It’s only Round 2 of the 2026 AFL season and, for some reason, teams are already having a bye week. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and it’s left us with just three games to enjoy on this Saturday slate.
First up on Saturday the Tigers will host the Suns at the MCG, followed by the Giants and Saints at Engie Stadium. Our Saturday night match will see the Demons head west to take on the Dockers at Optus Stadium. Perhaps not the most exciting day of matches, but plenty of angles to tackle this slate from a fantasy perspective.
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AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 2 Saturday
AFL Fantasy Round 2 Saturday: Where to Attack?
Suns stacks will be a popular play today. The Suns are one of the strongest teams in the league with a powerful, high-scoring setup and they’ll face the Tigers who give up huge fantasy points across all positions. In particular, look to target Suns key forwards, inside mids, general defenders and in the ruck.
The other area to exploit is against the Saints who tend to press back and leave easy disposals for the opposition’s designated kicker. The Giants have been restrictive against opposition mids, although some of the Bulldogs did get on top of them last week. It’s also tough for opposition defenders against the Giants.
The Dockers and Demons are slightly above average in conceding points to opposition forwards and mids. Just be wary with the Freo rucks, as coming up against big Max Gawn is the toughest assignment in the game!
Game script: Suns stacks, Giants designated kicker
AFL Fantasy Round 2 Saturday: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Ben King ($9,490) might be a popular pick as the Coleman Medal favourite should feast on the weak Tiger backline. While he's worth pointing out on today's slate, King is ultimately a fade for me. The problem I have with King is he needs to kick a bag of goals to score well in fantasy, and even then, he’s not guaranteed a big fantasy score as he just doesn’t offer a lot around the ground to pick up extra points. In 122 games, he’s never produced a fantasy ton ever! Last week, he kicked 5 goals but that only got him to a score of 68 which isn’t even value. He'll need a huge bag of goals to score big, so I'm hoping the field fall into him and we can find value somewhere else.
Ethan Read ($7,800) is a good pivot option if you’re looking to move away from King. Read let us down last week with a very poor score of 37 against the Eagles, in a spot where he should’ve gone well. It means many will jump off him here, so hopefully he can bounce back. Has the ability to score around the ground as the second ruck option, and I’m not thrilled about any of the ruck options on this slate so we can pay down to Read and hope he kicks a few goals.
AFL Fantasy Round 2 Saturday: Our Mid-Priced Fantasy Picks
Murphy Reid ($10,380) is in play again this week at an attractive price for a player of his talent. He was good against the Cats last week with 19 disposals and a goal for a score of 78 fantasy points, and remember he had a 30-disposal game for 100 fantasy points in the pre-season. Gets a good match up against the Dees here so we’re looking for him to go even better.
Bailey Humphrey ($10,950) returns to the Suns lineup after missing a week with some hamstring tightness as the Suns took a conservative approach. In the Opening Round against the Cats, Humphrey was one of the best on ground with 4 goals and 86 fantasy points. Another electric game here could produce a similar score if you’re prepared to trust his hammies!
AFL Fantasy Round 2 Saturday: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Andrew Brayshaw ($14,190) is being offered at a nice price after a poor 53-point score in his opening match against Geelong. It feels like a good bounce back spot for Brayshaw, at home against Melbourne, with the tag likely to go to Caleb Serong. It’s rare to see Brayshaw at this price with huge upside.
Lachie Ash ($15,820) is becoming one of the best rebounding defenders in the competition and he’s in great form following a massive 136 against the Bulldogs with 31 disposals and 13 marks. Gets the best matchup in the league against the Saints so I expect him to cash in again here with another big ton. Pivot to Lachie Whitfield ($16,990) is also an option but he does cost you an extra $1k.
Christian Petracca ($16,790) / Noah Anderson ($16,890) are both in play for the Suns against the lowly Tigers. Petracca has been best afield the last two weeks and would be leading the Brownlow leaderboard right now with a 114.5 fantasy average. Anderson has also been solid with a 103 average, and both are capable of 130+ scores. The only problem is trying to fit them into your salary cap!
Here is our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Saturday
Weather Report for Saturday 21st March
Melbourne - Sunny, 21 degrees.
Sydney - Scattered thunderstorms, 23 degrees.
Perth - Sunny, 30 degrees.
AFL Betting Markets: Saturday
Odds provided with thanks to NextBet!
Richmond ($4.95) vs Gold Coast ($1.18)
Line: Gold Coast -33.5
Points: 189.5
GWS Giants ($1.57) vs St Kilda ($2.41)
Line: GWS Giants -9.5
Points: 183.5
Fremantle ($1.35) vs Melbourne ($3.25)
Line: Fremantle -20.5
Points: 191.5
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!
