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 โ us included โ as they offer clean slates, new leaves, and a myriad of other clichรฉs 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.
9. Fremantle (2001)
| Number of Players Recruited | Combined Games Played | Average Games |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 991 | 99 |
Despite perpetual ridicule due to their lack of on-field success, Fremantle make their first appearance on this list at the number nine slot.
2001 proved a bumper year for the Dockers, with the additions of Trent Croad (38 games) and Luke McPharlin (244) flying west from the Hawks.
Behemoth ruckman Aaron Sandilands (271), Paul Medhurst (99), Graeme Polak (73) as well as former Demons Jeff Farmer (131) and Troy Simmonds (64) rounded out the Docker's best deals.
On the flip side of the coin, Andrew Browne (29) and Luke Webster (33) never topped 50 games, with Josh Head failing to crack double figures with nine appearances.
