Absolutely not. We kept our best players and actively sought to trade in more, only offloading players we didn't see as useful going forward. Our best veterans were all still there for the 2008 flag. If North win a flag in 2028 there will be exactly zero elite veterans from their tanking period on the list.
The real difference is back in the early 2000s if you were bad you got real draft help every year (what was called priority picks, which aren't the same as the ones today). It let you really build from the draft in ways that aren't possible today.
North will keep going for that PP and compo gold though.
Do you realise when you lie to yourself?