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Okay fair enough and I agree with the bolded. Hawthorn have not gone to the depths a bunch of other clubs have in order to climb back up to the top end of the ladder. And certainly not for as long. I'm only commenting in relation to Geelong. Hawthorn did have 7 players it drafted from top 6 picks in its 2008 list (so plenty of bites at the cherry), compared to none for Geelong. Franklin, Roughead and Hodge were huge - even though a bunch of others were misses.

The thing about the lack of low finishes isn't just about the 1st pick you get. It's the fact you're choosing after almost every other team for the 2nd and 3rd picks.

The Cats did strike gold in the gene pool though, with Hawkins in particular the key to keeping it all running (under current rules, we'd have had to miss out on Selwood to get him).