The traditional Easter Monday game between Hawthorn and Geelong is always one of the best footy spectacles of the year. Two powerhouse Victorian teams clashing in front of a packed crowd at the MCG is always an afternoon to remember. It's a a great football rivalry and both are once again in premiership contention this season so a win here would go a long way to confirming their status towards the top of the ladder.
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AFL $60,000+ Hawks vs Cats ($15 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Hawks vs Cats High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Hawks vs Cats Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $2,000+ Hawks vs Cats 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!
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AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 4 Hawks vs Cats
AFL Fantasy Round 4 Hawks vs Cats: Where to Attack?
The traditional Easter Monday clash between Hawthorn and Geelong is always a classic, and with both teams among the league's contenders, it's no surprise there's little room to exploit for fantasy.
Both teams struggle in the ruck so it will be interesting to see if anyone can get on top or if they simply nullify each other. Meek and Reeves are a decent combination for the Hawks but the job sharing means their time on ground, and fantasy output, has been greatly reduced. The Cats have been blooding Mitchell Edwards who has struggled and does expose them to the opposition.
The ruck is the only area of the ground where the Hawks have been vulnerable from a fantasy perspective over the last 10 rounds. They are tough to score against everywhere else, and particularly tough for opposition wingers and defenders where they are top 3 best in the league.
The Cats have been closer to league average in most areas besides the ruck. Opposition inside midfields and designated kickers will enjoy a slightly above average output.
As is often the case when two strong teams collide, this will be more about finding value on the day than historical trends. The Hawks enter as slight favourites with the best sports betting sites but the game could easily go either way and I'm leaning towards the Cats to get it done.
Game script: Rucks for either team and value picks
AFL Fantasy Round 4 Hawks vs Cats: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Not a lot of great value picks to get excited about in this one after both Jhye Clark and Mark O'Connor were both surprising omissions from the Cats lineup. They would've been my first choices for value in this match. Instead, you've got a number of untried entities at min-price, or you can pay up a little for players who have some experience but not a lot of historic fantasy output.
Oisin Mullin ($6,000) is one at minimum price who is a bit more established in the team, but his role is purely a negating one. If he's running through the midfield then he might go to Jai Newcombe, but he has been playing a little more in the back pocket, which might mean close attention for someone like Nick Watson. If you pick him, you're looking for plenty of tackles to hit value. You could also look at Oliver Wiltshire ($6,000) who looked alright on debut last week with 14 touches and a fantasy score of 44.
Jack Bowes ($9,390) comes into the side after a massive game in the VFL where he racked up 39 disposals, 3 goals and 142 fantasy points. Anyone who has followed Bowes' career knows that he can be a fantasy beast with the right role with 130+ upside in previous seasons. However he was a long way from that last year with just a 58.8 average. Can he bring that VFL form to the big time and get enough midfield time to hit value?
AFL Fantasy Round 4 Hawks vs Cats: Our Mid-Priced Fantasy Picks
Tanner Bruhn ($11,760) has enjoyed his return to footy this season in a favourable fantasy role as a running half-back distributor for the Cats. Started the season with scores of 98 and 94, before dropping back to a 53 last week for an 81.7 average for the season. His price looks value against those numbers so hopefully he can connect and distribute for us on Monday!
Jai Newcombe ($12,790) looks a great price on this slate against the Cats who had historically conceded above average fantasy points to inside midfielders. Newcombe always brings a strong tackling base, but he has been linking up for some marks and hitting the scoreboard more in recent seasons, so he looks a good pick here. Has scores of 83, 91 and 100 so far this season, so he's building nicely. If you want to pivot at the same price point, you could look at Dylan Moore ($13,050) who has hit back-to-back 99 point scores, Connor Macdonald ($12,230) who has been playing more on ball this season, or Josh Ward ($12,050) who has also been in good form.
AFL Fantasy Round 4 Hawks vs Cats: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Gryan Miers ($14,220) has had an exceptional start to the season with a 111.3 average on the back of scores of 121, 90 and 123. All of this and he hasn't even kicked a single goal this season! Miers is very good at finding space for some uncontested marks, but he's also a strong tackler with 14 tackles in his three games this season. So it all adds up to strong fantasy scoring. While this is probably the highest price Miers has been, you're saving a few thousand from the top couple of Cats midfielders.
Max Holmes ($16,570) is now an elite midfielder of the competition and fantasy superstar with three big tons and a 117 average to start the season. Holmes can do it all. He runs hard, kicks the footy well, gets plenty of uncontested marks, tackles well and hits the scoreboard - the perfect fantasy player! Happy to take Holmes at nearly 1k cheaper than the other superstar of the Cats, Bailey Smith ($17,440) but both are the obvious premium picks with the largest ceilings of this slate.
Here's our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for Hawks vs Cats
Weather Report for Monday 6th April
Melbourne - Partly sunny, 23 degrees
AFL Betting Markets
Odds provided with thanks to NextBet!
Hawthorn ($1.62) vs Geelong ($2.30)
Line: Hawthorn -8.5
Points: 185.5
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!
