After an epic Showdown on Thursday night, Round 8 continues to deliver as traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood will collide in front of a packed MCG on Friday night. Footy doesn’t get much better than this!
Collingwood will be without prime ball winners Jordan De Goey and Tom Mitchell through injury, so that may open opportunities for others which is always interesting for AFL Fantasy. The Pies are coming off a breathtaking ANZAC Day draw against Essendon, and will need to work their game to the next level to ensure they remain a contender in season 2024.
Meanwhile the Blues look pretty settled and will want to respond to this next challenge, if they are to be considered as the real deal, after a narrow loss to the Cats last week. These are the matches that they now expect to be winning.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Friday night main evening bumped up to $70,000 for this one along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
- AFL $70,000+ Blues vs Magpies
- AFL $5,000+ Blues vs Magpies High Roller
- AFL $5,000+ Blues vs Magpies Mini
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
Carlton ($1.60) vs Collingwood ($2.30)
Line: Carlton -7.5
Points: 176.5
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 Carlton vs Collingwood betting preview where we provide our best bet for the match as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
Weather
Melbourne - partly cloudy, 17 degrees.
No issues with the Autumn weather in Melbourne this week. It will be cool in the evening but should be perfect conditions for footy!
Where to Attack?
In a game where there isn’t a lot between the two teams, we’ll have to look for small edges to gain a result. Collingwood have conceded above average points to the opposition’s designated kicker, so you could look towards Carlton defenders as an option.
The battle in the middle of the ground will also be an interesting one with Collingwood conceding a little above average to inside mids, while it’s an area of strength for Carlton. Collingwood are also undermanned in that area of the ground this week, while Carlton are at full strength.
Game script: Carlton defenders and inside mids
VALUE PLAYS
Lachlan Sullivan ($6,000) has been brought into the Collingwood side to offer us some budget relief for our Draftstars lineups. I'm somewhat shocked that Finn Macrae still can't get a game, but I guess that is good news for Sullivan who should get a good run at it if he can avoid the dreaded sub vest.
Sullivan was taken by Collingwood as a rookie in the pre-season supplemental period as a mature 26-year old recruit who has proven himself for many seasons at VFL level. He is a prolific ball-winning midfielder who averages over 25 disposals this season, so if he’s thrown in the deep end on debut then he becomes a no-brainer for our Draftstars lineups.
Alex Cincotta ($6,000) is another viable value play at a minimum price. Started off his career well last season, and looked a useful playmaker from the Blues backline, but his form dropped away late to end with a 48.1 average for the season. Cincotta hasn't been able to get an opportunity so far this season but has been favoured ahead of Brodie Kemp here. It's a favourable matchup and should get opportunity to link up so might be worth a punt.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Jack Crisp ($9,910) might be a nice point-of-difference play in this one. When players are omitted you want to look at who might have a positive change of role, and Crisp is one who could potentially be thrust into the middle to replace the injured De Goey and Mitchell in the guts. In his prime, Crisp was a heavy fantasy scorer, with a 101.8 season average in 2021, and even a solid 82.9 average last season. He's well down on that this season at 65.9 in a mixed role, but if he can see more CBAs here, then maybe there's a chance for an upswing.
Nic Newman ($12,220) looks a good price here. He has a favourable match up as Collingwood do concede points to defenders, and Newman should be a key link up player in the backline while McGovern and Saad are both out injured, and Kemp has been dropped. While his season average of 83.7 is down on the previous season, we know he has a solid floor and a massive ceiling.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Nick Daicos ($15,360) needs to have a big game this week if the Pies are to win. With no Mitchell or De Goey, NDaicos will be carrying the midfield on Friday night. We know he’s capable of some huge scores but he’s only touched 120+ on one occasion this season for a 97.7 season average. You’ll want 120+ again here if you play him, but just watch out for a potential Hewett tag.
Patrick Cripps ($15,680) looks to be back to his Brownlow winning best this season with 117 and 126 in his last two matches, and a season average of 101.3. While Cripps has always been a little handball happy, he’s managed to kick the ball a little more over the past two weeks, and he also hit the scoreboard for a couple of majors last week. With Cerra coming in, there might be reduced minutes in the middle for Kennedy and Hewett, but Cripps looks a rock-solid play.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
Cheat Sheet
