The first full round of the 2024 AFL Premiership Season gets underway this Thursday night as we see our usual Round 1 rivals facing off at the MCG where Carlton will host Richmond. The Blues are fresh off a remarkable win in the Opening Round and will look to continue on their path as one of the flag favourites, while Richmond will be looking to bounce back from a disastrous start to the season and get their first win.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Thursday night Main Event being worth $75,000 along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
* AFL $75,000+ Blues vs Tigers
* AFL $10,000+ Blues vs Tigers High Roller ($150 Entry)
* AFL $2,000+ Blues vs Tigers Fiver
* AFL $3,000+ Blues vs Tigers 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
Carlton ($1.39) vs Richmond ($2.94) - Odds thanks to PlayUp
Total Points: 163.5
Line: Carlton -16.5
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.
If you're looking for some help with your AFL betting, then check out our match preview on the link below where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
- Carlton vs Richmond Betting Preview
Weather
Melbourne - Partly cloudy, a shower or two. 22 degrees.
Perfect conditions for football this Thursday night. Nothing to consider weather wise for our fantasy teams.
Where to Attack?
Obviously we are still early in the season with both sides playing in Round 0, but looking back at last season you could target the Tigers with key forwards, which is right up the Blues alley. Last year the Tigers game up over 8 points per game above the league average to the position.
Game Script – Carlton forwards and midfielders
VALUE PLAYS
Jordan Boyd ($8,610) looks to be the obvious value play on this slate. He excelled in a fantasy friendly role across half back in the opening round game against Brisbane posting 74 fantasy points. The Blues appear comfortable with the ball in his hands and with Docherty now out there will be plenty of opportunities for other Blues players to get involved coming out of defence.
Lachie Forgarty ($9,580) looked at home in his role up pushing up the ground in the opening round and running the wings. He impressed with 9 tackles and 81 fantasy points. Value is hard to find on a single game slate and Fogarty has shown ability to put up slate breaking scores in the past and this week profiles as a significantly easier matchup than their first game.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Charlie Curnow ($12,010) was well held in the opening round against Brisbane but will move to a much easier matchup this week against the Tigers. As noted above Richmond were one of the best matchups for tall forwards in 2023 and that does not look to have changed at all to begin this season with Noah Balta moving forward and we saw Ben King take full advantage for the Suns kicking 5 goals against them. Curnow will be chomping at the bit to kick a bag Thursday at the G and I can see him being the slate breaker.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Toby Nankervis ($14,810) will come straight into the number one ruck role where he excelled last season averaging a career high 102 fantasy points. I absolutely love this matchup for him to kick of his season as well against the youngster Tom De Koning. Last year you could take advantage of De Koning when he didn’t have the more hardened Pittonet by his side.
Jayden Short ($14,730) looks to be settled back into his role across half back this season for the Tigers. In Round 0, he was one of the few players for Richmond that could hold his head up high posting 23 disposals and 103 fantasy points. With Carlton solid favourites in this matchup I love the strategy stacking up the Blues through the midfield and up forward while playing the Tigers backs.
Suggested Draftstars Team
Cheat Sheet
AFL Fantasy Data - Carlton vs Richmond Downloadable File (.xlsx)
