For some people, the off-season proves to be more exciting than any of the 27 weeks of the fixtured year.
Player movements and rumours get everyone excited – us included – as they offer clean slates, new leaves, and a myriad of other clichés for fans and footballers alike.
Every club will contemporarily claim that their trade and draft hauls are of an elite standard, however, time and statistics are the true revealers of quality.
Although some teams are notoriously poor drafters and have a penchant for purchasing players well beyond their use by date, you won't find any of them on this list.
With many thanks to the statistical records of Draftguru, here are, by year, the top ten best recruitment class from clubs in the AFL era based off averaged games played across respective crops.
For example, Hawthorn's 2004 crop of Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis is weighed down by five players from the same draft class playing a combined five matches.
8. Fremantle (2003)
| Number of Players Recruited | Combined Games Played | Average Games |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | 902 | 100 |
Two years after their 2001 off-season successes, Fremantle topped their previous high watermark with their 2003 wheelings and dealings.
Club stalwarts David Mundy (currently sitting on 332 games) and Michael Johnson (244) were added to the list, along with the more than serviceable Paul Duffield (171).
Brett Peake also managed 75 games as a Docker after being taken with a father-son selection in the third round.
Although they added class across the ground in 2003, the Dockers couldn't be ranked higher after recruits Ryan Murphy, Adam Campbell, Dylan Smith, Ryley Dunn and Michael Warren all finished their careers south of 50 games.
