Round 1 of the 2026 AFL Premiership Season will continue Friday night with another huge daily fantasy contest on offer from Draftstars with over $60,000 in guaranteed in prize money in their main daily fantasy tournament.
For this matchup we see two old Victorian foes facing off in Essendon and Hawthorn at the home of football, the MCG. The Bombers will be once again looking to get a good start to their season as they kick off another quest to end their ongoing finals win draught in 2026, while the Hawks will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing loss in the Opening Round. We can expect the betting markets will have this game as a lopsided contest in the favour of Hawthorn so there will be plenty of game stacking opporunities for daily fantasy players.
Draftstars are offering a number of different contests to suit your style, some of these include:
AFL $60,000+ Bombers vs Hawks at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Bombers vs Hawks High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Bombers vs Hawks Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $2,000+ Bombers vs Hawks Micro (50c Entry) at Draftstars
Also this season the AFL Star is back for 2026 with a massive $1 million prize pool! Win your way into the Final by winning a Golden Ticket in a range of qualifiers running every weekend!
If you're new to the Daily Fantasy Sports scene and want to join in on the fun, simply join Draftstars via this link!
AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 1 – Essendon vs Hawthorn
AFL Fantasy Round 1 – Friday: Where to Attack?
As we head into Round 1 and with only a handful of teams taken the field so far, we will continue to be reliant on last seasons trends to guide us in our players early this season. There is a stand out team to attack on this slate and it is obviously Essendon who gave up above average points across every position over the last 10 games of 2025. The top area to attack was through the midfield where they gave up the third most points in the league during this period at over 4 points per game above the league average. Key forwards they are also vulnerable as they gave up the fifth highest score (also at over 4 points per game above league average).
Hawthorn on the other hand were one of the toughest teams in the league to score against. They conceded below average scores across all positions except for the ruck where they gave up the second highest scores in the league.
Game Script – Hawks midfielders and forwards, Essendon ruck
AFL Fantasy Round 1 – Friday: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Nick Watson ($9,760) started to see a few centre bounce rotations as the 2025 season went on and there have been plenty of murmurings of more midfield rotation time throughout the preseason. During the first week he attended 6 CBA's and pushed further up the ground during general play at times. This resulted in a 70+ point score in a big loss for the Hawks. Anything over this in what is expected to be a solid win for the Hawks in this matchup would be a great return at this price.
Zak Johnson ($8,730) has slotted in across half back through the preseason and as usual that role can be a bounty for fantasy scoring. This was proven during the Bombers preseason game against St Kilda where he racked up 86 fantasy points - this is almost a lock and load play at this price point.
Lachlan Blakiston ($9,760) will be the starting ruckman to begin the season for Essendon while they wait for Bryan to come back from injury. He has been flying through the preseason, including an 86 fantasy performance against St Kilda in their only official preseason game. As highlighted above, this is an elite matchup for rucks and any return around his preseason form would be a huge value play on this single game slate.
AFL Fantasy Round 1 – Friday: Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Darcy Parish ($12,930) looks to be back to his peak form that has seen him average over 100 fantasy points in past seasons. This level of output makes him an absolute steal at under $13k price point. While the matchup isn’t elite I still expect the Bombers to overpossess the football on the vast spaces of the MCG and expect Parish to be right in the thick of that.
AFL Fantasy Round 1 – Friday: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Archie Roberts ($13,690) has been one of the standout youngsters this summer for the Bombers. After a break out season last year playing across half back, he has been training in the midfield this summer and looks all but set to take his scoring to the next level. He led all Essendon scorers with 106 fantasy points in their preseason game against St Kilda and attended 16 centre bounces.
Jai Newcombe ($14,650) will take the lead as the Hawks number one midfielder again this season. As noted above, the Bombers conceded the third most points in the league over the last 10 games of the 2025 AFL season and therefore we want to lean to stacking up Hawks midfielders, especially with the premium options, which Hawthorn have few of.
Here is our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Friday Night
Weather Report for Friday 13th March
20 degrees and cloudy
AFL Betting Markets: Essendon vs Hawthorn
Odds: Essendon ($4.30) vs Hawthorn ($1.22)
Points: 186.5
Line: -28.5
Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Previews and Betting Tips for each match. Our experts break down each individual game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
