AFL DraftKings Picks: Thursday, July 23rd DFS Strategy
Round 8 of the AFL gets underway with a rare prime time match in Australia for the Gold Coast Suns in a stand-alone match against the Western Bulldogs who were big winners last round. The slate gets underway at 19:40 Australian Eastern Standard Time (05:40 ET Thursday). This is a home game for the Suns but the Bulldogs are in their Queensland hub.
We will continue to educate and teach the game of Aussie Rules DFS throughout the season so do drop in the Discord Chat at any time and ask questions. However, you are new to the game then our resources are below to get you started:
— AFL DFS: A Beginner’s Guide to Aussie Rules Football
— AFL Daily Fantasy Strategy Steps to Success
— Using AFL Data
You will also want to leverage these tools to help build your Round 8 lineups:
— AFL Daily Projections from Daily Fantasy Rankings
— AFL Lineup Optimizer / Lineup Builder: LineupHQ
— FREE DraftKings Round 6 Cheat Sheet and Projections
— FREE DFS Matchup and Data Tools from Daily Fantasy Rankings
Also, be sure to catch some fantastic multimedia from Daily Fantasy Rankings every week. Below, you’ll find the AFL DK Down Under Show in which Smatho and Big Hef break down this match between the Suns and the Dogs. The lads talk about building teams for this match with more bad weather on the forecast, so make sure you check it out and subscribe on YouTube so you don’t miss an episode!
AFL Betting Market Odds, Teams and Weather
Gold Coast (+120) v Western Bulldogs (-147)
Total Points Over/Under – 115.5
Spread – 5.5
Lines and Prices are correct at the time of publication (2030 AEST 07-22-2020) and subject to change.
Weather Forecast
Cloudy. Very high (90%) chance of rain, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Likely to be wet but not as bad as it suggests.
Team Announcements
Final teams can be accessed via the League’s Website afl.com.au for this match and a reminder that confirmed starters are at 60 minutes before the match commences.
Lachie Hunter is out for personal reasons and in comes a debut for 21yo Callum Porter who is a pretty good cheap midfielder. The Suns are unchanged from last week’s win to the Swans.
Credit – afl.com.au
Fantasy Contests Available
DraftKings have posted their main GPP contest with a $20,000 USD pool for a $12 USD entry. The contest is a 58 max contest.
Lineup Building tip: With the predicted wet weather, look to players who will be around the stoppages and with high tackling rates. Tackles are worth 4 fantasy points and can be the difference between a mediocre and an excellent fantasy score. 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.
Players of Interest
Callum Porter – M – $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 VFL level, which included a 36 disposal, 12 tackle and 4 goals performance in 2019. With news that Hunter is out of the team this could open up a spot for Porter to play on the wing and be around the stoppage.
Hugh Greenwood – M/F – $7,700
If Porter is the number 1 owned player then Greenwood will be number 2. 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. If the game is wet then only injury will stop Greenwood racking up more tackles.
Jarrad Witts – R – $7,500
Bit of a risk going against the inform Tim English, but I am willing to take on the savings with Witts. English has been outbodied in terms of hitouts and if the weather does hit then this could remove English’s ability to contribute via Marks and Kicks. Witts is a big-bodied Ruckman who also contributes to the Suns clearance work. Unfortunately we do not have an alternative here.
Tom Liberatore – M – $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.
For further analysis of the Thursday Slate and access to Daily Fantasy Rankings AFL resources, we have a further breakdown on this slate in our Thursday Preview on the Daily Fantasy Rankings site.
RotoGrinders Premium subscribers can also access DraftKings AFL DFS Projections, which can be found in LineupHQ for more great options on this week’s slate.
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Author: Luke Mathyssen
Player Image Credit – AFL