Welcome to our first legit Super Saturday Slate for the 2024 AFL Premiership Season. The official “Round One” is well underway and we will get a massive four games to meet our daily fantasy needs this Saturday.
The slate will kick off with a juicy fantasy scoring matchup at the MCG with Essendon and Hawthorn. Then the game stackers will be licking their chops for the twilight match as GWS host North Melbourne at ENGIE Stadium. The night caps off with an exciting contest between Gold Coast and Adelaide and Geelong will host St Kilda down at GMHBA Stadium.
Draftstars have us covered with a massive $75,000 main contest for this four-game slate, to go along with the usual array of supplementary games from which you can pick your poison:
- AFL $75,000+ Saturday
- AFL $10,000+ Saturday High Roller ($150 Entry)
- AFL $2,000+ Saturday Fiver
- AFL $3,000+ Saturday 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
Essendon ($1.76) vs Hawthorn ($2.05) Odds thanks to PlayUp
Points: 170.5
Line: Essendon -3.5
GWS Giants ($1.08) vs North Melbourne ($8.50) Odds thanks to PlayUp
Points: 177.5
Line: GWS -48.5
Geelong ($1.49) vs St Kilda ($2.57) Odds thanks to PlayUp
Points: 159.5
Line: GEE -11.5
Gold Coast ($1.62) vs Adelaide ($2.26) Odds thanks to PlayUp
Points: 168.5
Line: GCS -7.5
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 Betting Preview for all four games where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
- Essendon vs Hawthorn Betting Preview
- GWS vs North Melbourne Betting Preview
- Geelong vs St Kilda Betting Preview
- Gold Coast vs Adelaide Betting Preview
Weather
Melbourne
29 degrees, Sunny
Sydney
25 degrees, Shower or two
Gold Coast
28 degrees, Shower or two
Geelong
29 degrees, Sunny
A heat wave across the east side of the country this Saturday with little to no wind or rain conditions to concern yourself with when selecting your fantasy sides.
Where to Attack
Attacking North Melbourne will be the go-to strategy on this slate with GWS over 48-point favourites. North were one of the worst teams in the league in 2023 and there is no expectation for that to improve significantly this year. Over their last 10 games last season they gave up over 8 points above league average to forwards and 12 points per game above league average to inside midfielders.
Game Script – GWS midfielders and forwards, North Melbourne backs
VALUE PLAYS
Cam Mackenzie ($8,360) has been lights out all preseason and showed the ability to score last season as a rookie with two 90+ fantasy point games. Seeing a greater level of midfield time this year he should be able to high that level of scoring on a more regular basis and I love this game at the MCG with Essendon as a high scoring fantasy match.
Jhye Clark ($7,950) should get every opportunity in the midfield this season as the Cats really have a lack of options to run through there. A high draft pick in 2023 he has been seeing double figure centre bounce attendances through the preseason and returned 68 fantasy points in just 69% game time from their last preseason match.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Tristan Xerri ($10,490) has finally taken over the sole ruck position for North Melbourne with Goldstein no longer on the team. Last year his season was interrupted by injury but when he returned we saw a run of 110, 74, 85 and 86 fantasy points games from round 17 to 20. I expect that to go up a level this year with a return in the 9x range at this price point.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Josh Kelly ($15,280) / Tom Green ($16,970)
As noted above North Melbourne have been killed by inside midfielders in recent years. They are yet to really develop that part of the game so I expect a similar trend in 2024 and stacking up the GWS midfield in this matchup is an obvious strategy. Green will lead the way for the Giants in 2024 and attended 88% of their centre bounces in Round 0. The Giants ran a very tight midfield rotation with Josh Kelly also attending 73% and looking back to his best with a 32 possession 117 fantasy point game.
FADE
Zach Merrett ($16,770) / Nic Martin ($14,540)
Be wary of these two players in the matchup with the Hawks as Finn Maginness is in and Sam Mitchell has already alluded to the fact that he will be targeting the Bombers most dangerous players, specifically naming Nic Martin who will be playing a new role across half back.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
Cheat Sheet
