Campbell Heath was basically given away by the Sydney Swans; Lewis Stevenson the same by West Coast.
Teenage livewire Jake Neade was offered as a sweetener to the Power by Greater Western Sydney as part of the Jack Hombsch trade and while Angus Monfries forged a successful 150-game career with Essendon, it didn't fight hard to keep him.
All have proved important acquisitions for Port Adelaide, second on the ladder and still yet to lose a game.
Recruiting manager Geoff Parker was the man who brought them all together.
Just as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and his assistant Paul DePodesta found undervalued players to field a successful Major League Baseball side in the early 2000s, Parker and his team identified particular players – not stars – but individuals who could perform specific roles.
Kane Mitchell was recruited to cover the speed and outside game lost when Danyle Pearce joined Fremantle as a free agent, attributes further bolstered by fellow West Australian Stevenson.
Combined with Heath and Hombsch, Stevenson would also help to fill the defensive void left by Troy Chaplin who defected to Richmond.
Parker said recruiting players using Oakland's groundbreaking 'Moneyball' theory was harder in football but admitted there were similarities.
"They might not be in Mike Sheehan's top 50, but they certainly fitted a need for us and make us a better team and a better club," Parker told AFL.com.au.
"Baseball's one of those sports where it's easy to look at the statistics and go, 'this bloke does this' – in footy there's a big ground, there's wind, there's rain, there's a lot of different variables so it's not quite as easy.
"You can make some sort of comparison there – 'we need to find these sort of players, who do we think are the ones who can fill that void?'."
Statistically, Heath, Stevenson and Monfries are all in career-best form.
Stevenson, who played just 10 games at the Eagles, averaged just over 17 disposals in the WAFL last season and is now averaging 19 at the next level up.
Heath played 21 games in the NEAFL last season and averaged 17 disposals. He is averaging 15 touches at Port, a marked improvement from the 22 possessions he picked up in total over three injury-interrupted years on the Swans' list.
Monfries is averaging a career-high 18 disposals a game and is on track to at least equal his 31-goal season in 2011.
While the spotlight has followed senior coach Ken Hinkley and celebrity chairman David Koch, Parker has remained side of stage with his interstate scouts.
"It's not just me, Jason Cripps (list manager), myself, our recruiting staff in Perth who were watching Lewie and Kane, people working for us in Sydney who have seen Campbell and Hombsch," he said.
"It was an effort from all them to keep watching, keep writing reports, keep talking about them.
"From that point of view it's really pleasing that the work we've put in is starting to show results.
"It's only early in the year, we know that, but I'd rather be five and zip than zip and five."
After Koch and Hinkley, senior assistant Alan Richardson, high performance manager Darren Burgess and the new players complete the addition of 15 fresh faces to Port's football program this season.
Common sense suggested time would be needed for a new game-plan to be learned and for team chemistry to develop, yet the side appeared a united front from round one.
Parker wasn't surprised.
"You bring guys in with strong character, so you think that's going to help them fit in," he said.
"Most of the players we brought in knew others in the group – Lewie knew Brad Ebert, Campbell was mates with John Butcher.
"It made the process easier for the new boys to settle in, that they've got someone to talk to straight away.
"Having a new coach and a new game-plan for everyone to learn has helped as well – it's not like the new guys have come in to a club where everyone knew the game-plan like the back of their hand."
Of course, the past means a lot – as Parker said, Stevenson, Heath and Monfries all came to the club from serious football programs and brought that knowledge with them.
However there are no longer golden tickets at selection and 18-year-old Neade is taken as seriously as 250-gamer Kane Cornes.
The Power are playing as one, and for that, Parker and the club's recruiting staff deserve a huge amount of credit.
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry
