The first big Saturday slate of the 2026 AFL season will see four matches and all of them are high quality contests between finals contenders. It should be a cracking day of footy.
We kick things off at Marvel Stadium where there’s no love lost between the Bulldogs and the Giants. The Dockers have the tough trip to the Cattery to take on Geelong before two games have an inexplicable clash in the evening. The Swans and Lions will be a classic while at the same time, the Crows will be looking to upset the Pies at the MCG.
Plenty of ways to tackle this slate, so let’s get stuck into it!
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AFL $60,000+ Saturday at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Saturday High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Saturday Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $2,000+ Saturday 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!
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AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 1 Saturday
AFL Fantasy Round 1 Saturday: Where to Attack?
The Bulldogs and Giants are typically not the easiest teams to score against for fantasy points, with both in the top 3 in the league for least points conceded to inside mids in the second half of last season. The only area that you may be able to exploit is key forwards against the Bulldogs who still struggle for talls in defence.
The Cats were poor last week and gave up plenty of points in the midfield, and they are typically loose to opposition wings and defenders. The ruck is also a position to watch, with a huge 52 hitouts conceded to Jarrod Witts last week. You can look to general forwards and general defenders against Fremantle as their biggest areas to concede points.
Adelaide’s strong backline are extremely tough for opposition key forwards, while they don’t give up much in the defensive half either. The one area they look vulnerable is in the ruck while they internally battle on who will be their first choice ruckman. Against the Pies, look to target the opposition’s designated kicker where they were among the league’s leakiest in the second half of the season.
Sydney and Brisbane will be tough to exploit with both teams strong across the board.
Game script: Giants key forwards, Dockers outside defenders and designated kickers, Magpies ruck, Crows designated kickers
AFL Fantasy Round 1 Saturday: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Jai Serong ($7,430) was impressive on his debut for the Swans last week. Covered the ground nicely and picked up 19 disposals and 5 tackles for a handy 72 points. That will be enough to hit value again here.
Jesse Hogan ($8,980) is in play today as he draws a very favourable matchup against the Dogs who struggle to contain their opponent’s key forwards. We know that if Hogan is fit, he is capable of destroying the opposition and posting massive scores that can break a fantasy slate. Certainly worth a gamble at the cheap price. You can also pivot to Jake Stringer ($8,960) at the same price point. He was excellent last week with 5 goals and 97 fantasy points. He looks fit and usually plays well when he can ride a wave of high confidence.
AFL Fantasy Round 1 Saturday: Our Mid-Priced Fantasy Picks
Murphy Reid ($10,090) has been hyped up in this pre-season as being ready to take the next step in his game. The Rising Star winner of last year is rumoured to be looking for more midfield minutes which can only help his fantasy scoring. Has a 30 disposal game in the preseason for 100 fantasy points that included 28% CBAs. If he’s as good as they seem to think he is then his price is cheap enough to play today.
Tanner Bruhn ($12,900) is back this season for the Cats and has started well in a favourable fantasy role off half-back. He was one of the few positives from the Cats last week as he provided excellent run and delivery in the back half to amass 31 disposals and 98 fantasy points. Happy to stick with him here.
AFL Fantasy Round 1 Saturday: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Darcy Cameron ($15,350) draws a favourable matchup against the Crows who are running with young Lachlan McAndrew ($9,510) as their first-choice ruckman. It should be an interesting clash, but you’d have to favour the experience of Cameron to look to dominate here. Cameron was good last week with a 112 against the Saints, and had a 102 average last year including a 125 against the Crows (featuring Reilly O’Brien) towards the end of season.
Errol Gulden ($15,990) was superb last week for a 126 against the Blues and will be looking to run wild again this week. A tougher match up against the Lions here, but Ed Richards did post massive numbers last week against the Lions who is a very similar player. After a big pre-season, Gulden could be in for a massive year.
Here is our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Saturday
Weather Report for Saturday 14th March
Melbourne - Partly sunny, 21 degrees.
Geelong - Cloudy, 20 degrees.
Sydney - Partly sunny, 22 degrees.
AFL Betting Markets: Saturday
Odds provided with thanks to NextBet!
Western Bulldogs ($1.36) vs GWS Giants ($3.17)
Line: Western Bulldogs -20.5
Points: 195.5
Geelong ($1.49) vs Fremantle ($2.65)
Line: Geelong -13.5
Points: 178.5
Sydney ($1.36) vs Brisbane ($3.16)
Line: Sydney -19.5
Points: 188.5
Collingwood ($1.79) vs Adelaide ($2.07)
Line: Collingwood -3.5
Points: 173.5
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!
