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.
6. West Coast (1999)
| Number of Players Recruited | Combined Games Played | Average Games |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 857 | 107 |
Before the first season of Ken Judge's two-season tenure as West Coast coach, the Eagles landed some big names during the off-season.
Premiership players Darren Glass (270 games) and Adam Hunter (151) joined the club, but it was the addition of Dean Cox (290) via the Rookie Draft that saw them surge up this list.
Although Kasey Greene (54) managed to crack the half ton, none of David Haynes (46), Travis Gaspar (28), Kane Munro (18) or Toby McGrath (zero) were able to join him.
