I think Emma has expressed herself poorly here. Elsewhere she has referred to our drafting as a 'Moneyball' approach, meaning a revolutionary improvement to the way the AFL evaluates potential draftees.
Our first two selections are zone busters, and the value we have placed in getting them suggests a brave new approach has been used by our recruiters in valuing run & carry and kicking skills above other more traditionally prized attributes.
We also appear to have selected players that have improved late. We have valued a demonstrated ability to improve above consistent high performance, as this suggests that the player has yet more improvement ahead of them.
We have also selected ready mades, but not recycled players, with our late picks. These players do not require the development investment and can perform now for us in our premiership window, they are still only 22/23 meaning a long career ahead and they are desperate for an opportunity, as opposed to other draftees who have not had to fight for their spot or recycled's who had their shot and didn't make it. You also know what you are getting which takes the gamble away to some extent that exists with the 17/18 year olds.
Revolutionary thinking on many fronts. Emma has acknowledged this, but her comments on her initial reaction say more about her than our recruiters.