Round 20 of the 2026 AFL Premiership Season kicks off this Thursday night at Adelaide Oval as the Adelaide Crows host the Collingwood Magpies in a cracking top-eight clash. Draftstars are offering $50,000 in guaranteed prize money in their main daily fantasy tournament.
This is a genuinely tight matchup between two sides fighting for their finals lives. Adelaide have clawed their way back up to fifth after a rough early season and come in off the back of three wins from four, while Collingwood are sitting in eighth place and just a half game ahead of 9th, but desperately need the four points to stay in the race for top six. The Pies have made just one change, dropping Sam Swadling to bring in the experienced Jeremy Howe. Adelaide have been more active, with Mark Keane, Brayden Cook and Darcy Fogarty making way for Nick Murray, Taylor Walker and Finnbar Maley. Rory Laird remains out with injury, so once again Adelaide backs will be exposed to greater opportunity. Adelaide are just over 2 goal favourites with the favourable confines of their home stadium but this is certainly anyone’s contest.
Draftstars are offering a number of different contests to suit your style, some of these include:
AFL $50,000+ Thursday at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Thursday High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Thursday Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $2,000+ Thursday 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 20 Adelaide vs Collingwood
AFL Fantasy Round 20 Thursday: Where to Attack?
Let’s start with the number that is jumping off the page because you cannot ignore it. Collingwood have been giving up over 20 points above league average to the ruck position — the highest ruck concession in the entire competition. Darcy Cameron has been a walking sieve for fantasy points this season, while Adelaide’s Lachlan McAndrew has been one of the tougher matchups in the league giving up 5 points below average.
The ruck position is essentially represnative of the entire fantasy matchup across the board with Collingwood conceding one fo the highest fantasy scores in the league this year. They give up above average points to every position except for general defenders, the highlights being wings, attacking half backs and the designated kickers, all positions at 5 points more above league average. Therefore as noted above with Laird being out, stacking up the Crows backline will be a hot play in this matchup. Up forward it is general forwards that really take advantage of the Magpies who give up over 4 points above average and the Crows have no shortage of players running through this role to take advantage.
On the flip side, the Crows are one of the toughest teams in the league to score against. They are giving up over 5 points below average to key forwards, general forwards, inside midfielders, rucks, wings, attacking defenders and designated kickers. With the Crows also coming is favourites and playing at home, I really can't go past stacking up Adelaide players across the majority of positions in this matchup.
Game Script – Adelaide forwards, backs, rucks – full team stacks
AFL Fantasy Round 20 Thursday – Our Value Fantasy Picks
Taylor Walker ($8,990) is back in the side after taking a week off, fresh from a 98 point score two weeks back at Adelaide which reminded everyone he still has plenty left in the tank. There are going to be weeks where Tex reminds you he’s Tex and this is shaping as another one — Collingwood is giving up above average to general and key forwards. He posted a 91 point game against the Magpies in their second last meeting, showing the upside is there and he has gone over 90 in two of is last 5 games at Adelaide Oval. Great upside potential for his price point.
Nick Murray ($7,850) is back in the side this week and his last two scores of 77 and 75 make him hard to ignore at this price. Collingwood have been giving up above average points to all backline roles and with Laird still out, I will be looking to stack up Crows backs and utilise this area to attack to find some value on a single game slate.
AFL Fantasy Round 20 Thursday – Our Mid-Priced Fantasy Picks
Lachlan McAndrew ($12,600) is the standout ruck play on this slate and I want him ahead of Cameron every day of the week. He has done a formidable job as Adelaide's number one ruckman in 2026 – attending around 70% of their ruck contents. This week he comes up against a Collingwood side that has been giving up over 20 points above league average to rucks, a ridiculous stats as outlined above. His last three scores of 68, 83 and 96 haven't set the world on fire, but that is why we can get him in this price range at $12k.
AFL Fantasy Round 20 Thursday – Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Wayne Milera ($14,480) posted 128 last week and is absolutely on fire right now, averaging over 103 across his last three with scores of 128, 89 and 94. Collingwood are giving up over 7.5 points above average to designated kickers and with Laird still out, Milera is handling a huge proportion of Adelaide’s kick-in duties on top of his usual half-back work. Adelaide met with Collingwood earlier in the year and Milera demonstrated his fantasy prowess in that matchup posting a 111 point game and I expect something similar on the cards this week. Aleternativley, if you are looking for a cash saving options in the back line but still want to stack the Crows, I would look for a for a bounce back from Josh Worrell ($11,640).
Izak Rankine ($14,370) is the Adelaide premium midfielder and pinch hitting forward I want in this matchup. He’s come back to form in stunning fashion with 92, 138 and 91 across his last three games, with his biggest score coming at home. Primarily running through the midfield, he should take advantage of the fact that the Magpies give up some of the biggest fantasy scores in the league and due to injury, tags and different roles his price point is still nicely within the $14k range. Rankine has one of the biggest upsides on the slate as he showed with a 162 point game earlier this year and this is the type of matchup where a ceiling score in that vancinity is on the cards.
Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Fantasy Round 20 Thursday
Weather Report for Thursday July 23rd 2026
Adelaide - Partly sunny, 13 degrees.
AFL Betting Markets Round 20 Thursday
Adelaide ($1.43) vs Collingwood ($2.83)
Line: Adelaide -14.5
Points: 164.5
Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Friday Preview and Betting Tips. Our experts break down the game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
