Friday Night Fireworks: Crows vs Dogs DraftStars Guide

Friday night footy heads to the Adelaide Oval for a cracking clash between the Adelaide Crows and the Western Bulldogs to kick off your weekend. Expect a fierce, high-pressure contest through the guts combined with plenty of running footy on the outside, creating an absolute goldmine of daily fantasy scoring opportunities.

Our FootyBets.ai supercomputer has crunched the numbers for this March 2026 blockbuster, and a few clear standout picks are dominating the optimal builds:

Lachlan McAndrew (Adelaide, RUC) Appearing in every single optimal lineup, the big Crow is poised for a massive night. He’ll pad his score through a sheer volume of hitouts while getting his hands dirty with crucial tackles and clearances around the stoppages.

Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs, MID) The ultimate contested beast features in 90% of our builds. Libba’s bread and butter is extraction and double-digit tackles, giving him an ultra-safe floor and a monster ceiling with a projection hovering near 100 points.

Isaac Cumming (Adelaide, MID) Thriving in Crows colours, Cumming is a staple across our top lineups. Expect him to rack up the uncontested possessions and link-up marks on the outside, acting as the main distributor driving the ball inside 50.

Alex Neal-Bullen (Adelaide, FWD) A forward-half pressure machine. ANB will stuff the stat sheet with forward-50 tackles, high half-forward disposals, and is always a massive threat to snag a couple of goals on the run.

Rory Laird (Adelaide, DEF) You simply can't ignore a slate-breaking projection of 106.1 points. Slotted in defence, Laird is a proven ball-magnet who will comfortably rack up 30+ disposals and chip it around for easy +3 marks across half-back.

Position-by-Position Quick Tips: * RUC: Don't overthink it—Lachlan McAndrew is our AI's undisputed number one choice to dominate the ruck battles tonight. * DEF: Lock in Rory Laird for elite disposal counts, and look to Max Michalanney or Josh Worrell for strong intercept marking upside. * MID: Build your core around Tom Liberatore's inside grunt, perfectly balanced with Isaac Cumming’s outside run and carry. * FWD: Target Alex Neal-Bullen for his elite tackle pressure, or take a flyer on young Dog Jordan Croft to clunk marks and hit the scoreboard.

Check out the exact Top 10 optimal lineups our AI has cooked up for you below!