Round 24 of the 2025 AFL season offers us one extra matchup for our daily fantasy enjoyment. Yes we finally get the rescheduled matchup between Gold Coast and Essendon, which will be played at People First Stadium on Wednesday evening. This game is crucial for the Suns who are currently sitting in ninth position, outside the top eight on percentage. A win in this game will secure a top eight spot for the first time in their history and potentially seventh spot if they win by enough. The Bombers on the other hand have just had their mad Monday delayed so the level of intensity they bring to this game will be anyone's guess.
As always this is all about the daily fantasy and this unique Wednesday 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+ Suns vs Bombers
AFL $5,000+ Suns vs Bombers High Roller ($150 Entry)
AFL $3,000+ Suns vs Bombers Mini ($2 Entry)
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AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 24 Gold Coast vs Essendon
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Gold Coast vs Essendon: Where to Attack?
Look… this one isn’t rocket science. The Suns are fighting to make the finals while the Bombers have nothing to play for and are probably wishing the season was already over. Gold Coast are 50-point favourites in this matchup at home and are screaming out as the game stack option. This is an elite matchup from a fantasy perspective for the Suns as well with the Bombers giving up a truck load of points over the last 10 games.
Starting with the midfield, Essendon are conceding over 7 points per game to opposition in the middle, which is the third most in the league over this period of time. Then to key forwards, it makes sense to see that they are also giving up the fourth most points to this position at over 5 points per game above the league average. Moving to the backline, the Bombers have been giving up above average points to every role here, but specifically the designated kicker stands out at over 8 points per game above league average, which is the second most in the league.
Gold Coast on the other hand have been giving up above average scores to inside midfielders and key forwards, while holding backs to below average scoring across all positions.
Game Script – Gold Coast key forwards, inside midfielders and designated kicker
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Gold Coast vs Essendon: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Ben King ($8,280) stands out as the clear obvious play here for forward line stacks. As noted above, the Bombers are struggling to contain big forwards through the second half of the season and King is the Suns most talented forward and number one target. We have seen his upside this year with a 91-point game three weeks ago against Carlton, and obviously as a 50-point favourite, that is the type of matchup that brings this level of scoring potential to the forefront.
Angus Clarke ($9,650) is worth strong consideration as a Bombers value play, noting that he is coming off back-to-back scores of 101 and 98. There should be plenty of ball down in the Bombers backline so playing Essendon defenders as part of the Gold Coast Suns stacks makes perfect sense from a game script point of view. That said, expect this to be a popular play, and given the price is up over $9k, there is plenty of reason to fade this on a single game slate. If you are looking for alternative value play on the Bombers side you can consider Isaac Kako ($8,120) who is playing heavy midfield minutes late in the season, which paid off last week to the tune of 94 fantasy points.
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Gold Coast vs Essendon: Our Mid-Priced Fantasy Picks
Bailey Humphrey ($10,030) is the perfect high risk, high reward play in this matchup. He will be seeing midfield action and resting up forward in a matchup where the Suns are expected to win by close to 10 goals. All his high scoring games are backed by hitting the scoreboard multiple times and this appears an obvious game where that will occur. He is a tournament type play only with an upside of 100+ but a floor of 50-60.
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Gold Coast vs Essendon: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Jarrod Witts ($15,050) will have the second best matchup in the league for rucks as the Bombers have been giving up over 9 points per game to the position over the last 10 games. The big query here is do you want to spend up at the ruck where there are obvious premium midfield options that have a huge ceiling in this game. Shifting to the Bombers rucks is a tough choice given Witts has been one of the hardest rucks to score against all season, but the sneaky option would be to consider Ethan Reid ($6,710) at near minimum price so you can stuff one more Gold Coast premium mids into the lineup. The big question can Witts get you 110+ in this matchup?
Noah Anderson ($16,140) was absolutely stifled last week along with Matt Rowell as the Suns engine room was choked out by Port. I expect a huge bounce back from both players in this gimme matchup. Anderson brings the most consistent upside in this type of matchup given his outside play.
Heres our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for Gold Coast vs Essendon
Weather Report for Wednesday 27th August, 2025
Gold Coast – 26 degrees and sunny.
AFL Betting Markets Round 24 Gold Coast vs Essendon
Gold Coast ($1.04) vs Essendon ($11.00)
Points: 170.5
Line: Gold Coast -50.5
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!
