Footy Dept. Soon to be ex-GM - List & Recruiting Adrian Dodoro #putoutyourjackets

Cliff notes:
  • Stepping back from his current senior role following the 2023 AFL Draft
  • Transition plan, raised the possibility with Vozzo in April
  • Replacement is Matt Rosa, whose thread is here: Welcome to Essendon Matthew Rosa – AFL Talent & Operations Manager!
Full text from media release said:
To coincide with this announcement, the Club’s General Manager of List and Recruiting, Adrian Dodoro, has made the decision to take a step back from his current senior role following this year’s NAB AFL National Draft. He will lead the Club through the upcoming 2023 Trade and Draft period in his current position prior to transitioning to and assisting Matt Rosa moving forward.
Dodoro, an Essendon Life Member, has played a significant role at the Bombers over nearly three decades and said the time was right to take a step back.
“I approached Craig back in April to discuss the concept of transition and I feel that now is the right time to make this decision,” Dodoro said.
"I sat on the panel to assist in the selection of Matt, and I believe he will be an outstanding acquisition to the Club for years to come. I look forward to working with Matt moving forward.
“These roles are very taxing on individuals and their families and it just feels like that. After nearly three decades and with stability in key roles at the Club, now is the right time for me to take a step back in to a role which will provide me and my family with a better work life balance.
“More immediately, we have an important few months coming up and I’m looking forward to playing my part to deliver a strong Trade and Draft period for the Club to ensure that the playing list is in a strong position for the future.”
Essendon CEO Craig Vozzo acknowledged the significant impact Dodoro has made at the Club since joining in a full-time role in 1998.
“Adrian is a highly respected Life Member of the Essendon Football Club and has made an enormous contribution to the Club and the wider AFL industry during his time in football, including assisting to navigate the Club through unprecedented and challenging periods,” Vozzo said.
“Throughout his time at the Bombers, Adrian’s commitment and passion to take the Club forward in its list management and recruiting, has been unquestionable. Some of the Champions of Essendon have been identified and selected by Adrian, and we will always be grateful for the important and enduring role he has played.
“On behalf of the entire Club, we would like to acknowledge Adrian’s selfless decision and we look forward to his ongoing contribution to the Club.
“Adrian will work with Matt to ensure a smooth hand-over and a successful transition of responsibilities.”
 

BrunoV

Brownlow Medallist
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McGarth wouldn't request a trade anyway, he'd be the one trying to get everyone else on board to stay.

Completely beside the point.

Are you saying Dodoro isn't asking for 2 first round picks for a player of Dunkley's standing with 2 years on his contract?

Look at the cost for O'Meara and Treloar. Trade precedent is always a minefield but what it says is that neither Power nor my hypothetical Dodoro are on their own in valuing proven upcoming midfielders as 2 x first round picks.

I think it's almost always too much, unless there is a scenario like a swap of late first round and second round but that just leaves me asking why we bothered getting a kid like Dunkley to commit.
 
The problem with this is we wont know for at least 3 years down the track if the kids we select are long term players.

Which is the problem we've had as a club for too long. Instant gratification. Quick fixes. Averse to doing the hard yards and developing via the draft.

Worked well for us so far hasn't it.
 

BombersDave

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Oct 21, 2020
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Completely beside the point.

Are you saying Dodoro isn't asking for 2 first round picks for a player of Dunkley's standing with 2 years on his contract?

Look at the cost for O'Meara and Treloar. Trade precedent is always a minefield but what it says is that neither Power nor my hypothetical Dodoro are on their own in valuing proven upcoming midfielders as 2 x first round picks.

I think it's almost always too much, unless there is a scenario like a swap of late first round and second round but that just leaves me asking why we bothered getting a kid like Dunkley to commit.
Totally agree!! Plus who says it ends up costing 2 firsts if we actually put next year's first on the table. Maybe it ends up next year's first and second, maybe it's 2 x firsts with a second coming back.
We found the hot chick we wanted to bang, she had a boyfriend, we convinced her to leave him, she agreed, she told her friends, we took her out, we started getting frisky, we couldn't get it up, she went back to her boyfriend.
 
Jun 8, 2014
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The problem with this is we wont know for at least 3 years down the track if the kids we select are long term players.
Maybe. Maybe not. Port supporters knew pretty quickly that with Rozee, Butters, and Duursma they had some good players on their hands.

Even if they don't work out long term and they succumb to injury or move elsewhere the drafting and maneuverings of just that one year has cast a very favourable light on that Port recruiting team.
 
