derby. There are a host of key fantasy players in this clash - virtually the whole Waratahs backline has been valuable while James O'Connor was huge for the Reds in his season debut last week.
In other fantasy strategy news, you would have noticed that your team's value would have changed after Round 3 - players who have played three games begin to change in value, depending on their performances and so can either make or lose you money overall.
The players who gained the most value this week were Handre Pollard, James Lowe and Dillyn Leyds while next week is set to see big increases from Waisake Naholo, Joe Pietersen, Sarel Pretorius, Carl Wegner and Taqele Naiyaravoro.
In major team news so far this week, Brodie Retallick will miss 4-6 weeks of action, Tony Woodcock is being rested by the Blues and two South African teams will be bolstered by returning players.
The Sharks have Francois Steyn and JP Pietersen back from Japanese rugby and Willem Alberts looks set to return from injury.
Similarly, the Stormers welcome back Schalk Burger to their squad after his Japanese stint while Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth may return to action this weekend.
Remember, always check team lists and last-minute news and use our rolling lockout to make late changes to your team if unexpected selections or injuries occur.
On the bench:
Brodie Retallick, Chiefs (out 4-6 weeks)
Liam Messam, Chiefs (probable play, concussion)
Bryce Heem, Chiefs (dropped)
Jean Deysel, Sharks (out 4-6 weeks)
Schalk van der Merwe, Lions (dropped)
Faf de Klerk, Lions (benched)
Willie Britz, Cheetahs (out 3 weeks)
Robbie Fruean, Crusaders (out for season)
Jurie van Vuuren, Stormers (out 3 weeks)
Tony Woodcock, Blues (rested)
James Parsons, Blues (benched)
Tevita Li, Blues (dropped)
Brendon O'Connor, Blues (benched)
Hamish Northcott, Blues (benched)
Tom Franklin, Highlanders (benched)
Marty Banks, Highlanders (benched)
Brendon Edmonds, Highlanders (benched)
Ash Dixon, Highlanders (benched)
Ross Geldenhuys, Highlanders (benched)
John Hardie, Highlanders (benched)
Jason Emery, Highlanders (benched)
Michael Rhodes, Stormers (out 1-2 weeks)
Ruan Botha, Stormers (out 1-2 weeks)
Bongi Mbonambi, Stormers (out 1-2 weeks)
Waylon Murray, Sharks (dropped)
Andre Esterhuizen, Sharks (benched)
Renaldo Bothma, Sharks (benched)
Jannie du Plessis, Sharks (dropped)
Dale Chadwick, Sharks (benched)
Angus Cottrell, Force (out indefinitely)
Luke Burton, Force, (benched)
Marco Kotze, Reds (benched)
Samu Kerevi, Reds (out 1-2 weeks)
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Waratahs (out indefinitely)
Taqele Naiyaravoro, Waratahs (benched)
Karmichael Hunt, Reds (suspended 6 weeks)
Top pick:
Aaron Cruden, Chiefs
Cheap pickups:
Waisake Naholo, Highlanders
Joe Pietersen, Cheetahs
Sarel Pretorius, Cheetahs
Carl Wegner, Cheetahs
Taqele Naiyaravoro, Waratahs