It's easy to look to the current state of the side and say that it'll be the undoing of any proposals to free agents, but this overlooks 2 key points.
1. Timing of the initial contact to any potential players.
2. Ego.
List Managers are looking at possible list movement 2,3 and 4 years in advance, and are contacting player managers 2-3 years out from the end of current contracts to get a feel for where players are at. They're also looking at what or who will be dropping off our list in those same moments.
Lynch from the Suns for example, we spoke to more than 12 months ago. He knew then that when he was to come out of contract in two years time, we would be very interested in knowing what his next movement was.
We are in contact with multiple players, years out from the end of their contracts. I would assume most teams are.
Now, when it come to 'big fish' or established AFL players you're not selling them a dream of riding on the coat-tails to success on the back of champion players, you're telling them that they are the missing piece. They are the future. That they can get more out of themselves in your system. You're feeding their ego and telling them that they are going to have the opportunity to have a big say in the future of the club.
When Clarkson puts forward a case to Pittard(for example), he's looking him in the eye and telling him something "Your run and carry from the back half, is the exact thing we are missing at the moment. Your skillset would benefit our half forwards to a point where we believe we'd be a 4-5 goal better side."
He's not talking about former glory, or Hodge, Burgoyne, Gibson or any player on the decline, he's talking about the sort of style he wants to play, and he is telling this player just how he fits in to the plan going forward.
Look at guys like Trealoar, Prestia, Dixon, Varcoe, Dangerfield, Bennell, Brad Hill....so many players leaving to go to poorer sides, because its either their home state, or because they think that they can be the missing piece of the puzzle.
I am strong in my belief that players who we've been talking to for 24 months and longer are well aware that they're going to be part of the transition, and I don't buy the idea that players will sit back and say "Nah, not going to Hawthorn, Hodge and Gibson are cooked....".