Let’s dive right into Round 18 of the 2024 AFL Premiership Season with a huge Friday night clash between two contending Victorian clubs at the MCG. Collingwood will host Geelong as they attempt to get themselves back into the top eight, while the Cats will be trying to solidify their spot in the top four.
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 Cats
- AFL $5,000+ Magpies vs Cats High Roller ($150 Entry)
- AFL $2,000+ Magpies vs Cats Fiver
- AFL $3,000+ Magpies 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
Collingwood ($2.10) vs Geelong ($1.72)
Points: 168.5
Line: Geelong -4.5
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Additionally, we have a full Collingwood 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
15 degrees and partly cloudy. Chance of rain in the morning, typical football weather in winter in Melbourne but shouldn’t impact fantasy scoring.
Where to Attack?
As we saw last week Collingwood’s defensive line has been leaking points this season at over 7 points above league average to general forwards across the last ten games. This paid off for us last week with Kyle Langford putting in a solid score and should be another area to attack this week in their matchup with Geelong.
Geelong have been the best matchup in the league for inside midfielders this year, giving up over 10 points per game above average over the last ten games. In addition, they have also been getting killed for forwards and rucks over the same period, but are very stingy to backs.
Game Script –Collingwood backs and inside midfielders Geelong forwards
VALUE PLAYS
Shaun Mannagh ($8,650) the middle-aged recruit has been an absolute sensation in the VFL all season and finally got another opportunity at senior level last week and he didn’t disappoint. Playing with a frenzied intensity he racked up a ridiculous 14 tackles enroute to 115 fantasy points. He has always been a solid fantasy scorer and is still priced well enough that if he can put forward anywhere near that sort of effort again, he will more than pay off his salary.
Lawson Humphries ($8,410) We will continue to roll with Humphries at this price point given his elite role across half back. He returned a solid 77 fantasy points last week and I love using him in back stacks as this is a positive matchup against the Magpies who have been giving up over 5 points above league average to designated kickers and 3 points above league average to general defenders.
Jye Clark ($6,930) Will always be a sub watch but he has topped 61 points in four of his last five games, which almost makes him a lock at this price in a single game matchup. He is attending regular centre bounces when he is on the ground at 40% in three of his last four games.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Jordan De Goey ($12,850)… Stack, stack, stack, the Magpies inside midfielders. As noted at the top Geelong is the best matchup in the league for inside midfielders and I fully expect De Goey to have a ceiling game of 120+, which would be a slate breaker at his price point.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Darcy Cameron ($13,660) I feel like everyone will still pile into youngster Sam De Koning in this matchup fresh off his 100-point game. But I like to swerve here and pay up for Cameron who will likely take the young new ruck to school. Cameron has a ceiling of up to 130 points and it is easy to forget that young De Koning is just 2 weeks removed from a 63-point game in the same role.
Max Holmes ($14,790)… Love paying up for Holmes in this matchup. He will play a combination of half back role, which allows us to super stack the Geelong backs if we like given he has dual position, as well as through the midfield. He has been one of the most consistent players this season with 7 of his last 9 games going over 100 points and last week being the first game since the 6th of April going under 91.
Suggested Draftstars Team
Cheat Sheet
