76woodenspooners
Brownlow Medallist
I think you underestimate how quickly you can build a team with free agency, trading, Cat B as well as the draft (including rookie selections).
Cat B? - how many solid Cat B contributors have we ever had? I count one.
Free Agency? - Free Agents take a lot of money out of the salary cap, so that effectively limits the number that can be taken. And the selection pool is very small.
Trading? - the challenge there is that you need currency to trade with. Sure, we could try to trade players like Maynard to get good value back. The problem with that is it would mean we no longer have players like Maynard on our list.
Draft? - Sure, you could pick up diamonds in the rough with our late picks, but that takes time and a lot of luck.
And then you hope they want to stay (unlike Henry, Ginnivan and likely Richards)