The AFL is scheduled to get underway on Thursday, 19th of March and we couldn’t be any more excited. As we do each and every year, we’ve prepared some of our best player futures markets for the upcoming AFL season! Today, we take a look at some of our favourite players to make the All-Austrlaian team this season!
AFL 2020 All Australian Betting Tips
All Australian Defenders
We’re keen on a lot of the All Australian markets this season and we’ll start with the defenders. Our first pick is a guy by the name of Harris Andrews (Brisbane Lions) who had an absolutely brilliant campaign for a Lions side that shocked us all with their huge run in 2019. Andrews has that rare combo of size, strength and speed that gives him the ability to shut down both tall and medium sized forwards and we believe he’s only going to get better. Secondly, we’re keen on Dylan Grimes (Richmond Tigers) who was arguably the best defender in both the 2019 regular season and the finals. Many so called ‘expert’s thought the Tigers would suffer down back when Alex Rance went down with an ACL, but Grimes did more than compensate for his absence and made his mark as a premier shut-down man in the AFL. We expect him to keep pace with last season’s brilliance with another AA selection in 2020.
All Australian Midfielders
We now look at the most competitive All Australia slot, which is the midfield. There are always your core guys in Dangerfield, Fyfe and Cripps who, barring injury will be there again this season. If you’re keen on riding a $1.30 swing for six months then kudos, but we aren’t about that business and are looking for the value plays. This year we have one we really like in Lachie Whitfield (GWS Giants). The lightly-framed number one pick from 2012 has gone from strength to strength since joining the system and looks primed to earn his first AA Guernsey. He’s averaged 26.8 and 27.7 disposals in his last two systems and now has the body to withstand the rigours of a gruelling season. We expect the Giants to be in or near the top four this season and if he can play 18+ games, then he will definitely be in the conversation. Another pick that we like that is huge value is Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane Lions). The dynamic wingman made the 40-man AA squad last season and was very unlucky not to feature in the final team after a superb season on the wing for the young Lions. As long as his team continues to be highly competitive and he continues along his trend, then McCluggage is a guy that is certainly capable of being in the AA squad come season’s end.
All Australian Forwards
The forward spot in the All Australian team is always an interesting one and for the most part is decided by the amount of snags the individual ends up with for the key posts, while the flanks are usually your goal-kicking midfielders. We’ve already mentioned in a previous post that we like Josh J. Kennedy (West Coast Eagles) to be a huge sniff of winning the Coleman Medal, so it’s only fitting that he features in our AA predictions as well. The Eagles spearhead is a 2x Coleman Medallist and has featured in the AA side on three occasions (2015-17). He has had a couple of lean seasons, but has had a good pre-season for the first time in a couple of years and is primed to have another fantastic campaign. Our value play for an AA spot is Christian Petracca (Melbourne Demons). The strong-built number two pick from the 2014 draft has taken a while to have a big impact at the top level, but he is absolutely primed to have a breakout year in 2020. Petracca has slimmed down in the off-season and is set for big stints in the midfield for the Demons this year. If his club can climb back up the ladder like most expect an he continues to hit the scoreboard and adds more possessions to his game, then he is a chance to be in the mix for an AA Guernsey.
Christian Pettracca
$8.00
All Australian Rucks
The final position we’ll look at in this post is the rucks where there have been two staples over the past couple of seasons in Magpies Brodie Grundy and new Demon skipper Max Gawn. Now, don’t throw hate at us here because we are well aware that the aforementioned duo are the best in the business; however, Rowan Marshall (St. Kilda) was arguably the third best ruckman in the competition last season and the 24-year-old is only going to get better. The one concern that we do have is that Paddy Ryder has joined the club and could play a little bit more ruck than we’d like; in saying that, if Marshall can go forward in kick 20-25 goals and put up big numbers in the contest, then he could be a darkhorse if Gawn or Grundy find some issues during the season.
