They certainly don't measure up to Cotchin, Martin, Edwards no. Maybe that's our plan next year to steal another one or two stars, but effectively we lost a year of development. That doesn't even include replacements for Jack, Houli and the ageing Astbury / Grimes (lesser extent) combo.
I know the proverbial "be happy with winning flags..." sentiment will pop up, but list management is not a static thing. For the past two years we have lost a decent core of our stars for long periods but they were lucky enough to be right in time for finals.
Edit: happy as larry to have egg on my face come finals next year.
Sympathise but clearly the strategy was that this year was too much of a lottery given lack of playing action and looked like a weaker draft anyway. They are backing our young 'uns in, sure some won't make it but we will load up in the draft next year. 2 first round picks, 2 second round, and 2 third round if I recall correctly.
I can't see it as a wasted development year at all, COVID aside.