AFL GameDay Squad Round 6 Preview | Best Matchups, PODs & Key Trends
- Beast Mode
- Apr 17
- 6 min read
AFL GameDay Squad Round 6 Preview
The AFL GameDay Squad Round 6 Preview is here, bringing you the latest insights to help you dominate this week’s matchups. Join us for Round 6 as we break down the best positional matchups, highlight the top PODs, analyse key AFL trends, and keep an eye on noteworthy venues and weather conditions. Plus, we’ll check in on BOBS team results and reveal our early starter squad for the round.
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Let’s get into the AFL GameDay Squad Round 6 Preview and identify the must-have players for the week!
POD Review – Round 5 Picks
Jake Soligo – 62 – Failed pick, Crows were dominated by the Geelong midfield
Jordan Ridley – 117 – Tick. Great pick, would have been unique
Adam Cerra – 113 – Tick. Seems to score about this every week. Has a low of 104 and high of 122 across 5 rounds
Charlie Curnow – 99 – Tick. Would have expected slightly more against West Coast but still a fine choice
Toby Nankervis – 92 – Not really a tick or fail. Other rucks struggled but expected slightly better from Nank the Tank.
Just an average week for POD scores. Expected Soligo to be much better but the others were playable.
AFL GameDay Squad Round 6 Preview – Best Plays by Position
WEST COAST
This week I am just going to add a category called “West Coast” since they are basically leaking points everywhere. It’s amazing. This week they come up against Essendon at Optus Stadium. Whilst I wouldn’t recommend picking the entire Essendon team, there are certainly a few options. Zach Merrett is the biggest lock in the world. Fade at your own risk. Nic Martin bounced back to form last week and should be great again. Jordan Ridley I expect will continue from a solid performance last week. One who is a bit of a smokey is Will Setterfield. Came back into the side last week to his midfield role. Won’t be needed to tag as much against West Coast and could easily put up a strong score.
DEFENDERS
St Kilda and Richmond are currently the sides which defenders are finding it easiest to score against. This week St Kilda come up against Western Bulldogs at Marvel, which is an elite scoring venue. He has been slightly disappointing so far this year and is coming off a low score against Brisbane, but Bailey Dale should bounce back with a big score this week. Has a massive ceiling and could really dominate. Outside of him, however, there are not any other defender options I would recommend from the Bulldogs. The Suns come up against Richmond. I really like the look of John Noble here as a unique option with scores of 126, 96, and 142 in the last 3 weeks. Daniel Rioli has a friendly role but would be riskier than Noble based on form.
MIDFIELDERS
Interestingly, Carlton have been leaking points to midfielders in the first 5 rounds, followed by Melbourne and Richmond. North Melbourne come up against Carlton on Good Friday in their “blockbuster” clash. Luke Davies-Uniacke presents as a great option. Whilst in other positions, Jy Simpkin and Harry Sheezel I think will also go very well. Caleb Serong and Andrew Brayshaw should see plenty of ball against Melbourne. Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson are likely to also dominate against Richmond.
RUCKS
Rucks are very tough to choose at the moment. Many expected Rowan Marshall and Tristan Xerri to be locks all year, but each have had their misses along with other rucks. Whilst never quite a top 2 option, Jarrod Witts has been very reliable for a long time and should be a safe play this week once again. Whilst there is not a lot of data to go off recently, Fremantle are not the most difficult matchup with an unfit Sean Darcy in ruck. I expect Max Gawn at the MCG to be a solid option against them. He loves that venue and should also present as a safe choice.
FORWARDS
The last few forward spots will once again be a challenging pick for a lot of coaches. There are less obvious matchups this week as key forwards against West Coast are not safe options. Playing at Marvel, Matthew Kennedy deserves some respect and might start making his way onto coaches’ fields this week. Whilst I heavily questioned it to begin with, I am starting to lean towards giving Kysaiah “Kozzie” Pickett a chance in my team. Has scores of 122 and 97 so far and is capable of kicking goals whilst going through the midfield.
