An analysis of a decade of trade moves from the AFL's 16 clubs between 2000 and 2010 reveals that nearly every club except the Hawks has preferred to trade for players, rather than for picks.

A high demand for players, and a low demand for picks, means picks have become undervalued compared with players, a market failure Hawthorn have exploited ruthlessly. Plus, the Hawks' realised that a player's value is relative to a team's ability, rather than relative to his own ability – hence, a player is often worth a lot more on the trade table than to his home club.

Hawthorn's list strategy

Between 2000 and 2010, Hawthorn traded out 16 players and received a net total of seven draft picks within the first 25.

This is exceptional. In the same period only North Melbourne gathered the same number of early picks via trades.

Most clubs, in fact, go the opposite way. Fremantle has traded out 21 players for a net total of four early draft picks. Adelaide and Sydney have both traded out 12 players for a net return of one early draft pick apiece.

Hawthorn finished out of the finals between 2002 and 2006. They used this time to rebuild, selling veterans for picks.

Of those early draft picks, four would go on to become premiership heroes – Max Bailey, Grant Birchall, Luke Hodge and Jordan Lewis.

Taylor Duryea, Jordan Lewis, Isaac Smith and Matt Suckling sing the song in the rooms after beating Essendon. Photo: Getty Images

The Hawks' draft cluster

Hawthorn did something even cleverer – they clustered their trading for draft picks to allow their young players to mature at the same time. AFL footballers peak and enjoy their best years, statistically, between 23 and 25.

Hawthorn traded for early picks in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

No other club followed this strategy, to their detriment. The closest competitors are North Melbourne, who picked up extra picks in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and Richmond who did it between 2002 and 2004.

By clustering their picks, Hawthorn's list management team ensured it had a core group of early picks who would peak at the same time.

Hawthorn's list management team have taken advantage of an interesting quirk in the market for AFL players – the fact that a player's value is relative to their team, rather than static.

As mentioned, an AFL player will peak in performance from 23 and 25. However, they will only peak in value if their team overall is peaking in performance during that time. A player playing well in a bad team is of far less value - if the aim is to win a premiership - than a player playing well in a good team.

Hence, if a player is reaching peak performance but a team is not, the player is of far more value on the market than he is to the team. Therefore he can be sold for over-market value.

Draft deals 2000-2010

Adelaide

12 players out, 1 draft pick under 25 in ...

2005: Darren Pfeiffer (17)

Brisbane Lions

15 players out, 6 draft picks under 25 in ...

2000: Richard Hadley (22)

2002: Jared Brennan (3), Troy Selwood (19)

2003: Matthew Moody (23)

2010: Jared Polec (10), Pat Karnezis (25)

Carlton

11 players out, 2 draft picks under 25 in ...

2000: Trent Sporn (11)

2009: Kane Lucas (12)

Collingwood

11 players out, 3 draft picks under 25 in ...

2002: Bo Nixon (21)

2005: Ryan Cook (23)

2006: Ben Reid (8)

Essendon

12 players out, 3 draft picks under 25 in ...

2002: Jason Laycock (10), Jason Winderlich (11)

2009: Jake Carlisle (24)

Fremantle

21 players out, 4 draft picks under 25 in ...

2002: Byron Schammer (13)

2003: Riley Dunn (10), David Mundy (19)

2008: Nick Suban (24)

Geelong

19 players out, 2 draft picks under 25 in ...

2001: James Kelly (17), Charlie Gardiner (23)

Hawthorn

16 players out, 7 draft picks under 25 in ...

2005: Grant Birchall (14), Max Bailey (18)

2004: Jordan Lewis (7)

2002: Luke Brennan (8)

2001: Luke Hodge (1), Daniel Elstone (20)

2000: Nick Ries (21)

North Melbourne 

15 players out, 7 draft picks under 25 in ...

2000: Drew Petrie (23), Daniel Motlop (8), Dylan Smith (6)

2001: Ashley Watson (14)

2002: Daniel Wells (2), Kris Shore (18)

2009: Aaron Black (25)

Melbourne

10 players out, 4 draft picks under 25 in ...

2002: Daniel Bell (14)

2004: Lynden Dunn (15)

2007: Jack Grimes (14)

2009: Jordan Gysberts (11)

Port Adelaide

11 players out, 5 draft picks under 25 in ...

2000: Shaun Burgoyne (12)

2002: Stephen Gilham (16), Steven Salopek (6)

2009: Andrew Moore (9), Jasper McMillan-Pittard (16)

Richmond

12 players out, 4 draft picks under 25 in ...

2002: Jay Schultz (12)

2003: Alex Gilmour (21)

2004: Danny Meyer (12), Adam Pattion (16)

St Kilda

9 players out, 2 draft picks under 25 in ...

2000: Luke Livingston (4)

2001: Nick Dal Santo (13)

Sydney

12 players out, 1 draft pick under 25 in ...

2009: Lewis Jetta (14)

West Coast

16 players out, 4 draft picks under 25 in ...

2000: Daniel Kerr (18)

2003: Sam Butler (20)

2007: Chris Masten (3), Tony Notte (20)

Western Bulldogs

12 players out, 2 draft picks under 25 in ...

2002: Cameron Faulkner (17)

2007: Callan Ward (19)