We are back!!! The AFL Premiership Season for 2022 is set to get underway Wednesday night at 7:10pm AEDT with a grand final rematch between last year’s premiers the Melbourne Demons and the Western Bulldogs. Draftstars have delivered with a monster $150k main and a wide variety of other contests for us daily fantasy lovers to get into:

 

  • AFL $150,000+ Demons vs Bulldogs at Draftstars
  • AFL $10,000+ Demons vs Bulldogs High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
  • AFL $5,000+ Demons vs Bulldogs Fiver at Draftstars 
  • AFL $10,000+ Demons vs Bulldogs Mini ($2 Entry) at Draftstars

 

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 line-ups. It includes daily cheat sheets for Draftstars, 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

 

 

You can watch a replay of the Draftstars AFL Show with Smatho and Roody as they breakdown this Draftstars contest on Wednesday night. Not to be missed if you are making lineups for these contests! 

 

 

Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs at MCG (MEL -9.5, 160.5)

 

Weather
 

 

Where to Attack?

 

Obviously each season is a new year and trends from 2021 aren’t typically going to remain the same, that said with just the one game under the belt so far it is still a great starting point to gauge what we can expect heading into this day of games.

 

 

The Bulldogs structure in 2022 was to cut off the middle, which forced the opposition to chip across the back line all year. This resulted in conceding the second most points in the league to backs and from a game script perspective creates an obvious setup of playing Demons backs with Western Bulldogs midifelders.

 

 

The Bulldogs have one of the leagues best midfields and this match-up looks ideal for them to take advantage from a fantasy point of view. Last year Melbourne structured up in a fashion that enabled teams to pick up possessions through the middle while allowing their extra man down back to mop up and begin the counter-attack. This resulted in the Demons giving up the third most points to the position and the second most to the opponent's top three scorers.

 

 

Once again in 2022 the Bulldogs will end the season conceding the most points in the league to rucks. Tim English and the Bulldogs have given up 92 points per game to the oppositions number one ruckman, which was 3 points per game higher than the next closest team. This should play right into the Demons hands who possess arguably the leagues best ruck duo in Max Gawn and Luke Jackson.

 

Game Script – Melbourne backs, Western Bulldogs midfielders

 

VALUE PLAYS

 

Luke Jackson (DS $8,940) was a revelation last year in his second AFL season. He was taking approximately 25% of the ruck contests in the second half of the season and we can only expect that number to grow as he enters his third year and the Demons look to protect Max Gawn through the regular season. As noted above this is the best matchup in the league for rucks and Jackson was one of the X factors in the grand final last year posting 83 fantasy points.

 

Jake Bowey (DS $7,490) is a solid value option that fits in the with the game script of Melbourne backs. He posted 56 points in the grand final last year, which is enough at this price in a single game slate, and I would expect the uncontested points across the back line to increase in a regular season game compared to a grand final. This will also be Bowey’s second season after cementing himself in the best 22 to end last year, so I would be expecting a boost in fantasy scoring in 2022.

 

Tom Sparrow (DS $6,900) / James Jordon (DS $6,190) these two will be the chalk value plays of the slate as both get opportunities through the midfield.  Last season Jordon debuted and kicked off the season going gangbusters attending around 30-40% of the CBAs in the first 9 rounds. As the year went on it was Sparrow who took over this role attending 40-50% of the Demons CBAs from round 20 to 24. This year both will get their chances through the middle and would feel comfortable rostering both players to help spend up on premiums on this slate.

 

PREMIUM PLAYS

 

Jackson Macrae (DS $16,680) is priced nicely in the $16k range for a player who averaged 116 points per game in 2022. He is one of the safest mainstays in the Bulldogs midfield while the mad scientist Luke Beverage shuffles his plethora of midfielders. As noted above, the Demons are an elite matchup for midfielders and Macrae should rack it up in this round one matchup.

 

Christian Salem (DS $14,310) is a great premium option that fits the game script in this matchup. He went bonkers in the grand final last year posting 133 points and being one of the keys to that single game slate. I love pairing him with other value options in the Melbourne back line.

 

Dragon's Suggested Draftstars Team

 

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