To the OP, thank you, as for this will help clear up some questions for those who played recent retail (and.or) new to the game.
Paladins: Could not agree more, and it hurts. Being all I do in retail since WOTLK is Main Tank as a Paladin. Warriors during Vanilla, simply put, will ALWAYS be prioritized as the MT, as well as the gear drops. Personally if I chose to tank (Even with me being a Paladin for life, and my love towards and allegiance to Tirion Fordring) I would roll a Warrior for any serious end game main tanking. As a side note, If i did decide to roll a Paladin on Nost I would gain my gear (pre raid BIS) through 5 Mans, as a Tank (dungeon tanking is viable and why not enjoy it while you can,) but looking for my healing pieces (With the healer in the groups permission beforehand, of course.)
For Killerdeku/clown/#bringspaladinsabadname the truth about Paladin tanking in Vanilla can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84OwHLAuQzcPaladins are a support class/buff bot/put a shield on possible OT here or there/ and spam down ranked heal spells when the gear grants this viable (but then again doing this whenever for mana efficiency.) They are great AOE tanks for helping guildies grind those daunting 5 mans, as well as certain areas in raids.
Now that has been cleared up:
Hunters are great first time characters for new players. Easy to level, Destroy people early in the game with regards to PvP, and the joy of having a pet. End game raiding will always have a spot for a hunter here or there.
To sum everything up, and to truncate everything (no particular order, just what to expect from what raid leaders look for):
Healers: Shaman, Priest, Paladin, Druid
DPS: Rogue, Mage, Warlock, Hunter, Warrior (Though you might be bouncing a lot from dps/OT, bring a sheild.)
Main Tank: Warrior
Tanking(5mans, Raid Off tanking, dungeons while leveling): Warrior, Paladin, Druid (though this is something I am not sure on(For end game raiding), but i know after AQ druids can get the job done, but druids are my least played class/knowledge.)
Side Note: there will always be a spot in the later patches for things like an spriest(16 debuff slott)Retadin(reckoning Bomb)etc.. (but this will always come down to your guild, and raid leader not the forum community.)
Again to the OP, thanks for posting this hope it helps new players get the GENERAL idea of what to expect endgame from content and information provided over the last 10 years.
Again to Killerdeku thanks for being an arseclown.
regards