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AFL Daily Fantasy Tips 2025: Round 22 Geelong vs Essendon

August 7th 2025, 4:34pm, By: Jesse Penfold

AFL Fantasy Tips

AFL Round 22’s feature matchup this Friday night is shaping up as yet another party time game for the Cats down at GMHBA. Geelong will host the hapless Essendon Bombers this Friday as they look to further boost their percentage and take aim at a top two spot on the ladder. This matchup is the prototypical daily fantay game stackers dream… the only question will be is there any point in fading it? 

As always this is all about the daily fantasy and this massive Friday night game draws another massive $50,000 prize pool at Draftstars in their main contest. In addition, there are a variety of alternate contests:  

AFL $50,000+ Cats vs Bombers

AFL $5,000+ Cats vs Bombers High Roller ($150 Entry)

AFL $3,000+ Cats vs Bombers Mini ($2 Entry) 

If you're new to the Daily Fantasy Sports scene and want to join in on the fun, simply join Draftstars via this link!

Draftstars

AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 22 Geelong vs Essendon

AFL Fantasy Round 22 Geelongs vs Essendon: Where to Attack?

The last 10 games have been an absolutely abomination for the Bombers. During this stretch they have given up the most points in the league to inside midfielders, the second most points in the league to general defenders and the most points in the league to the designated kickers. 

Up forward, no surprise that they are getting beaten, especially by key forwards where they are giving up over 4 points above league average to key forwards. Not to mention the fact that the Cats are over 11 goal favourites, which means their forwards should have an absolute fill up.

The Cats have been giving up above average points to defenders over this period of games, which fits nicely for a traditional game stack of Geelong mids and forwards and Essendon backs.

Game Script – Geelong key forwards, inside midfielders, Essendon backs

 

AFL Fantasy Round 22 Geelong vs Essendon: Our Value Fantasy Picks

Lachlan Blakiston ($6,000) attending 40% of the Bombers centre bounces last week, I love this play to take advantage of the minimum price point in a game where both teams have great matchups in the ruck. The Cats have given up the second most points in the league over the last 10 games to rucks at over 12 points per game above league average. Blakiston has shown 70 point upside this season and this will be a matchup where he could possibly top that and allow us to spend up in other areas.

Tyson Stengle ($9,750) you can quite honestly roster any Geelong forward on this slate. Premium to value they are all good plays. Stengle has shown the ability to return 90 points this season and had a solid run earlier in the year of four straight games over 71 (inc. 2 over 80). I love stacking him up with a more expensive Cats forward.

 

AFL Fantasy Round 22 Geelong vs Essendon: Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks

Shannon Neale ($11,330) has hit the form of his career and is possibly one of the in form key forwards in the league (next to his running mate Cameron). He has back to back games over 100 points and four games over 85 from his last seven matches. His price has jacked way up given his recent performance and the matchup, but as we noted at the top this is yet another elite matchup for key forwards. Of course you can also easily spend up to add Jeremy Cameron ($14,360) who had 157 point ceiling on display two weeks ago and will be chasing down his 100 goal season in these blowouts as the season comes to a close.

Andrew McGrath ($11,920) has been moved into the midfield in the past two weeks due to the Bombers injuries. He attended 90% of their centre bounces last week and returned 92 fantasy points. If you want a cheaper option here from the Bombers, look for value with Jade Gresham ($8,140) who attended over 40% of their centre bounces last week for 74 fantasy points.

 

AFL Fantasy Round 22 Geelong vs Essendon: Our Premium Fantasy Picks

Max Holmes ($16,910) is running on three straight games over 118 fantasy points and four from his last five games. He is averaging 108 points per game over the last 6 and 103 points per game on the season. Flying slightly under the radar compared to what Bailey Smith has produced this year, I absolutely love rostering Holmes because he is always second option for tags. Lock and load this play.

 

Heres our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for Geelong vs Essendon

Draftstars Lineup

 

Weather Report for Friday 8th August 

Geelong – 15 degrees and partly cloudy. Winter football conditions. Lets play.

 

AFL Betting Markets Round 22 Friday

Geelong ($1.01) vs Essendon ($21.00)

Points: 181.5
Line: Geelong 69.5

Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Preview and Betting Tips for each match. Our experts break down each individual game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!

PlayUp

Jesse has been playing fantasy sports for over 20 years, and actively plays both AFL and basketball in both season long and daily fantasy competitions.

Jesse has been an integral member of the DFS team, writing and contributing to Daily Fantasy Rankings and Before You Bet since 2019.

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