Three exciting matches this Sunday in the AFL with all very watchable contests, which is an improvement on the usual Sunday offerings. First up, it’s Collingwood vs Richmond. Not the typical 1pm Sunday matchup, but there should be a good crowd turn out to the MCG for what will be a desperate contest. Both sides are struggling at the moment and will be very keen to grab a victory. The Swans and the resurgent Bulldogs is a finals-like clash with the Dogs out to prove they are a genuine contender this season. The final match of Round 20 will see the Crows host the Hawks - another close clash with the Hawks needing to win if they are to stay in the hunt for an unlikely finals berth.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Sunday main contest worth $50,000 along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
- AFL $50,000+ Sunday
- AFL $5,000+ Sunday High Roller ($150 Entry)
- AFL $2,000+ Sunday 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 have seen the targets slashed as Draftstars looks to give away the Jackpot which is now heading close to $20,000. For just $1 you can enter, and if your team can hit the 950-point target then you'll share in the top prize!
Betting Markets
Collingwood ($1.27) vs Richmond ($3.78)
Line: Collingwood -23.5
Points: 170.5
Sydney ($1.50) vs Western Bulldogs ($2.60)
Line: Sydney -12.5
Points: 177.5
Adelaide ($2.04) vs Hawthorn ($1.81)
Line: Hawthorn -2.5
Points: 164.5
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 previews for every match in Round 20 where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
Weather
Melbourne - Scattered showers - 12 degrees.
Sydney - Cloudy, 14 degrees.
Adelaide - Partly cloudy, 13 degrees.
Some showers around in Melbourne on Sunday might make things slippery at the MCG for the Pies and Tigers, but clear weather around the rest of the country.
Where to Attack?
Collingwood and Richmond are two of the leakiest teams in the league at the moment, but they come up against each other here, so it will be interesting to see what effect that has on scoring, especially if there's a little rain around.
Richmond have given up points all over the ground this season, but in particular, the opposition's wings and defenders have feasted. The Pies haven’t been much better in recent weeks, giving up huge numbers to the opposition forwards, but it remains to be seen if Richmond have any quality forwards that can take advantage of this match up.
There’s not a lot of other areas to exploit on this slate. The Hawks have been particularly good in recent weeks and remain tough to score against for opposition mids and forwards.
Meanwhile Sydney’s Brodie Grundy remains one of the toughest rucks to score against in the league, so his clash with Tim English will be an interesting one.
Game script: Collingwood mids and defenders, Richmond forwards
VALUE PLAYS
Ned Long ($6,000) is one of a handful of viable $6k plays on this slate. It will depend on who gets the dreaded sub vest. Long looks safe enough. He hasn’t set the world on fire yet with a 38.7 average, but he’s been given solid time in the Pies midfield recently which gives him good opportunity to score. He had 56% CBAs two weeks ago, but that was wound back to just 6% last week. Either way, at minimum price against one of the worst midfields in the league, and a decent floor of tackles, Long doesn’t have to find a whole heap of the ball to hit value for us.
Samson Ryan ($7,500) gets the keys as the number one ruckman for the Tigers this week with Toby Nankervis ruled out. Ryan has yet to really show his full potential, but he may be in play due to the ruck position looking really tricky on this slate. If you want to pay down and spend elsewhere, then anytime you can get the lead ruck at a budget price, it’s worth considering.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Zac Taylor ($9,000) looks a great young player on the rise for the Crows. In the last two weeks, he’s scored 78 and 86 with large midfield minutes which is a great return at this price. His role should be there still with Jordan Dawson out with concussion, and he seems to have a really good base of tackles with 14 in the past two weeks.
Shai Bolton ($10,830) is just too cheap to ignore on this slate. He is not the most consistent player, but he has the potential for a juicy ceiling if he can win the ball and/or hit the scoreboard, which can win you a contest. Collingwood have given up points to opposition forwards recently, so hopefully he can hit that 100+ mark for us.
Ben Keays ($12,250) has been in irresistible form in recent weeks. He’s not one of my favourites (as I don’t think it’s that hard to kick goals running into an empty goal square), but I have to admit, he’s been better than that recently. He’s gone 99, 79, 110 and 129 in the last four weeks from half-forward which is excellent form, and although those numbers are inflated by the bags of goals he’s kicked, there’s a chance he has an increased role in the midfield this week with Dawson out as we mentioned. Keays should scrap his way to a solid possession count and if he hits the scoreboard, then it’s a bonus.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Nick Daicos ($16,270) is due! He has a 102.4 average this season which is good, but it’s been a while since we saw those 120+ scores from earlier in the season. This match could be his time. He gets an amazing matchup against the Tigers, and the Pies desperately need a big win to stay in the hunt for finals. If Daicos is as good as his fans tell us he is, then this is the match for him to go massive!
Suggested Draftstars Team
AFL Fantasy Cheat Sheet
