Round 22 of the AFL season continues this Friday night at the Gabba with one of the genuine blockbusters of the season as Brisbane host Hawthorn. Draftstars are offering $50,000 in guaranteed prize money in their main daily fantasy tournament, and we have you covered with our best fantasy tips for the clash!
This is as big as it gets in the home-and-away season. Hawthorn sit third on the ladder and Brisbane fifth, separated by a game and half. A Hawthorn win would put them in an almost impregnable position in the top four heading into the final rounds while a Brisbane victory brings the Lions right back into the conversation for a top-four finish. Both teams have made multiple changes. The Lions welcome back veteran superstar Dayne Zorko and young gun Daniel Annable, replacing the injured Keidean Coleman and the unavailable Hugh McCluggage. For Hawthorn, Karl Amon, Mitch Lewis and Ned Reeves all return to give the Hawks more structural depth across the ground. The game script on paper looks like a genuine 50-50 contest — the Gabba is Brisbane’s fortress and they have won nine of their last eleven at home and will come into this game as just over 5 point favourites. That said, Hawthorn have been one of the most consistent teams in the competition across 2026 and arrive with almost their best available side for a game of this magnitude.
Draftstars are offering a number of different contests to suit your style, some of these include:
AFL $50,000+ Friday at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Friday High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Friday Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $2,000+ Friday 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 22 Brisbane vs Hawthorn
AFL Fantasy Round 22 Friday: Where to Attack?
No shock that with two of the better teams in the competition going head to head there will not be many avenues for stacking positions. To be honest, some of the stand out points against are mind blowing for how little they give up.
Starting with the Hawks, who give up over 25 points below league average to wings and half-backs — that is the most restrictive wing concession in the entire competition and its one of the biggest variances in terms of points conceded I have ever seen. Twenty-five points below average. For context, most teams sit within five points either way. Brisbane’s half-back and wing operators walk into an absolute brick wall on Friday night and you need to know this before you start building. Darcy Wilmot, Dayne Zorko in a wing role, Jaspa Fletcher — all of them face one of the toughest individual matchups any player has faced all season in their position group. I’m not rostering any Brisbane half-back primarily because of this number.
The second number is the ruck. Hawthorn have been giving up 13 points below average to the ruck — the most restrictive ruck matchup in the competition. Throw in the fact that Brisbane genuinely share the ruck duties between Sam Draper and Darcy Fort, this is not an area I will be looking to roster.
Where do we attack? Hawthorn’s inside midfield concession sits above average and Brisbane’s midfield is elite — Ashcroft, Dunkley, Neale all benefit from this. Going back through the Brisbane concession, the Lions are near-neutral on inside midfielders (-1.91, 49%) which means the Hawthorn mids aren’t getting a green light, but Newcombe and Day can generate their own scoring at this level. The Hawthorn key forward concession sits above average (+1.44) and their general defender concession is above average (+0.97, 40%), making Brisbane’s forward line and Karl Amon’s returning designated kicker role the secondary attacking angles from the Hawthorn side.
Game Script – Hawks backs, Brisbane midfielders and forwards
AFL Fantasy Round 22 Friday – Our Value Fantasy Picks
Daniel Annable ($6,000) is the minimum-price dart on this slate and the case is built on his VFL form and what we know about his role when given a full game. He has played just one AFL game this season and posted 53 points in it — which is a perfectly acceptable floor reference for a player at the minimum price, and in a slate where you need every dollar to fit the premium players with the likes of Dunkley, Ashcroft, Impey and Neale, 53 from your cheapest slot is a result. The more exciting angle is his VFL numbers — four games this season, over 100 points in every single one. That kind of sustained VFL dominance tells you the talent is there and the only question is how much opportunity he gets in the senior side. He comes in fresh and hungry for a game of this magnitude and at $6,000 he is the minimum-price selection that makes the premium mid stack viable.
Nick Watson ($9,590) has been in top form over the last month and at $9,590 his price simply has not kept up with what he is producing. Scores of 90, 79 and 85 in his last three for an average of 84.7 — three consecutive games all between 79 and 90, the kind of consistency that tells you the floor is genuinely elite at this price point. He is one of those players who has quietly become a must-watch each week without the ownership or price tag to reflect it. The honest matchup note is that Brisbane have been slightly tight on general forwards over the last 10 games, so his ceiling isn’t a green light matchup, and his three most recent games against Brisbane have produced 74, 21 and a blank — the 21 and blank are uncomfortable to look at. But Watson generates his scoring from speed and unusual avenues, goal-kicking and half-forward drift into the wing corridor which makes him less dependent on the specific forward concession number than a pure marking forward would be. At $9,590 in the value bracket for a player averaging 84.7 across his last three, the form alone makes the case regardless of matchup.
AFL Fantasy Round 22 Friday – Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Cam Rayner ($10,640) has been one of the quieter form stories of the back half of 2026 and his last six games averaging 83 points makes him genuinely interesting at this price. He has posted 87, 62, 81, 91 and 107 across his last five — the 107 and 91 confirming the ceiling when his role lifts into the midfield, and the 62 the only genuine outlier in that stretch. With Hugh McCluggage out injured, Brisbane need someone to absorb midfield minutes. Any meaningful increase in his bounce time pushes his ceiling from the 80-87 range he has been producing into the 95-110 range that the 107 already showed is available.
AFL Fantasy Round 22 Friday – Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Josh Dunkley ($14,460) is the premium lock of the Brisbane stack and his last three scores make the case emphatically. He has posted 113, 107 and 130 across his last three for an average of 116.7 — one of the best last-three averages of any midfielder in the competition. His three most recent games against Hawthorn have produced 136, 93 and 96 — the 136 is a monster score in this exact matchup and even the 93 and 96 are solid floors in a game against a quality defensive team. Despite his uptick in form that we are used to seeing these days as he times his run for finals, the price still remains nicely under $15k and as noted at the top the Hawks are giving up slightly above average scoring to inside midfielders and this hard contested game will suit Dunkley’s game style completely.
Jarman Impey ($14,600) is arguably the most in-form player on either side of this contest and his last three scores are simply jaw-dropping — 115, 147 and 137 for a last-three average of 133, the highest of any player in the competition over that period. His record against Brisbane is more modest with 64, 78 and 124 in his three most recent games, but that 124 is the reference that confirms what the ceiling looks like when he’s firing in this fixture.
Here is our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Fantasy Round 22 Friday
Weather Report for Friday 7th August
The Gabba (Brisbane) — 18 degrees, clear. Ideal conditions for the Friday night blockbuster under lights.
AFL Betting Markets Round 22 Friday
Odds: Brisbane ($1.70) vs Hawthorn ($2.15)
Points: 186.5
Line: Brisbane -5.5
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!
