There would hardly be a person on the planet that doesn't recognise the first name on that list. Most sports fans would also be familiar with the second.

If you don't recognise the third, you're not alone. If you do, it's probably purely because he was the guy drafted ahead of Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft.

For the record, Olajuwan went No. 1, Bowie No. 2 and Jordan was No. 3. How on earth was Jordan not the first pick? It's a question asked ad nauseam over the years, particularly since Jordan's career ended.

Many who ask it are likely unfamiliar with the career Olajuwan enjoyed. 'The Dream' led Houston to back-to-back championships in 1994-95, was an MVP, a Finals MVP a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, a 12-time All-Star and Hall of Fame inductee.

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Bowie is a different story. Portland had drafted future Hall-of-Fame shooting guard Clyde Drexler a year earlier and were hunting a big man when seven-footers were more prized than back-court players.

A high school and college star, Bowie was plagued as a pro by chronic leg and foot fractures that kept him to 63 of a possible 328 games with the Trailblazers.

He later admitted he forced himself back too early to avoid the dreaded "bust" label.

The wildly differing fortunes of the two men drafted above Jordan, who would become the consensus best player of all time, are an illustration of how difficult recruitment decisions are for any organisation without use of a working crystal ball (i.e. all of them).

Short of Doc Brown rocking up in a DeLorean, clubs make those decisions without the benefit of hindsight, which can easily make fools of us all.

In the NRL, it's most apparent when it comes to coaches and halfbacks, the two key decisions any club must make as foundation chips for success.

Both so prized that their market value skyrockets well ahead of their actual body of work. It's why the likes of Cameron Ciraldo, a man with no NRL head coaching experience, has multiple clubs offering five-year contracts. It's not something seen in many other work places.

The reality is there's no such thing as a sure thing. Craig Fitzgibbon looked pretty close before taking charge of Cronulla this year, but so did Adam O'Brien when linked with the Knights two years ago.

As he reminded us in a post-match presser a fortnight ago, he was equally credentialed as an assistant - perhaps more so having graduated from both of rugby league's elite training schools in Melbourne and the Roosters. Regardless, he is on borrowed time at the struggling Knights.

Anthony Seibold showed us early success does not assure future success. Trent Barrett was for a long time the next 'head coach in waiting' but has had two chances in the gig for no joy.

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He's tipped to be replaced by Ciraldo who, like all the others, will sink or swim. We just won't know until he's thrown into the water at The Bulldogs.

Getting the call right on a halfback is just as fraught.

The teams that have produced the most dramatic change in fortunes this season have got it right.

The Sharks bought Nicho Hynes.

Chad Townsend looked finished as a marquee half when he was signed by the Cowboys on big money. Plenty questioned the price tag, but the transformative effect he's had in Townsville can't be questioned.

South Sydney's decision to let Adam Reynolds go to clear the way for Lachlan Ilias didn't seem that clever given where Reynolds quickly took the Broncos.

The reality is we won't know the real answer for a number of years, probably well after Reynolds hangs up the boots.

It's complicated further by the fact NRL clubs are in the perception business as much as the sports business where fans have both short-term expectations and memories.

It brings us to the Dragons and the difficult spot the club is in heading into another long off-season.

On the one hand they have Ben Hunt in career-best form hurtling towards a possible Dally M Medal. Who wouldn't look to extend the league's most valuable player?

Conversely, in five years since Hunt joined on a huge deal, the Dragons have reached the finals once. He is 32 and will turn 34 in the first year of any contract extension.

Even at a reduced rate, any extension will almost certainly see the departure of Jayden Sullivan, 20, who has been groomed as the club's long-term No. 7.

Those who've watched him through the juniors compare Sullivan to a young Jonathan Thurston. Time will tell if that's hyperbole or on the money, but the comparison has to send a shiver down the spines of the Red V faithful.

Thurston was a skinny knockabout with talent far outweighing his physical stature when he emerged at the Bulldogs in 2002.

That same year Brent Sherwin was only edged out of the Dally M Medal by Andrew Johns. It earned him a then unprecedented five-year deal with Dogs.

A year later, he took the Dogs to a premiership, his halves partner was 22-year-old Braith Anasta. Letting go the stick-thin 21-year-old, who played 33 minutes off the bench in that grand final, seemed very sound at the time.

With finals again out of reach, that's a pressing conundrum for the Dragons.

What would Kick-off do? Where the hell is Doc Brown when you need him?

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