Welcome to Round 10 of the 2024 AFL Premiership Season and we get things underway up in Darwin this Thursday night where Gold Coast host Geelong at TIO Stadium. The Cats have lost top spot and are now sitting second behind the Swans, while Gold Coast are on the cusp of the top eight and will be doing everything in their power to get a win and vault themselves back into finals contention.
Draftstars continue to offer massive prize pools with the Thursday night main being worth $60,000 along with their usual variety of alternate contests:
- AFL $60,000+ Suns vs Cats
- AFL $5,000+ Suns vs Cats High Roller ($150 Entry)
- AFL $2,000+ Suns vs Cats Fiver
- AFL $3,000+ Suns 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
Gold Coast ($2.00) vs Geelong ($1.80)
Points: 161.5
Line: Geelong -2.5
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 Gold Coast vs Geelong Betting Preview for the game where we provide our best bet for the game as well as a great value Same Game Multi!
Weather
34 degrees and mostly sunny. Hot and slippery. Let’s play some fantasy.
Where to Attack?
Despite their very successful season, given the lineups that the Cats are putting out there it is probably no surprise to know their main weakness has been their midfield in 2024. They are giving up the most points in the league to inside midfielders at almost 9 points above the league average. To make this pay even juicier the Suns have a set of clear-cut premium midfielders that will make for obvious plays in this single game slate.
A much more surprising play is that the Cats have also been getting shredded by key forwards. They have given up the second most points to the position this season at just over 7 points per game above league average.
On the flip side the Suns have been a tough team to score against from a fantasy perspective, conceding below average amounts across all positions bar the designated kicker this year.
Game Script – Gold Coast inside midfielders and key forwards, Geelong backs
VALUE PLAYS
Ned Moyle ($7,970) will take over the sole starting ruck duties for the second time this season in this matchup as Witts gets the week off. Earlier this season Moyle returned a solid 81 point fantasy game in this same role against the Western Bulldogs and he will get another elite matchup this game with the Cats playing the inexperienced Toby Conway.
Ben King ($8,150) is the number one key forward target for the Suns and I have to go with the stats on this play in a single game slate. As noted above the Cats have been getting destroyed by key forwards and while King has really only shown a ceiling of 79 this season, that would still be an elite return on this single game slate.
Alex Davies ($9,360) has not historically been a big fantasy scorer at the top level, however last week he was let loose in the midfield taking up half of Touk Miller’s share of the centre bounces by attending 43%. This is an elite matchup for him and coming off a 84 point game in this role last week, it's going to be hard pressed to not consider him at this price point.
MID PRICED PLAYS
Tom Atkins ($10,870) has moved back into the midfield in recent weeks as Geelong inside mids have been depleted by injury and form. In each of the last two games Atkins has attended over 50% of the Cats centre bounces and this has resulted in back-to-back fantasy scores of 101 and 77. This is both great upside at this price point and a solid floor for a single game slate if the scores in the 70 point range.
Ladbrokes are also offering $2.10 for Tom Atkins to rack up 80+ fantasy points, which looks like great value in this matchup.
PREMIUM PLAYS
Matt Rowell ($14,680) is the purest of inside midfielders that you will find in the league and this should be the best matchup he will draw all year assuming he doesn’t cop a direct tag. He has shown upside of 120 points this year and he did that without taking any marks, just all contested possessions and tackles. I expect the ground and conditions in Darwin to suit Rowell if things are slippery and damp due to the dew.
Ladbrokes are offering $4.00 for Matt Rowell to score 120+ fantasy points or $6.00 to be the games highest fantasy scorer, both of which I like in this matchup.
Max Holmes ($14,250) has been in ripping for this season and is coming off two straight 100+ scores (with only two scores under 90 all year). With all of the Cats outs this week I expect him to receive plenty of opportunity coming out of half back where they will want to get the ball in his hands. As we noted above the designated kicker is the one role where the Suns have conceded fantasy points this year.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup
Cheat Sheet
