For three decades, the AFL’s minor premiers received the McClelland Trophy. Now they get squeaky bum syndrome. Prior to the introduction of the pre-finals bye in 2016, there was a nine-year stretch where the minor premiers beat the fourth-placed team in the qualifying final. The average winning margin in those games was 45 points.
The bye saw a marked shift, however. In 2016, GWS bashed and bludgeoned the top-placed Swans at ANZ Stadium. Three years later, Collingwood jumped ladder leaders Geelong. They nearly did it again in 2022, narrowly going down in one of the great finals of the modern era. The top-placed Pies only just scraped through against Melbourne the following year, in a game remembered for Brayden Maynard’s high blow that ended Angus Brayshaw’s career. In 2024, the fourth-placed Giants lost to Sydney after being five goals up in the second half. And last year, Collingwood rolled into Adelaide like a band of hired assassins and beat the top-placed Crows.
