It’s a three game Sunday slate in the AFL, with the action starting in Victoria and gradually heading west to finish in Perth. It is a nice sized slate to wrap up what has been an entertaining weekend of footy. Draftstars have delivered with a $100k main contest for Sunday and a wide variety of other contests for us daily fantasy lovers to get into as well:

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

 

 

Hawthorn vs North Melbourne at MCG (HAW -1.5, Total 161.5)

Adelaide vs Fremantle at Adelaide Oval (ADL -4.5, Total 159.5)

West Coast vs Gold Coast Optus Stadium (BRI -14.5, 168.5)

 

Weather

Melbourne

Adelaide

Perth

 

Rain should not impact any of the games significantly, with good conditions forecast for each of the three games, with things a little warmer in Adelaide in particular.

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 Sunday.

 

 

Looking at the data and one of the standout areas to focus on appears to be the Adelaide backs. Fremantle gave up the highest averages to backs in 2021, and with no anticipated changes to game plans coming into 2022, this looks to be a solid focal point for the Sunday slate.

 

 

The West Coast and North Melbourne midfield brigades look to be the picks of the bunch when you look for targets through the middle. The bigger difficulty may be assessing just which players will find themselves spending most of the game in the middle.

 

Game Script – Adelaide backs, North Melbourne mids, West Coast mids

 

VALUE PLAYS

Josh Ward ($9,200) The 18 year old Hawk looked right at home in the midfield in the pre-season, racking up 29 disposals, 17 in the second half, and is named on the wing against North Melbourne. Whilst Mitchell and O’Meara will see significant midfield time, there should be opportunities outside of them, and Ward may allow for some salary saving within your team.

Jason Horne-Francis ($8,500) is likely to be a popular choice here, and with my thoughts around increasing salary usage in the defensive aspect of the team and trying to find some value midfield adds. Scored 78 in the AAMI Community showing with 16 possessions and two goals and should be able to produce a solid score for the salary.

MID-PRICED PLAYS

Matt Rowell ($10,260) has endured two years of major injuries and niggles, which has led to a lower salary here as a solid midfield prospect. He is a significantly better player than his 2022 average suggests, as shown with his 101 point showing in the AAMI Community Series. Should see significant midfield time, and potential to impact the scoreboard or produce a solid tackle tally also appeals.

Brodie Smith ($12,450) appeals with the stats above regarding Adelaide defenders. You could also make a case for the newly acquired Jordan Dawson, however with a minor calf complaint a few weeks back, the lower salary option of Smith here appeals with his ceiling. Consistent contributor capable to pushing towards the century with a mid-20 possession outing.

PREMIUM PLAYS

Andrew Gaff ($13,520) is likely to have to shoulder a lot of the midfield/wing burden given the injuries at the Eagles. With a favourable match-up with the Gold Coast mids, and a return to Optus Stadium, I’m anticipating a high score from Gaff. Given his ceiling and a salary 3-5k below the likes of Touk Miller and Matt Crouch, he looks to be a solid play.

Steve's Suggested Draftstars Team

 

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