No rest for the wicked as we head right back into Round 8 this Thursday night as Gold Coast face the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium. As usual we have several monster daily fantasy contests on offer:

 

  • AFL $75,000+ Suns vs Bulldogs at Draftstars
  • AFL $10,000+ Suns vs Bulldogs High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
  • AFL $7,000+ Suns vs Bulldogs Fiver at Draftstars
  • AFL $8,000+ Suns vs Bulldogs Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars
  • AFL Showdown $20,000 Sawtooth at DraftKings

 

In addition to previews for each and every slate this season, Daily Fantasy Rankings will continue with our AFL Resources page. This section provides you all the data you need to build your best lineups. It includes daily cheat sheets for both Draftstars and DraftKings, Player Correlation tables, Player Out tables, Scores Against tables, Tagging information, statistical breakdowns and much more!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS OUR CHEAT SHEET FOR THIS MATCH

Gold Coast vs Western Bulldogs at METRICON Stadium (WB -7.5, 117.5)

WEATHER WATCH

We are still days out but there is the expectation of up to 10mm of rain on Thursday on the Gold Coast. It is forecast to hit at its worst during the late morning, which means it could be dried out by game time. That said, it is still worth monitoring and considering inside players (Hugh Greenwood would become a lock) or those who are more likely to tackle. In the ruck Witts would be the preference in the wet given he should dominate English in the hit outs.

WHERE TO ATTACK

 

Western Bulldogs have been one of the top teams to target this season via defenders. This is particularly true for premium backs as they have conceded +3 points per game to the opponents top 3 scorers at the position. Given the weather it might be more difficult for typical half back flankers to score, however targeting Suns backs on this slate looks to be the play.

Forwards on both sides have been a source of fantasy points this season with the Bulldogs giving up the second most points in the league and a massive +5.9 points per player to the top three scorers at the position. The Suns sit a couple spots behind at +4.5 points.

Tim English is really starting to come of age and we see this is in the data as he is no longer sitting at the top of the table for points conceded to number one ruckman. In fact he is only 3.1 points per game above league average. That said, it will still be a tough matchup for him against Witts who concedes slightly below league average this season at -0.3.

VALUE PLAYS

Callum Porter (DS $5,000, DK $2,600)

Porter will be the highest owned player on this slate and with good reason. He is an absolute tackling machine and has posted some absolutely draw dropping fantasy scores at U/18 NAB League level in 2017, which included a 36 disposal, 12 tackle and 4 goals performance. in 2019 he was able to score at a very consistent rate with tackling his main fantasy scoring. While his main position is midfield he does have the capability to play both forward and back, which means he will likely be playing out of position at this level. That said, at the minimum price he should return value and his game style will be even more suited if the wet weather strikes.

Ben King (DS $7,690, DK $3,800)

Needs to be a dry deck for this one but if that is the case I love Ben King as a lower owned value play on this slate. Before last week he had displayed a decent run of consistency at this price point with a low score of 44 from his previous 5 games.  He already has two 60+ point games and on this slate, he will draw one of the most favourable matchups in the league for forwards against the Bulldogs. I also love key forwards against the Doggies, which is a trend going back years.

Nick Holman (DS $8,660, DK $3,300)

Now for the wet deck play. Again, sticking with the theme of forwards against the Dogs I shift to Holman. He has displayed 74-point upside in a game where he laid 8 tackles. In the wet he will certainly get his hands dirty and that tackle count should spike, if he can hit the scoreboard as well, we can expect another ceiling game.

 

MID PRICED PLAYS

Tom Liberatore (DS $11,150, DK $5,800)

After a long stretch of being in and out of the team with injury, form issues and not being provided the opportunity to play his natural role it looks like Liberatore has returned to the midfield. Attending 18 centre bounces last week he was able to return 81 fantasy points, which backed up a 71-point game from the week before. The Bulldogs are essentially running Macrae, Bont, Bailey and Liber through the inside (with Dunkley out). Liber is also a tackle machine, which makes this play even better if the wet weather hits.

 

PREMIUM PLAYS

Hugh Greenwood (DS $13,960, DK $7,700) / David Swallow (DS $13,280, DK $6,700)

Lock and load at least one of these two, or… as we saw last week both in the same team is an option as well. Since Rowell went down Swallow has taken up the majority of the centre bounce attendances (17 last week) and posted three straight scores of 94, 70 and 98. Meanwhile Hugh Greenwood has seen a massive boost to his possession count (to go along with his ridiculous tackle numbers, 11+ over his last 3 games), which has led to three straight monster 100+ point scores.

Essentially, I give Greenwood the higher upside, but also the higher ownership. Swallow will be the less popular option but with more risk. If the rain hits, whoever, Greenwood becomes an absolute lock and load play.

 

Dragon's Suggested Draftstars Team

Dragon's Suggested DraftKings Team

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