Lake won the norm smith didn't he? Big contributor
Burgoyne wasn't cheap Al. 2 first round picks if I recall and big money at the time.
There have been a few who have excelled at their new club as others have said. Add b Vince to that list as well.
My theory is you shouldn't be affraid to pay for quality players just like Burgoyne and Gunston, especially when you have a plethora of hacks still on descent money. Get rid of those and spend it on a quality player. It's not that hard
FJ hasn't got the greatest record either so can't really rely on him to find us a graders with post first round picks
i've counted burgoine as succesfull big name trade.
now as for getting rid of hacks and using that money on big name players, what do you replace them with? you have less money to spend, so its harder to replace with quality.
even if you replace with kids, if they come good you then need to find more money to retain them.
In its simplest form, you either spend up on stars and have your bottom tier total garbage, (see sydney with flankiln, tippet then down to derrickx) or try to spread your spending across average type players.
In reality it's not quite that simple. List management is a dynamic thing and you need take into account future payments as players improve and retire etc.
Sydney are actually a good case to follow, as they seem to have changed tack once roos left spent money on stars. This lead to them losing players like mumford and white, while retaining derrickx.
The big spanner that can get into the works is injuries and in theory loading up on top line players should be the better option if you have a good run with injuries, but will hurt more if you cop injuries, particularily if they include a top liner or two.
