I'll bite....
A "meaningless" win is classed as any win(s) that happen after the season is shot when you are still below the PP threshold that then puts you over the 4-wins threshold.
Our last four seasons have been shot by round 11 and I'm being generous. All but 2008 were shot within the first month
.
R1-11 R12-22
2007: 0-10-1 (16th) 3-8 (16th) .......... top 20 PP which we traded away for Jordie so we threw it away
.
2008: 3-7-1 (12th) 8-3 (9th) .......... no PP
2009: 2-9 (15th) 3-7-1 (15th) .......... no PP
2010: 1-10 (16th) 5-3* (15th*) .......... no PP
We were the first side in the era of PPs to finish 15th without gaining a PP btw last year and possibly will repeat that stat this year.
Furthermore you or more particularly the list manager along with heads of the footy dept. also judge how far away as a team and list you are from becoming a top side. If you're grinding out wins in low standard games against other mediocre sides yet you are non-competitive against the better sides then you're daylight away and winning games late in the season is fool's gold which just hurts you at the draft table where you need to access the top end of the draft where most of the talented kids are that will improve your list both in quality and depth.
In our case blind freddy knew halfway through last year that we would struggle in 2010 and more than likely in 2011 given the loss of experience and the increased youth of the list. Clearly our list manager was asleep at the wheel as far as long term planning to maximise the draft options available
.