Welcome to Round 15 of the 2024 AFL Premiership Season once again kicking off on the traditional Friday night as we finish our last bye round of the year finally. This week we get a massive Friday night game in the context of the season with Carlton hosting Geelong at the MCG. The Blues have roared all the way up to second place on the ladder but only lead the sixth place Cats by one win, making this game a huge swing matchup for the top eight.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Friday night main being worth $60,000 along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
- AFL $60,000+ Blues vs Cats
- AFL $5,000+ Blues vs Cats High Roller ($150 Entry)
- AFL $2,000+ Blues vs Cats Fiver
- AFL $3,000+ Blues vs Cats Mini ($2 Entry)
The AFL Star contest is back for 2024 and Draftstars are offering the biggest prize pool in Australian DFS history with a $1 million guaranteed final with $250,000 top prize! There are qualifiers and satellites running for every AFL match, while there will also be a sprinkling of qualifiers across other sports such as NRL and NBA.
Meanwhile the 1000 AFL Target contests are set to return to Draftstars for the first time since 2018. Enter the contest and hit the 1000-point barrier with your team to scoop the jackpot!
Betting Markets
Carlton ($1.54) vs Geelong ($2.43)
Points: 171.5
Line: Carlton -10.5
If you’re looking to bet on the AFL this season, then you can bet with PlayUp by using the same account that you have at Draftstars. PlayUp are Australian owned and offer an strong range of AFL betting markets and offers, including Same Game Multis.
Additionally, we have a full Carlton vs Geelong Betting Preview for the game where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
Weather
13 degrees with a shower or two. Rain is expected through the morning and afternoon and very limited so should not impact the game.
Where to Attack?
This game is setup perfectly for one of the most obvious plays in the league. Geelong have given up the most fantasy points in the league to inside midfielders this season at over 10 points per game above league average. On the other side of the matchup we have arguably the top contested midfield brigade in the league. Stack up the Carlton midfielders here.
In addition, the Blues give up lowest amount of fantasy points in the league to defence positions. Carlton love to control the uncontested possession game and this generally results in their opponents being starved of fantasy points.
Game Script – Carlton backs and inside midfielders
TAG WATCH
Alex Cincotta has been absolutely squashing people and it is expected that he will go to a Geelong back, either Tom Stewart or Max Holmes, so be wary when rostering players. Keep an eye on the commentary closer to the game as often coaches will indicate where he is going.
VALUE PLAYS
Mark Blicavs ($9,330) is returning to the sole ruck role this week with both Rhys Stanley and Toby Conway out of the side. This pushes his upside to the 100+ point mark and makes him for a near lock at this price point. It’s an elite matchup for rucks with the Blues giving up over 5 points per game above the league average to the position. He’s dual position so it makes it easy to roster him with the Blues ruck who is also in play on this slate and we will cover below.
Lachlan Cowan ($7,330) is a nice value back to build your Blues back stacks around. He was always a fantasy pig coming through the junior ranks and is starting to find a little more of the football now that he’s settled into his position with a 71 point game last time out and a 91 point game three back. As noted above in the top the Blues rarely concede points to defenders, which makes stacking the Carlton backs the obvious play in this single game slate.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Elijah Hollands ($10,500) is slowly being integrated into the Blues inside midfield attending over 50% of their centre bounces over the last three games. This has led to a relatively consistent output of 79, 75 and 96 fantasy points through this stretch. We noted above that this is the best matchup in the league for an inside midfielder, but at a price point of $10k on a single game slate it also offers a very solid floor score with potential upside.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Patrick Cripps ($15,190)… here we have the boss inside midfielder against the best matchup in the league for inside midfielders. Sign me straight up. Cripps has not been in the best fantasy scoring form in recent weeks not posting a ton from his last four games, but three of those have still seen 90+ point games. I think we get a ceiling game from him in the 120+ point range in this matchup in a huge game on a Friday night.
Tom De Koning ($13,100)… yes this is the game to roster both rucks and the position flexibility will let us do it. Both players are benefiting from a soft matchup as Geelong also give up over 5 points above league average to the position. De Koning will have a huge advantage over Blicavs in the ruck contests and should dominate there, while Blicavs should rack up points around the ground in this role. The single game ruck stack seems an obvious play here.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
Cheat Sheet
