AFL Round 18s feature matchup this Friday night is a massive game that will bring big finals implications. We have the 7th placed Gold Coast Suns hosting the top team in the league, Collingwood, at People First Stadium. Gold Coast are in a four way tie on wins currently and about to kick off one of the toughest three game stretches you can face this season. Meanwhile, Collingwood are well clear on the top of the ladder and will continue to fine tune themselves for finals.
As always this is all about the daily fantasy and this massive Friday night game draws another massive $50,000 prize pool at Draftstars in their main contest. In addition, there are a variety of alternate contests:
AFL $50,000+ Suns vs Magpies
AFL $5,000+ Suns vs Magpies High Roller ($150 Entry)
AFL $3,000+ Suns vs Magpies Mini ($2 Entry)
AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 18 Gold Coast vs Collingwood
AFL Fantasy Round 18 Gold Coast vs Collingwood: Where to Attack?
Gold Coast's midfield has been giving up an enormous amount of fantasy points over the last 10 games. Conceding over 10 points per game above league average - they have given up the most points in the league to this position and open up an obvious opportunity here to stack up the Magpies midfielders.
This exposure through the midfield has also led to opponents key forwards getting hold of the Suns. Over the past 10 games they have given up over 4 points per game above league average to key forwards, which is the second most in the league over this period of time.
Collingwood on the otherhand, have been restricting points across the majority of the positions as you would expect from the top team. The one avenue you can attack them through is via attacking half backs and wings as they have been shutting off the corridor and forcing opposition to possess the ball wide.
Game Script – Collingwood inside midfielders and key forwards, Gold Coast half backs
AFL Fantasy Round 18 Gold Coast vs Collingwood: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Roan Steele ($7,040) came into the team last week and was able to find pleny of the football playing across the wing and pushing up the ground. He returned 69 fantasy points, which was more than a return in value at the minimum price last week and while his price has risen slightly, it is still a great value play in a great matchup against Gold Coast this week.
Daniel McStay ($9,090) should be well placed to take advantage of the fact that Gold Coast are giving up the second most points in the league over the last 10 games to key forwards. He posted 74 fantasy points last week against Carlton, which is a solid floor at this price point in a single game slate and we have seen upside of 100+ this season. The extra bonus for McStay here is he can be rostered as a ruck. Going with a value ruck option stands out on this slate given Darcy Cameron and Jarrod Witts are two of the toughest rucks to score against in the entire league.
AFL Fantasy Round 18 Gold Coast vs Collingwood: Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Jamie Elliot ($10,940) should also take advantage of the fact that Gold Coast have been giving up points to key forwards. A small who plays tall he can take advantage of all different types of matchups and is coming off a 97 point game last week against Carlton.
AFL Fantasy Round 18 Gold Coast vs Collingwood: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Nick Daicos ($16,650) is my lock and load premium play on this slate. The only thing that generally holds his fantasy scoring back is a hard tag and typically Gold Coast do not take that route. As we noted at the top, Gold Coast have been giving up the most points in the league to inside midfielders, so looking to stack up the Magpies through this part of the ground will be a popular strategy and I will start and end with Nick Dacos in those stacks. He has posted back to back 130+ point games.
John Noble ($13,930) is the key user for the Suns coming out of half back and as we noted at the top, the one area that you can target Collingwood for fantasy scoring is through attacking half backers and wingman. Look to stack Noble up with other Gold Coast half backs or their wings to take advantage of this matchup. Noble had a similar elite matchup last week against Essendon and we saw how that resulted in a 111 point fantasy game.
Heres our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for Friday night
Weather Report for Friday 11th July
20 degrees and sunny – perfect winter football conditions.
AFL Betting Markets Round 18 Friday
Odds: Gold Coast ($2.08) vs Collingwood ($1.78)
Points: 172.5
Line: Collingwood -3.5
Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Preview and Betting Tips for each match. Our experts break down each individual game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
