THERE’S no shortage of superstars ready to light up the 2018 finals series.

Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess are preparing for battle on Friday evening, and the likes of Cooper Cronk, Shaun Johnson, Boyd Cordner, James Tedesco and Valentine Holmes will entertain us later in the weekend.

But, of course, with the competition cut to the eight best teams, some of the game’s biggest names won’t feature again until the 2019 season.

So, foxsports.com.au has taken the opportunity to select an ultimate starting 13 from the teams that didn’t make the finals.

FULLBACK

Kalyn Ponga (Knights)

WINGER

Tom Trbojevic (Sea Eagles)

CENTRE

Jarryd Hayne (Eels)

CENTRE

Joey Leilua (Raiders)

WINGER

Kyle Feldt (Cowboys)

FIVE-EIGHTH

Mitchell Pearce (Knights)

HALFBACK

Johnathan Thurston (C) (Cowboys)

PROP

Marty Taupau (Sea Eagles)

HOOKER

Josh Hodgson (Raiders)

PROP

David Klemmer (Bulldogs)

SECOND ROW

Gavin Cooper (Cowboys)

SECOND ROW

Josh Papalii (Raiders)

LOCK

Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys)

COACH

Nathan Brown (Knights)