The Crows and the Cats provide an intriguing Friday night match up this week as both fight for a spot in the AFL top eight this season.
The Cats did enough to get over the line last week against the Saints but they have plenty of improvement ahead, while the Crows will be looking for their first win of the season after a narrow loss in the wet against the Suns.
The Crows will be pleased to be on their home deck as the local crowd will be willing them over the line.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Friday night main offering $60,000 prize pool along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
AFL $60,000+ Crows vs Cats
AFL $5,000+ Crows vs Cats High Roller ($150 Entry)
AFL $2,000+ Crows vs Cats Fiver
AFL $3,000+ Crows 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
Adelaide ($1.49) vs Geelong ($2.64) - Odds thanks to PlayUp
Line: Adelaide -12.5
Points: 172.5
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 Adelaide vs Geelong Betting Preview for the match where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
Weather
Adelaide - 23 degrees, sunny.
Perfect Autumn weather for Friday night footy!
Where to Attack?
Adelaide were one of the stingiest teams to concede AFL fantasy points last season while Geelong were pretty close to average in the league. One area that the Cats did leak points was to opposition forwards so look to Adelaide’s young gun forwards to cash in.
Game script: Adelaide forwards
VALUE PLAYS
Jhye Clark ($6,950) - Figuring out who will be the sub for the Cats, and in turn, who might get subbed out of the game will be important when considering value options in this contest, as there’s not a lot to pick from. Jhye Clark appears the best choice as he’s a talented, high draft pick who will get a favourable role in the midfield. Hopefully he can run out the game and get a full allocation of minutes.
Luke Pedlar ($8,590) - Didn’t have a great game last week but I have a lot of time for Luke Pedlar. He’s a tough and talented player who will one day become a really valuable midfielder. At the moment, he’s spending a lot of time forward as he’s down the pecking order of rotations, but he’s much better than his price and offers some salary relief compared to some others.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Jake Soligo ($10,130) - Came on as the sub last week and had immediate impact so I’d be surprised if he wasn’t in the starting lineup tonight. Produced three 90+ scores in his last four matches last season, and now 40 games into his career, he’s ready to go to the next level.
Josh Rachele ($10,100) - This looks a great match up for Josh Rachele. He’s a star on the rise and getting good rotation through the middle to make an impact, while also hitting the scoreboard. Had three tons and a couple of 90+ scores last season, so that’s what we’re looking for here.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Max Holmes ($13,810) - Max Holmes is breaking through to become an elite fantasy player in 2024. Has a fantastic role floating across half-back and through the middle, and will often spread and create to get easy +3’s. Jump on board before his price hits its peak.
Matt Crouch ($14,860) - While Laird and Dawson are obvious premium picks, Matt Crouch has started the season well with a 113 last week and is worth consideration. He looks fit and while he does tend to handball more than kick, his tackling numbers are up which is what we need for a ton-plus score.
FADE
Oliver Dempsey ($8,750) - Upswung hard last week with a 92 and 3 goals. As a rookie, it’s highly unlikely he’s going to match that effort and there’s a whole range of similar guys at the same price point (Hawkins, Close, Stengle, Henry) who I prefer if you want to dabble in Geelong forwards. Hopefully the crowd falls into the recency bias.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
Cheat Sheet
AFL Projections Data - Adel vs Geel - Downloadable File (.xlsx)