State versus state, mate versus mate…it’s the showpiece of our sport.

And for our fantasy teams, State of Origin is a very, very important period.

If you’re in a league which decided to have bye weeks during the rep period, then great, sit back and enjoy the games without stress. But if you’re playing in all 26 rounds, then you already need to be looking ahead and making some smart moves – because if you don’t, we might get to round 11 and you’ll realise you only have six players who are going to score points that week.

Start eyeing off some talented players who might not be owned, but are solid enough replacements through this brutal stretch of the season. It just might be the difference between you making the playoffs and missing out.

Big Three

Paul Gallen: Unfortunately a lot of his owners wouldn’t have started the perennial fantasy superstar as it wasn’t known he was playing until a short time before kick-off, but Gal didn’t miss a beat as he slotted into the Sharks line-up and was his usual busy self. The Blues captain racked up over 140m with a couple of busts and offloads, as well as 33 tackles and an assist. Welcome back.

Sam Burgess: It’s getting to the point where I could just copy and paste the same text into this field every week. Once again, Sam Burgess leads the way in fantasy points and, with Robbie Farah sidelined, there is no question he’s the most valuable player right now. Even without his try it would have been another amazing showing, but crossing the stripe in the Rabbitohs’ defeat saw his score push into three digits yet again.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall: SKD is often maligned on the field, but not on Saturday. 250m running, a pair of tries and three line-breaks in the Roosters’ narrow win over Cronulla. We won’t get this every week, but it’s a nice bonus when a solid fantasy player goes off for a massive score, as the Kiwi international has done here.

Pleasant surprises

Josh Jackson: It was a Herculean effort in defence from the young back-rower on Good Friday, as he racked up 47 tackles to go with 120m running and an assist. He’s still available in roughly a quarter of leagues and started in less than that, so if you can trade for him or grab him from free agency, I would. He’s not going to do this every week, but large volume tackling performances are easier to replicate than, say, players who score a hat trick.

Matthew Allwood: The young Canberra centre was very active against the Storm on Sunday, grabbing a try and putting his winger over for another two. He's widely available too. A solid youngster for the Origin period.

Thanks for nothing

Josh Morris: A Rabbitohs v Bulldogs match was never going to be high scoring, but unfortunately for me I was stuck with Morris and Bryson Goodwin as my centres this week. Neither did much, but Morris was worse, as he barely got involved in the game. I doubt he’ll care though, as the Doggies took the points.