We’ve got five footy games to get stuck into on Saturday in Round 8 of the AFL season and the major DFS platforms have got you covered for your fantasy footy fix:

 

  • AFL $75,000+ Saturday at Draftstars 
  • AFL $10,000+ Saturday High Roller ($150 Entry) at Draftstars
  • AFL $5,000 Saturday Fiver at Draftstars 
  • AFL $3,000+ Saturday ($2 Entry) at Draftstars 
  • AFL 300k Golden Ticket Qualifiers ($5 and $20 Entry) at Draftstars
  • AFL $4K Blinder ($1K for First) 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 v St Kilda at Metricon Stadium (GC -2.5, 164.5)

GWS v Essendon at GIANTS Stadium (GWS -16.5, 171.5)

North Melbourne v Collingwood at Marvel Stadium (COLL -21.5, 167.5)

Melbourne v Sydney at the MCG (MEL -22.5, 156.5)

Port Adelaide v Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval (PTA -29.5, 162.5)

 

WEATHER WATCH

 

Nothing to worry about for the day games - warm, sunny conditions are forecast for the games on the Gold Coast and in Sydney, and obviously the game at Marvel will be played with the roof on.

 

Come the evening, the game at the MCG might be impacted by showers, with 1 to 3mm predicted for mid to late afternoon and evening. That said, it is likely that the showers will need to hit during the game to have any real impact. 

 

Adelaide has a similar forecast of showers and 1 to 4mm of rainfall, however it is expected to clear by early evening. Be aware that slippery conditions may prevail but that is probably as bad as it will get.

 

Where to Attack?

 

 

A couple of games stand out here. Collingwood and North Melbourne are the leakiest two teams in the competition and in perfect conditions at Marvel there could be an insane amount of cheap fantasy points on offer for both sides. 

 

St Kilda have been surprisingly easy to score against this year after being very tough to rack it up against last season. They travel up to the Gold Coast who also give up more points than the competition average themselves, so this one should also dish up plenty of points.

 

 

All season long Collingwood have been a great team to target with backs (and midfielders) and this could be a perfect storm with North Melbourne’s strategy of chipping the ball around in the backline. The likes of Ziebell and Hall might find themselves in their ultimate happy place given the amount of +6s allowed by the Pies this season to opposition backs.

 

Gold Coast also love to chip the ball around in their backline and the numbers suggest they won’t have too many objections from the Saints, who have allowed their opposition to share the ball around their backline this season.

 

 

There’s a few obvious ruck targets here too. Again St Kilda show up in the numbers here - last year we know Rowan Marshall was very easy to score against and even though Paddy Ryder returned last week, Ben McEvoy helped himself to a 97. Whether the Suns can take advantage of this is another story.

 

Todd Goldstein has been getting easy to score against as he gets older and shows up as one of the best targets in the league, while Gold Coast continue to use a makeshift ruck setup which will hold no fears for the Saints.

 

Game stacks - North Melbourne v Collingwood, Gold Coast v St Kilda

 

VALUE PLAYS

 

Ryan Byrnes (DS $5,930, DK $3,000) came into the side to play Hawthorn and enjoyed himself immensely, gathering 18 disposals on his way to 75 fantasy points. That was quite an easy game to score in if you were wearing a Saints uniform so that might be a bit higher than we get out of him long term, but at this salary anything 60+ presents a great cheap option for your lineup.

 

Sam Flanders (DS $6,520, DK $3,500) performed very well last week at minimum salary against the Pies but given he also had a 64 here at home against the Swans the week before I’m not putting that down to the dream Pies matchup. A highly rated junior, Flanders is improving by the week and his salary is still lagging behind.

 

MID RANGE PLAYS

 

Aiden Bonar (DS $7,730, DK $4,100) was subbed out of the game against the Demons last week with a corkie but holds his place in the team this week. I’ve identified above how good a matchup this is for the Kangaroos backs and Bonar presents as the best cheaper option here. Previous two games of 94 and 71 highlight the upside there is at his salary and he appeals as a less popular pairing for the other defender I’m about to mention.

 

Aaron Hall (DS $11,430, DK $7,200) has a new lease on life with this new role across half back and scored an incredible 143 last week at a sub 10k price tag. While his price has gone up it really hasn’t got close to matching his output - his 3 game average of 100 includes an injury affected 35! The Pies have given up a squillion points to defenders this year, and when  Hall is at the peak of his powers, he eats cheap points like few can.

 

PREMIUM PLAYS

 

Steele Sidebottom (DS $13,180, DK $7,000) hasn’t looked at his peak this season but his 130 two games ago reminded he still has what it takes to notch up a big fantasy score. With all of the dramas down at Collingwood it’s up to the older guys to step up and Sidebottom is one guy who needs to take on the added responsibility. This is a vital match for the Pies to win against the bottom side, and I’m banking on Sidey to lead from the front with plenty of fantasy upside at this price.

 

Tim Taranto (DS $16,250, DK $8,500) is the mainstay in the guts this season for GWS and is in superb form, notching up three 120+ scores in his past five games, including 140 last week. He comes up against an Essendon team which is susceptible to midfielders strong in contested situations and they also give up above-average scores to the oppositions’ best midfielders. His price is up there, but he looks as good a chance as any to be the slate’s leading scorer.

 

Suggested Draftstars Team

Suggested DraftKings Team

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