Round 2 in the AFL continues on Friday night with another huge daily fantasy contest on offer from Draftstars with over $60,000 in guaranteed prize money in their main daily fantasy tournament!
For this matchup we over to South Australia where two of the form sides in the league early in the season will face off with Adelaide hosting the Western Bulldogs. The Crows, coming off the minor premiership in 2025, started their year well with a convincing win over Collingwood last week and now they will have to back it up against the Western Bulldogs who have beaten Brisbane and GWS through their first two games. This should be an exciting contest for both football fans and the daily fantasy players, so let's dive into the best fantasy plays.
Draftstars are offering a number of different contests to suit your style, some of these include:
AFL $60,000+ Crows vs Bulldogs at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Crows vs Bulldogs High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Crows vs Bulldogs Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $2,000+ Crows vs Bulldogs 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 2 Crows vs Bulldogs
AFL Fantasy Round 2 – Friday: Where to Attack?
Given it's only Round 2, we are continuing to rely on trends going back into the prior year. With two top tier teams in their single game matchup, it's always going to challenging to find an avenue to attack as both teams will typically restrict fantasy scoring across the board.
The one area that jumps out here is attacking the Western Bulldogs small back line and this has been an ongoing trend for them for a number of years. Over the last 10 games they have given up over 6 points per game above league average to key forwards, which is the second most points to that position in the league over this time. In addition to this, the Bulldogs have consistently given up points to defenders, with above average points to both he designated kicker and general defenders.
Adelaide on the other hand have been one of the stingiest defences in the league, giving up the fewest points in the league to key forwards, and restricting across all positions apart from the ruck.
Game Script – Adelaide key forwards and backs, Western Bulldogs ruck, mix the midfield
AFL Fantasy Round 2 – Friday: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Brayden Cook ($9,180) has taken over the wing role for the Crows this season and looked incredibly comfortable in Round 1 with 19 disposals and a goal, returning 84 fantasy points. The wings are getting a lot more of the play early in the season with the rule changes and that is making them much more viable from a fantasy perspective this year. Now is the time to take advantage to hit value while they are under priced, especially in single game slates.
AFL Fantasy Round 2 – Friday: Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Josh Rachele ($11,030) / Sam Berry ($10,910) are nicely priced for the significant midfield roles they are playing this year. Sam Berry in particular is leading the Crows inside midfield brigade with a 72% centre bounce attendance in the first week, resulting in a return of 89 fantasy points. Meanwhile Rachele is splitting time between the midfield and forward, attending 52% of the centre bounces last week and returning 99 fantasy points.
Lachie Jaques ($10,390) is flourishing in his role playing across half back this season and up onto the wing. Through the Bulldogs first two wins he's averaging 94 points per game and coming in fresh off a 112 point game last week. He is taking approx. 2-3 kick ins per week, which is supporting his fantasy scores.
AFL Fantasy Round 2 – Friday: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Riley Thilthrope ($12,660) is a lock and load play for me on this slate. The Bulldogs will simply have no matchup for him at all. As we noted in the targets, they have been giving up the second most points in the league to this position over the last 10 games and Riley is a tough matchup for any team. He posted 92 points in the Crows win against the Magpies last week and I expect a ceiling score in this matchup of 100+.
Tim English ($16,640) comes into the game as one of the form rucks in the competition and he has put together a masterclass through the first two games averaging 114.5 points game. The new rule changes for rucks really help him in the ruck contests and we have seen this through his average of 30 hitouts through two games. In addition, one the best avenues to target the Crows is through rucks where they have been giving up over 4 points per game above the league average through their last 10 games.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Fantasy Round 2 – Friday
Weather Report for Friday 20th March
24 degrees and sunny
AFL Betting Markets Round 2, Friday 20th March
Odds: Adelaide ($1.92) vs Western Bulldogs ($1.92)
Points: 193.5
Line: Bulldogs -0.5
Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Friday Preview and Betting Tips. Our experts break down the game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
