Round 24 of the 2026 AFL season kicks off Thursday night at Marvel Stadium as St Kilda host Gold Coast in what is Brad Hill’s milestone 300th AFL game. Draftstars are offering $50,000 in guaranteed prize money in their main daily fantasy tournament!
Both teams are out of finals contention heading into the last week of the home-and-away season, so don’t expect the intensity of a finals-loaded contest — but the individual fantasy scoring opportunities are some of the richest of the entire season. Brad Hill celebrating his 300th game against a Gold Coast side that has been the most generous team in the competition to his position all year. This slate is loaded with individual ceiling plays, especially with the expectation of bruise free footy that the Saints thrive in. St Kilda bring back Liam Ryan for the occasion while Gold Coast are without Christian Petracca who is injured, opening midfield time potentially for some of the Suns youngsters. With the pressure of finals off, expect both sides to play with freedom and generate the kind of open, flowing football that produces big individual fantasy scores.
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AFL $50,000+ Saints vs Suns at Draftstars
AFL $5,000+ Saints vs Suns High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
AFL $3,000+ Saints vs Suns 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 24 St Kilda vs Gold Coast
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Thursday: Where to Attack?
Ok let’s get underway with the biggest concession of points on the slate and that is the Saints giving up over 8 points above league average to attacking half backs and wingers. This area of the ground has been a scoring bonzanza for St Kilda opponents since Ross Lyon joined as coach and for a game where the result doesn’t matter, it is the type of play that just gets even better with the expectation of plenty of uncontested possessions.
The flip side of this is that the Suns are also giving up over 4 points per game above average to this area of the ground, and the Saints are the type of team that has been cashing in completely on uncontested play around their half backs and wings as seen by scores of their players in recent weeks. I think you can play this both ways in this matchup, and I would be heavily looking to take advantage of players whose score is predicated on uncontested link up play.
St Kilda have been holding opposition midfields to under league average scores and doing a solid job on key forwards, while the Suns have been giving up slightly above average to mids, key forwards and general forwards. With the Saints just over 16 point favourites in this game, I would be leaning my stacks toward the Saints in these areas of the ground.
Game Script – Saints forwards, midfielders, backs / Gold Coast backs – focus on link up players
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Thursday Our Value Fantasy Picks
Hugh Boxshall ($9,390) has been unleashed in the midfield for the first time in his career as the Saints season winds down. Attending over 70% of St Kilda’s centre bounces the last four weeks Boxshall returned a score of 104 fantasy points last game. That is a role and return that cannot be ignored at this price point and he would be a lock in any of my lineups.
Beau Addinsall ($8,040) is the Gold Coast Suns youngster who will likely get opportunity in this dead rubber contest. He has been in and out of the midfield in recent weeks, attending 25% of the Suns centre bounces last week and 33% two games ago. Earlier in the season he was able to convert additional midfield time to a ceiling score of 86 fantasy points and that is what my expectation would be in their game. Alternatively you could take a flier on Leo Lombard ($8,130) who has not been getting the midfield minutes but his future screams inside mid for the Suns.
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Thursday – Our Mid Price Fantasy Picks
Jack Macrae ($11,990) has to be mentioned in the mid range here. Coming off a game where he returned to senior football last week and attended over 50% of the Saints centre bounces, he showed some of his best form posting a 122 point performance. For all we know this might be his last ever week at senior level in the AFL and I will expect him to live up to his history fantasy wise in a game built for his style given it is a dead rubber. He will likely be one of the most popular plays on the slate given the recency bias and pricing, so there is certainly reasons to go contrarian here given he had low time on ground last week and it was against the Tigers.
AFL Fantasy Round 24 Thursday – Our Premium Fantasy Picks
Bradley Hill ($16,580) is the premium lock of this slate and his 300th game could not come in a better matchup. Gold Coast have been giving up over 8 points above league average to wings/half backs. Hill posted 145 last week and has scores of 145, 92 and 105 in his last three for an average of 114. Since Jack Sinclair has been out and Hill has move more into the distributor role off half back he has been on a 6 game run averaging over 115 points per game. The milestone occasion, the form, the matchup and the 145 just last week all point in the same direction. First named, every lineup.
Max Hall ($15,270) just posted 161 last week in one of the highest individual scores of the season and he is in the form of his life. He has posted 161, 115 and 109 in his last three for an average of 128.3. Gold Coast have been giving up above average to inside midfielders and Hall’s has now become a mainstay in the Saints midfielder attending over 75% of the Saints centre bounces the last two weeks. This role generates the contested ball and disposal volume that drives his scoring while he continues to get forward as well to hit the scoreboard. His one previous game against Gold Coast produced 98.
FADES: The ruck situation is a mess, I would be looking to fade Rowan Marshall ($13,190) as he is not getting enough time in the centre with Tom De Koning in the lineup, the last two weeks he has attended 36% sand 25% of the Saints centre bounces and this produced scores of 92 and 86. Meanwhile the Suns have brought back Jarrod Witts to play with Ned Moyle and the combo together has produced fantasy scores significantly under where you would want them based on price, even with Witts priced in the $8k range.
Here is our Suggested Draftstars Lineup for AFL Fantasy Round 24 Thursday
Weather Report for Thursday, 20th August
Marvel Stadium (Melbourne) — roof closed, no weather concerns. Ideal scoring conditions for Brad Hill’s milestone night.
AFL Betting Markets Round 24 Thursday
Odds: St Kilda ($1.45) vs Gold Coast ($2.95)
Points: 180.5
Line: St Kilda -16.5
Also, be sure to check out our full AFL Thursday Preview and Betting Tips. Our experts break down the game and highlight some key bets that you can follow!
