I'd argue a couple points here.Let me think about this 🤔
A management company sends the club a highlights video of a young kid that they just got to sign a contract giving there company a percentage of the kids earnings for his/her career.
The video shows all of their highlights against what type of opponent (who cares)
The kid looks good.
Just double checking that on the video there are no missed tackles, dropped balls etc.
I can see how that’s better than getting a person to go out and observe with their eyes if a kid has in their opinion what is required to be a chance to make the top grade.
I am of the older generation so maybe it just me living in the past 🤷‍♂️
1) Surely if you can assess the quality of the opponents watching live, you can also assess the quality of the opponents by watching the video.
2) clubs getting sent video is nothing new. I recall reading Fatty's book many years ago about how he ended up at Manly, it was after his manager sent them a tape (there was a bit more to the yarn to it but that is what it came down to). That was in 1978 so being of an older generation shouldn't change anything.
I'm not saying boots on the ground don't matter but most recruiting is done in a tape room and has been this way for a long time.