Fremantle thrive on jeopardy – luckily for them qualifying finals are nerve shredders | Jonathan Horn

The minor premiers face Hawthorn with the gap between first and fourth on the AFL ladder having noticeably narrowed over the past decade 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,…