Round 12 of the 2026 AFL Premiership Season wraps up this Sunday with another massive daily fantasy contest on offer from Draftstars with over $50,000 in guaranteed prize money in their main daily fantasy tournament.
Sunday brings a cracking two game slate with things getting underway mid afternoon where Melbourne will be hosting the GWS Giants at one of their games up in Alice Springs at TIO Traeger Park. Then the hammer game that night will see West Coast hosting Essendon over in Perth at Optus Stadium.
Melbourne will be desperate to hold onto their top 6 position on the ladder by getting back onto the winners list against the Giants this week after a disappointing loss last round to the Bulldogs. Their biggest change will be covering their backline for the loss of Jake Lever to injury, while Max Heath has also been dropped giving the keys to the full ruck role back to Max Gawn this week. For the Giants, they will looking to break back into the top 10 to keep finals hopes alive with a win here and they will be bolstered by the return of gun back Sam Taylor.
West Coast will be looking to get their second win in three weeks against Essendon in the final game of the day, with the Bombers having just one win all season and coming off a week in which their coach was fired. The Eagles come in unchanged after a strong showing on the road last week while the Bombers have mass changes primarily due top injury with veterans McGrath, Redman, Durham and Caldwell all going down last week, which should open up plenty of fantasy value for daily fantasy players.
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AFL $5,000+ Sunday High Roller ($150 Entry)
AFL $3,000+ Sunday Mini ($2 Entry)
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AFL Daily Fantasy Lineup Tips: Round 12 – Sunday
AFL Fantasy Round 12 – Sunday: Where to Attack?
Both games present a wide number of options to target on this slate, which is not unexpected when you get three teams on the slate that are sitting in the bottom half of the ladder.
The obvious call is stacking West Coast against the Bombers. This is the last game of the day so you can build game stacks to carry you home, and I expect it to be the most popular play of the day. The Bombers are giving up the most points in the league to inside midfielders this season at over 11 points per game above league average, and to compound this they will be without some of their more veteran players in this area of the ground this week. Moving to the forward line, they are also giving up above average points to general and key forwards, and this continues up back especially to wings/half backs and the designated kickers. In short, you can really stack up the Eagles across all positions in this matchup, and the market has them as 12.5 favourites as well.
That said, it would be remiss of me not to mention you could play the contrary play here and load up on the Bombers against West Coast. This could be an avenue to lesser owned players, and the Eagles have been giving up above average points to mids and forwards this season as well.
In the first game of the day look to stack up the backlines on either team. Both Melbourne and GWS have been giving up above average points to each role in the backline this year, and expect the uncontested game to come into effect up in Alice Springs as the heat reduces running capacity as the game goes on.
Game Script – West Coast midfielders and forwards, GWS backs
AFL Fantasy Round 12 – Sunday: Our Value Fantasy Picks
Jake Waterman ($9,520) is one of the most compelling value plays on this slate and the opponent history makes a very strong case. Against Essendon across his last three meetings he has posted 92, 77 and 82 — three scores that average 83.7 points and tell you his floor in this matchup is genuinely elite at this price point. Add in his Optus Stadium venue record of 65, 116, 92, 32 and 69 — with that 116 the standout ceiling reference — and you have a player who has already shown he can go massive at this ground. If not for Waterman’s unusual inaccuracy infront of goal this season he would be averaging significantly higher fantasy scores and be priced up as he is generating one of the highest number of shots on goal of any forward in the league. Essendon have been giving up above average points to key forwards this season and with the Eagles as favourites (something rare this year), Waterman is offering 100+ upside at under $10k in price. Just be wary of the weather, if it is too wet it will potentially impact key forwards scoring.
Lachlan Blakiston ($6,640) is the minimum-price value dart of the slate and the role is the entire case. With Peter Wright confirmed sidelined, Essendon's ruck structure has been shuffled throughout 2026 and Blakiston will be sharing the hitout duties as the club's backup ruckman behind Nick Bryan — stepping in at centre bounces and in forward-pocket stoppages to provide ruck depth across four quarters. That split role is exactly what you want at minimum price, because even a 30% share of centre bounces and hitouts against West Coast generates meaningful bonus scoring on top of his ground-level work. The matchup is about as good as it gets for any opposition ruckman. West Coast have been conceding among the second highest fantasy points to the ruck position in the competition across 2026 — they have been targeted by virtually every genuine ruckman they have faced and have consistently leaked well above average scores to the position.
AFL Fantasy Round 12 – Sunday: Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Will Setterfield ($12,810) / Elijah Tsatas ($11,180)
Setterfield is the most compelling mid value play on the slate and the role could not be clearer. With Andrew McGrath, Sam Durham and Jye Caldwell all confirmed out of the Essendon lineup, there is a massive vacancy in the Bombers' centre bounce rotation and Setterfield is the primary candidate to fill it. Last season while playing inside mid he was regularly scoring over 100 points per game and in a game where Essendon are going to need their remaining experienced midfielders to carry an enormous load, his CBA attendance should comfortably eclipse his season average.
The much maligned Tsatas is the second Essendon mid to target in the same CBA uplift narrative. Tsatas has posted scores of 60, 89 and 85 this season when given a free midfield role and his contested inside work generates a high number of clearances that drive his scoring. Alongside Setterfield he is the most likely beneficiary of the three key CBA attendees lost to injury this week and at $11,180 he provides a mid priced player with 100 point upside in these conditions.
In addition, there is plenty of rain forecast for this game so keep a watch on that, it will only boost up inside players such as these two who play an inside contested game and especially Setterfield who racks up tackles.
AFL Fantasy Round 12 – Sunday: Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Lachie Whitfield ($15,560) is a top line premium play from the Alice Springs game and the matchup narrative is the clearest on the slate. Whitfield returns from hamstring tendinopathy this week and steps directly back into Melbourne's softest positional concession — the wing and general defender positions where Melbourne are giving up nearly 6 points above league average. His last 10 average of 101.4 points before injury is exceptional and even on managed minutes in his return game, his ability to score from the kick-in and half-back corridor means his floor is extremely high. His last five scores before injury were 59, 125, 113, 106 and 101 — the sort of run that confirms his status as one of the highest-ceiling defenders in the competition.
Max Gawn ($16,880) is the ruck lock of the slate and the venue data is compelling. He has scored 107 and 122 in his last two appearances at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs. Against Kieren Briggs in the ruck contest, Gawn should be comfortably dominant in hit outs and his ground-level work in a team expected to win possesses the ball well amplifies his clearance and contested-work scoring. His last three scores of 99, 84 and 106 for an average of 96 understates his ceiling considerably due to the fact that he had been sharing ruck duties with Max Heath who has been dropped this week. I expect Max to be back to his early season fantasy best where he was posting 120+ point scores regularly.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Sunday
Weather Report for Sunday 31st May
TIO Traeger Park (Alice Springs) — 24 degrees, sunny. Warm conditions may suppress second-half scoring slightly but no wind or rain concerns.
Optus Stadium (Perth) — 21 degrees, and potential for up to 25mm of rain. The game total score is low so consider the impact her and focus on inside midfielders and players that tackle
AFL Betting Markets Round 12 Sunday
Melbourne ($1.87) vs GWS ($1.97)
Points: 187.5
Line: Melbourne -1.5
West Coast ($1.46) vs Essendon ($2.75)
Points: 150.5
Line: West Coast -12.5
Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Sunday Preview and Betting Tips. Our experts break down each game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
