Surely recruitment involves a whole bunch of people - with the coach having a huge say.
Talent scouting on the other hand used to be largely ex players, fans, contacts etc out in the country. I can remember back in the early 1990s I even turned my hand to a bit of talent scouting. I remember trying my darnedest to get the Magpies to sign Mal Peckham. The kid was a genius. Little did I know at the time, Arthur Beetson who was at Cronulla then, was similarly keen. Apparently Artie had identified Peckham ahead of Dave Peachey but the young three quarter simply wasn’t interested in leaving Moree (he did later play one season with Redcliffe however). Many years on and after all the dust has settled - stories of the great Mal ‘Sunboy’ Peckham are still told far and wide in NSW country circles 👍