Completely beside the point.

Are you saying Dodoro isn't asking for 2 first round picks for a player of Dunkley's standing with 2 years on his contract?

Look at the cost for O'Meara and Treloar. Trade precedent is always a minefield but what it says is that neither Power nor my hypothetical Dodoro are on their own in valuing proven upcoming midfielders as 2 x first round picks.

I think it's almost always too much, unless there is a scenario like a swap of late first round and second round but that just leaves me asking why we bothered getting a kid like Dunkley to commit.
Context is everything Bruno 😛
 
I'm hoping that's what we do. As i say about Wells, you can burn a first rounder on Ezra Bray. But you keep throwing darts in a deep draft and pick Chapman, Ling and Enright set yourself up for a decade.
Well when Merrett leaves we will have 2 top 10 picks.
 

Chief Hopper

Team Captain
Oct 9, 2016
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It seems that Essendon and Dunkley knew that Bulldogs were bringing in Treloar, who would further limit Dunkleys midfield time, and therefore thought they could use that angle to get Dunkley out.
Or maybe they just thought give it a crack and see.
 
Oct 2, 2012
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If they sack dodoro and poach justin mcartney, we could ask for 3 top 10 picks, an all-australian inside midfield beast, next week's lotto numbers and 14 vaquita. Then complain about it.

Jason McCartney?
 

BrunoV

Brownlow Medallist
May 5, 2009
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i notice in the trade wrap dodo was quick to say Rob Forster-Knight will be estatic (not ecstatic) to have picks 6.7.8

is this the first outward sign of delegation? or a PR spin to say dodo is no longer doing everything including driving the team bus to the draft?


Merve Keane usually called the names out on draft day.

There has always been some involvement for the head of recruiting.
 

Vander18

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 22, 2011
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Xav would be the only one
Maybe Sheeds, but christ i hope not.

seems doubtful. i think we had too much on and i think there is something im the theory we tried to keep our future 1st, get Dunkley and have the tools to get McDonald.
The prospect of Sheeds having input on real football stuff terrifies me.
 

Doggy Dan

Premiership Player
Jul 29, 2014
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Hi guys, come in peace.

Wanted to get opinions on Dodoro’s interview on SEN, specifically the comment he made about “I probably would’ve done the same thing” in terms of the Dogs not trading Dunkley for the offer they were given.

Does is seem odd that he would court a player, offer a kings ransom, get him to nominate and then not even make an offer that he himself would accept if the roles were reversed?

Don’t know if it was a slip of the tongue but you would think Dunkley couldn’t have been happy hearing that.
 

BomberARMY

All Australian
Mar 20, 2011
714
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Hi guys, come in peace.

Wanted to get opinions on Dodoro’s interview on SEN, specifically the comment he made about “I probably would’ve done the same thing” in terms of the Dogs not trading Dunkley for the offer they were given.

Does is seem odd that he would court a player, offer a kings ransom, get him to nominate and then not even make an offer that he himself would accept if the roles were reversed?

Don’t know if it was a slip of the tongue but you would think Dunkley couldn’t have been happy hearing that.
You guys hold soooo much value on Dodoro saying he probably wouldn't have done the deal either, have another listen without your Bulldogs headphones, he says he probably wouldn't because of the way he rated Dunkley as a person and footballer, NOT because it wasn't a good deal.. FFS, you and your supporter mates can twist s**t to suit your narratives...
 
Hi guys, come in peace.

Wanted to get opinions on Dodoro’s interview on SEN, specifically the comment he made about “I probably would’ve done the same thing” in terms of the Dogs not trading Dunkley for the offer they were given.

Does is seem odd that he would court a player, offer a kings ransom, get him to nominate and then not even make an offer that he himself would accept if the roles were reversed?

Don’t know if it was a slip of the tongue but you would think Dunkley couldn’t have been happy hearing that.

he is just saying ‘no hard feelings, he’s a quality player and I would have kept him too’.

edit: oops too slow. And what bomberArmy said!
 
May 13, 2009
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You guys hold soooo much value on Dodoro saying he probably wouldn't have done the deal either, have another listen without your Bulldogs headphones, he says he probably wouldn't because of the way he rated Dunkley as a person and footballer, NOT because it wasn't a good deal.. FFS, you and your supporter mates can twist sh*t to suit your narratives...
Whilst your correct, that was a little bit aggressive

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
 
Jun 11, 2007
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You guys hold soooo much value on Dodoro saying he probably wouldn't have done the deal either, have another listen without your Bulldogs headphones, he says he probably wouldn't because of the way he rated Dunkley as a person and footballer, NOT because it wasn't a good deal.. FFS, you and your supporter mates can twist sh*t to suit your narratives...
i dunno.
I felt the same.
Here's a deal for Dunkley. I wouldn't do it, but here it is
Either way, he felt it should take more to get Dunkley.