AFL GameDay Squad Round 6 Preview - Top 5 PODs
Every round, unique point-of-difference (POD) players can separate the best squads from the pack. Here are five left-field picks to consider:
Will Setterfield
Bailey Dale
John Noble
Luke Davies-Uniacke
Jarrod Witts
AFL Trends Noticed by BOBS
BOBS keeps an eye on emerging trends to help GameDay Squad coaches get ahead. Here are the key observations from recent rounds:
Port Adelaide continues to be a team that is restricting teams from scoring well overall and Sweet is a terrible ruck matchup. Fade against them.
Tom Sparrow has moved to a tagging role with varied success. Merrett brushed him aside, but Max Holmes was blanketed. This is a watch – could Serong be the target this week? I’m unsure of the effect.
Key forward domination – typically we target the small/medium forwards that are actually playing another role. However, in the last few weeks we have seen Sam Darcy and Riley Thilthorpe emerge as legitimate options for us. I will be watching them in 2025 and targeting ideal matchups.
Weather & Venue Watch – Key Conditions for Round 6
Thursday, April 17
Gabba, BrisbaneBrisbane Lions vs Collingwood – 7:30pm AEST
Forecast: Mostly sunny and nice
High: 28°C
Low: 16°C
Chance of rain: Slight chance of an afternoon shower
Friday, April 18
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne North Melbourne vs Carlton – 3:20pm AEST
Forecast: Sunny to partly cloudy and very warm
High: 30°C
Low: 15°C
Optus Stadium, Perth West Coast Eagles vs Essendon – 6:10pm AEST
Forecast: Mostly sunny and pleasant; breezy in the afternoon
High: 22°C
Low: 10°C
Saturday, April 19
MCG, Melbourne Melbourne vs Fremantle – 1:20pm AEST
Forecast: Sunny to partly cloudy and very warm
High: 30°C
Low: 15°C
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Adelaide Crows vs GWS GIANTS – 4:15pm AEST
Forecast: Periods of rain; breezy in the afternoon
High: 25°C
Low: 15°C
Marvel Stadium, Melbourne Richmond vs Gold Coast SUNS – 7:35pm AEST
Forecast: Sunny to partly cloudy and very warm
High: 30°C
Low: 15°C
Sunday, April 20
SCG, Sydney Sydney Swans vs Port Adelaide – 3:20pm AEST
Forecast: Mostly sunny and very warm
High: 29°C
Low: 18°C
Marvel Stadium, MelbourneWestern Bulldogs vs St Kilda – 7:20pm AEST
Forecast: Sunny to partly cloudy and very warm
High: 30°C
Low: 15°C
Monday, April 21 –
MCG, Melbourne Geelong Cats vs Hawthorn – 3:20pm AEST
Forecast: Sunny to partly cloudy and very warm
High: 30°C
Low: 15°C
Teams and Their Taggers
This will be an evolving area as we see trends develop.
Toby Bedford has been killing it as a tagger in 2025. I believe he will continue to tag the best inside mid from each team. We saw last week they chose to tag Macrae over Sinclair. So I think this week Dawson or Rankine will be in trouble. I’m not sure which it will be—it may be both, with him swapping between whoever is in the middle, similar to Petracca and Oliver.
Marcus Windhager – news is that we expect Bontempelli to be named and I feel he is the obvious target. Libba could be the alternative.
James Jordan – got butchered by Nick Daicos last week, but Sydney have shown they are keen to tag again in 2025. Any one of Port’s top 3 could be in the gun—but my money would be on Butters to start.
BOBS Early Starter – Team of the Round
Based on matchups, form, and GameDay Squad strategy, here’s an early look at a high-upside squad for Round 6:
Final Thoughts
Round 6 presents some juicy matchups, high-upside PODs, and key trends to watch. Keep an eye on final team selections and late changes before locking in your squad. Stay tuned for more insights from Blokes on the Ball, and good luck in GameDay Squad Round 6!
Cheers,
Beast Mode and The Goal Practitioner
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