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.
3. Port Adelaide (2000)
| Number of Players Recruited | Combined Games Played | Average Games |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 834 | 119 |
In the bronze medal position on the podium, we find Port Adelaide's millennium year class.
Alberton heroes Kane Cornes (300), Dominic Cassisi (228) and Shaun Burgoyne (157) were joined by former Saint Darryl Wakelin (146) following the y2k bug panic.
Despite all four featuring in Port's maiden AFL Premiership in 2004, their deeds were counteracted by the trio of Allan Murray, Christopher Hall and Ben Hollands combining for a grand total of three appearances for the club.
