AFL Fantasy for dummies: How to play, scoring system, more

IT'S the greatest game on Earth, and it's easy to understand why.

If you love footy, AFL Fantasy is the perfect companion. Almost every single game of the home and away season will have some meaning and you'll join a community of tens of thousands of coaches riding every kick, handball, tackle, goal and more.

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You'll watch West Coast with a different eye on its new young guns like Willem Duursma and Cooper Duff-Tytler and you'll probably be focused on Sam Flanders and Christian Petracca at their new clubs in St Kilda and Gold Coast respectively.

And there's no doubt there'll be some additional interest in the club you support.

Ask any Fantasy coach and it's guaranteed, you'll watch games you maybe wouldn't have previously.

Listen to the AFL Fantasy Podcast with The Traders at Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

So what is it and how does it work? There are two formats of Fantasy – Fantasy Classic and Fantasy Draft.

Let's start with the more popular game, Fantasy Classic.

Fantasy coaches manage a squad throughout the home and away rounds of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season with their team success based on players' actual on-field performances.

So if you pick Nick Daicos in your squad, every time he kicks the ball your squad will earn three points, for every handball you'll gain two points, for every goal you'll gain six points and so on.

The scoring system couldn't be simpler.

Easy enough? Maybe.

Your squad is made up of 30 players.

But if you do pick Daicos in your squad (let's face it, we'd all love to), that will set you back $1,134,000.

Like (real) AFL clubs, you are given $18,300,000 to spend on your squad. So, picking Daicos is already taking up a bit more than six per cent of your salary cap.

That's not so bad, given you can also pick Carlton midfielder Jagga Smith (who is likely to play in round one) for $230,000.

Then you can also pick Bomber Darcy Parish (wow, only $759,000?) and Gold Coast draftee Zeke Uwland ($346,000).

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Your squad is made up of 22 on-field players who will score points each week. A bench of eight players, of which four are emergencies, can be used if one of your on-field players are out.

You must pick eight defenders, 10 midfielders, three rucks and eight forwards, plus a utility who can be from any position.

To fit a team in under the $18,300,000 (it sounds like a lot but wait until you try), you’ll need a mix of some of the cheaper players, discounted gems and premiums to make sure you're getting bang for your buck.

To get bang for your buck with Daicos, you need him to score about 108 points per game. Can he? Of course. But to get bang for your buck with Parish, you need him to score about 72 points per game. For Smith, that number would be 22. If the young Blue takes a mark (3 points), kicks (3 points) a goal (6 points), he's already more than halfway there.

You're looking for players who excel in the stats that give you points (as per the table above). Players who know how to find plenty of the ball, take plenty of marks, lay plenty of tackles and get plenty of hitouts.

Once you've picked your team ahead of round one (not Opening Round), you'll get to trade two players every week (three during the mid-season byes) to improve your team as the year goes on.

Getting harder? We're here to help.

AFL.com.au's Fantasy experts The Traders in Warnie, Roy and Calvin offer plenty of help. You can find all the Fantasy news and more right here.

They offer some of the best advice in text, audio and video form. Our position previews (all available now) even give you a guide on who to pick, and why (or why not!)

Then, there's the Fantasy community. While not limited to X (or Twitter for some), search for #AFLFantasy and you'll see plenty of content. Plus, there are brilliant coaches out there happy to offer advice and tips. And the fun, and banter, flows in-season.

Competition is best enjoyed between mates so make a team, create a league and go head-to-head for bragging rights.

PLAY AFL FANTASY Pick your team NOW

Another way to enjoy Fantasy is Fantasy Draft.

What's the difference? In Draft, one player belongs to one team. And there's no salary cap.

So if you want to own Harry Sheezel, who is tipped to be one of the best scorers in 2026 and is available as a forward, you'll need to get him before your league mates.

Once you've got him, he's yours. If someone else wants him, they'll have to make a trade with you (you'd want to be getting something incredible to do this deal!)

You play against your league mates by holding a draft prior to the season commencing to select your squads. Each coach will take it in turns to make a pick. As soon as a player has been selected, no one else can pick them up. Every team is unique.

The scoring system can be the same as Fantasy Classic, but there are plenty of customisation options should you want to change it up to reward certain stats more than others.

If you can get a league set up, Fantasy Draft can be easier in-season, when you don't have to adjust your team as much, or at all (if you get lucky with injuries).

Get expert advice from The Traders during the pre-season in the Fantasy Hub. Follow AFL Fantasy on X and Instagram and 'like' the Facebook page to join in the conversation.