Good deal, perhaps. But the deal to get it done? Nope
Why ****ing bother then.

If we were serious, Dunkley would be an essendon player.
We weren't, he isn't, we move on.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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We offered similar trade currency to both the Neale & Shiel trades.

Saying he wouldn't have done the deal either in the Bulldogs shoes doesn't mean it wasn't a good offer from Essendon.
From what i've read, we offered 8 & F2 (same F2 that we needed for Caldwell)
That is less than Shiel (2x 1sts w/2nd coming). Points wise it may work, but points weren't the primary driver

Should have put 8 & F1 on the table w/ their 1st pick this year coming back.
They could have split 8 to get the points required for JUH
 
Apr 23, 2016
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From what i've read, we offered 8 & F2 (same F2 that we needed for Caldwell)
That is less than Shiel (2x 1sts w/2nd coming). Points wise it may work, but points weren't the primary driver

Should have put 8 & F1 on the table w/ their 1st pick this year coming back.
They could have split 8 to get the points required for JUH

You assume they were even acting in good faith and that they weren't simply asking for an obscene trade value.

8 + F1 (assume 6 as per this year) is more than any player has ever been traded for.

Is Dunkley a generational midfielder? Because that's what they asked for.

We offered 7 + F2 (in what's regarded as a very strong draft) with nothing coming back. That's on-par with Shiel & Neale level currency if you work it out. We also offered a 3 way trade, that they knocked back, without any suggestion they tried to work with either Essendon or Collingwood to make it more worthwhile to them.

You're assuming they could do this, or that, or the other. It seems the Bulldogs simply didn't want to do any of the above.

You also keep going on about this F2 being needed for Caldwell, but it's pretty clear we were sitting on the Caldwell deal until the Dunkley deal finally fell over. If the Dunkley deal had gone through, i'm sure they'd have offered something else to GWS for Caldwell.

Ultimately we have totally opposing views on this trade period, so there's little point going on, and on, and on, about it.
 

fairbump_playon

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Jun 27, 2014
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You assume they were even acting in good faith and that they weren't simply asking for an obscene trade value.

8 + F1 (assume 6 as per this year) is more than any player has ever been traded for.

Is Dunkley a generational midfielder? Because that's what they asked for.

We offered 7 + F2 (in what's regarded as a very strong draft) with nothing coming back. That's on-par with Shiel & Neale level currency if you work it out. We also offered a 3 way trade, that they knocked back, without any suggestion they tried to work with either Essendon or Collingwood to make it more worthwhile to them.

You're assuming they could do this, or that, or the other. It seems the Bulldogs simply didn't want to do any of the above.

You also keep going on about this F2 being needed for Caldwell, but it's pretty clear we were sitting on the Caldwell deal until the Dunkley deal finally fell over. If the Dunkley deal had gone through, i'm sure they'd have offered something else to GWS for Caldwell.

Ultimately we have totally opposing views on this trade period, so there's little point going on, and on, and on, about it.
They didn’t have to act in good faith, all they had to do was set a price they liked. Before getting Dunkley to go public we surely should have had a good idea of what that price would be?

Regardless of what price was fair - didn’t we know what the price would be? That’s what I keep getting stuck on.
 
Apr 23, 2016
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They didn’t have to act in good faith, all they had to do was set a price they liked. Before getting Dunkley to go public we surely should have had a good idea of what that price would be?

Regardless of what price was fair - didn’t we know what the price would be? That’s what I keep getting stuck on.

Who really knows what went on behind the scenes.

I was surprised when his manager came out and publicly said he wanted to be traded at all given how unlikely it was the trade was going to get done.
 
May 6, 2007
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They didn’t have to act in good faith, all they had to do was set a price they liked. Before getting Dunkley to go public we surely should have had a good idea of what that price would be?

Regardless of what price was fair - didn’t we know what the price would be? That’s what I keep getting stuck on.
What I can;t get my head around is the Dogs shifting of the goal posts.


(i) We're not trading him

(ii) yeah, we might trade him

(iii) ok, give us the most demanding trade in history or you're not having him
 
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