Round 23 brings us a massive five-game Saturday slate as the home-and-away season reaches the business end and the finals race continues to heat up.
We kick things off at the MCG with Richmond taking on St Kilda. The Saints enter as favourites, but the Tigers have been much more competitive this season and this shapes as an interesting game to start building our fantasy lineups around.
We then head to Marvel Stadium where North Melbourne hosts Geelong. The Cats are expected to get the job done, but the Kangaroos have provided us with plenty of solid matchups this season and there should be several ways to attack this game.
The late-afternoon match takes us to the Gabba for a huge Queensland clash between Brisbane and Gold Coast. The Lions are strong favourites on their home deck, but there is no shortage of premium fantasy talent on both sides and this could be one of the more interesting games of the slate.
Saturday night then gives us a blockbuster as we return to the MCG to see Hawthorn take on Collingwood in a match with major implications at the pointy end of the ladder. With plenty of fantasy stars on both sides, this shapes as one of the games we'll need to get right.
Finally, we head to Adelaide Oval where Port Adelaide hosts Melbourne to close out a huge day of footy. The Demons are heavily favoured on the road, but with five games and ten teams to choose from, we have plenty of different directions we can go with our lineups.
It's a bigger slate than we've had in recent weeks, which should spread ownership and open up plenty of different ways to attack tournaments. Let's get stuck into the Round 23 Saturday slate!
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AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 23 Saturday
AFL Fantasy Round 23 Saturday: Where to Attack?
The first game of the day may prove to be one of the most popular with the Saints and Tigers both susceptible to giving up fantasy points, but it will be a long wait to ride out the day for the early clubhouse leaders.
As one of the cellar dwellers in the league, it’s no surprise that the Tigers give up big points with the inside midfielders, general defenders and designated kickers the main areas to exploit. The Saints have been racking up massive points in recent weeks, and with Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera out through injury, it opens up the door for a few others to step up.
The Saints are also loose in a couple of areas with the outside defenders and wings the main area to attack. They have tightened up to defenders but are still above league average if you want to stack up this match.
The main area to look at for the Cats and Roos is in the ruck where Geelong give up a staggering 23 points above league average over the last ten matches. Number one ruck Mitch Edwards does return this week, but that won’t necessarily stem the bleeding. The Cats are tough to score against for key forwards and wingers.
North have a pretty solid fantasy profile but they have been giving up points to the designated kicker at almost 10 points above league average over the last ten matches. They are restrictive to general forwards where they are actually the best in the league.
The Q Clash in Brisbane doesn’t offer a lot of holes from a fantasy perspective. Both teams have premium players that can go large, but there’s no reason to lean in based on recent trends. In fact, Brisbane are among the best in the league against general forwards, defenders and the designated kicker, while Gold Coast aren’t far behind in the defensive half.
There’s a couple of positions in the Hawks versus Pies match where the two teams are polar opposites. Darcy Cameron has been scoring well in the ruck but does give up the second highest points in the league over the last ten matches. He comes up against a Hawks team who are in the top three toughest over the same period. The only change is that Lloyd Meek will be flying solo this time around with Ned Reeves omitted. Will be an interesting one to watch.
The other area of contrast is the outside defenders and wings. Collingwood give up the most points in the league in this area, so look to roster the Hawks seagulls in the back half. However at the other end the Hawks are the best in the league in this position at 14 points below average.
Port Adelaide and Melbourne have a couple of areas that you can look to target. Both teams are above average to defenders and designated kickers, so a game that swings between the back halves would be ideal. Both teams are good in the ruck and don’t give up much there, while Melbourne have also been tough for opposition inside midfielders.
Game script: Saints stacks, Tigers wings, Roos ruck, Hawks ruck/wings, Power defenders, Demons defenders
AFL Fantasy Round 23 Saturday: Our Value Fantasy Picks
There are plenty of cheap picks on this slate but unfortunately I’m not excited about any of them to confidently recommend as good value picks.
My lean is to Will Dawson ($6,000) who at minimum price gets a good matchup as second ruck against the Cats who leak points to the position.
Perhaps you could make a case for the trio of Angus Hastie ($6,800), Liam O’Connell ($6,890) or Tobie Travaglia ($6,910) for the Saints. They are all around the same price, have a good match up against the Tigers and have shown glimpses of potential. Which one can have a breakout game is anyone’s guess.
AFL Fantasy Round 23 Saturday: Our Mid-Priced Fantasy Picks
Lloyd Meek ($10,130) is my choice in the ruck this week. Meek finally gets the keys to the ruck by himself with Ned Reeves omitted. That’s huge for Meek’s ceiling. At times during the season, Meek has only been playing a little more than half of the match. This week, he’s going to get full minutes and the match up against Collingwood is one of the best in the league for rucks.
Jack Macrae ($11,520) is an interesting option on this slate as he returns to the Saints senior side. At one point, Macrae was the number one fantasy player in the game, so he has to be considered. While he’s not at those levels anymore, we know what he’s capable of doing on his day. Macrae has been going well in the VFL with fantasy scores of 101, 91, 146 and 109 in the last month, and he scored 125 against the Tigers in the AFL earlier in the season. With NWM out, there’s midfield minutes up for grabs and the opposition are weak. The price is good and the ceiling is there, so Macrae seems worth the risk.
AFL Fantasy Round 23 Saturday: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Matt Rowell ($15,490) has been in beast mode and has to be considered this week. Rowell has scored 120, 95, 125 and 182 in the past month, and last week’s 40 disposals and 16 tackles was incredible. Great to see him back in form. The only problem is fitting premiums into your salary as I’m not thrilled with the value picks on this slate.
Brad Hill ($15,890) might be the player to benefit most from the injury to NWM. Hill has had some excellent moments this season with huge scores of 159, 134 and 131 coming in the last 6 weeks. The Saints have the gun match up against the Tigers, and Hill will become one of the primary ball movers from half back and on the wing without NWM there. Surely he’s going to be linking up everywhere, and with the Saints scoring heavily in recent times, I want him on my side.
Harry Sheezel ($15,980) is an attractive price this week. He’s up against the Cats who are favourites, but it’s not a terrible match up for the Roos inside midfielders. Harry just gets it done against anyone, and his season average of 119.3 is the best in the entire league, yet he’s only the 5th most expensive player on this slate and we’re getting almost $2k of savings compared to someone like Bailey Smith ($17,780). Seems like value. Also happy to correlate with Luke Davies-Uniake ($13,240) who also looks good value after a superb 139 last week. One of them will likely get the Oisin Mullin tag. I don't think Sheezel is taggable so I don't expect it to affect his fantasy scoring.
Here's our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Saturday
Weather Report for Saturday 15th August
Melbourne - Mostly cloudy, 15 degrees
Brisbane - Partly sunny, 21 degrees
Adelaide - Mostly cloudy, 17 degrees
AFL Betting Markets Saturday Round 23
Odds provided with thanks to NextBet!
Richmond ($3.44) vs St Kilda ($1.31)
Line: St Kilda -20.5
Points: 167.5
North Melbourne ($3.17) vs Geelong Cats ($1.36)
Line: Geelong -19.5
Points: 183.5
Brisbane Lions ($1.18) vs Gold Coast Suns ($4.90)
Line: Brisbane -32.5
Points: 191.5
Hawthorn ($1.34) vs Collingwood ($3.29)
Line: Hawthorn -19.5
Points: 174.5
Port Adelaide ($4.10) vs Melbourne ($1.24)
Line: Melbourne -27.5
Points: 181.5
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!
