Welcome to Round 17 of the 2024 AFL Premiership Season and we get underway with an old-fashioned Friday night blockbuster between two Victorian powerhouses at the MCG. Collingwood and Essendon will clash with huge ramifications for the season. The Bombers are currently clinging to a top four spot while Collinwood are just two premiership points behind them in sixth. Four quarters of football could not separate these two teams when they met on Anzac day, so the winner of this game will take the seasons matchup and be set up to take a top four spot entering the finals.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Friday night main being worth $50,000 along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
- AFL $50,000+ Magpies vs Bombers
- AFL $5,000+ Magpies vs Bombers High Roller ($150 Entry)
- AFL $2,000+ Magpies vs Bombers Fiver
- AFL $3,000+ Magpies vs Bombers 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
Collingwood ($1.56) vs Essendon ($2.39)
Points: 167.5
Line: Collingwood -9.5
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 a strong range of AFL betting markets and offers, including Same Game Multis.
Additionally, we have a full Collingwood vs Essendon Betting Preview for the game where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
Weather
12 degrees and partly cloudy. No forecast rain, typical football weather in winter in Melbourne.
Where to Attack?
Collingwood’s forward line has been leaking points this season at over 5 points above league average to general forwards across the last ten games and over 2 points above league average to key forwards across the same period. Now they are favourites in this matchup against the Bombers, which indicates they are likely to win and therefore might negate this recent trend.
The Bombers have been very difficult to score fantasy points against all season, but they have conceded over 3 points above the league average to general defenders. This would create for a typical singe game stack where you stack the bombers forwards and Magpies backs.
Game Script – Essendon forwards and midfielders and Collingwood backs
VALUE PLAYS
Sam Draper ($7,910) will return to the sole ruck role again this week with Todd Goldstein being managed. Draper posted a massive 94 point game two weeks ago as the sole ruckman and although this was against inferior competition (West Coast), he still has a lot of upside at this price point in a role very conducive to fantasy scoring.
Isaac Quaynor ($7,940) has been getting more involved in the play in recent weeks posting two scores of 70+ from his last three games. He also nicely fits the narrative outlined above with the Bombers giving up points to general defenders and will make a nice cost saving if you are looking to stack up Magpies backs in this matchup.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Jeremy Howe ($9,880) is another well priced option along the similar lines of Isaac Quaynor. He fits the narrative and has posted scores of 75+ in each of his last five games (not counting the injury interrupted 14 point game). He is available for dual position rostering, which means you can stack him up with another Magpie back but still play one of the Dons premium backs if that suits your build.
If you are looking for another option around this price point, Dylan Shiel ($9,440) is making his return to the senior lineup and is expected to start the game rather than be the sub this week. He has been firing in the VFL and as a midfielder he is far too cheap at this price point.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Zach Merrett ($15,920) lives for these big games at the MCG. He has been one of the more consistent performers all season and if he doesn’t receive a tag, you can almost lock him in for over 100 points. Against Collingwood on ANZAC day he was the best on ground and racked up a massive 125 fantasy points, I expect a similar performance this Friday night.
Nick Daicos ($16,020) in a similar vein to Merrett you can always rely on Daicos to step up in the big games. He will likely get a bit of attention in this matchup by Durham at the very least but I still think he is a lock for 100+ fantasy points. Daicos has been dominant over the last 8 games with six scores of 110+ and he notched up 98 points against Essendon on Anzac day in what would have been considered a very below average performance. Expect a ceiling level output this Friday.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
Cheat Sheet
