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

[Lore]

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
  Matthew Rosa

  Age

  37

  Ht

  191cm

  Wt

  84kg

  Pos.

  Mid

  Career

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  Last 5

  D

  21.1

  5star

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  11.0

  4star

  HB

  10.1

  5star

  M

  5.0

  5star

  T

  2.7

  4star

  CL

  1.7

  4star

  No current season stats available

  D

  14.6

  4star

  K

  9.4

  4star

  HB

  5.2

  4star

  M

  4.4

  4star

  T

  1.4

  4star

  – AFL Talent & Operations Manager!

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.​

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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.​

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“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.​

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"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.​

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“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.​

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“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.”​

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Essendon CEO Craig Vozzo acknowledged the significant impact Dodoro has made at the Club since joining in a full-time role in 1998.​

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“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.​

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“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.​

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“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.​

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“Adrian will work with Matt to ensure a smooth hand-over and a successful transition of responsibilities.”​

 

[Duckworth]

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

That isn't really shifting the goal posts very far though.

 

[Atavistic]

Can't really complain about this guy this year. Maybe next year.

 

[owen87]

Can't really complain about this guy this year. Maybe next year.

Yep, seemed to pick pretty safely. No second round selections probably helped that.

All 3 first round selections have AFL standard tanks on them, no real injury queries and are all good sizes for the potential positions they’ll play.

Similar for Eyre and Brand, though they were gimme’s really.

A strong draft to build our spine for the future we’d be hoping, along with the potential for Cox to play as a tall wingman giving us better overhead ability, and Perkins being a really exciting player to watch what he could become.

No real complaints from me, it’s clearly a draft aimed for the long term with all the talls.

 

[NAB777]

If he gets 3 first round picks wrong.....jeez.

 

[ant555]

If he gets 3 first round picks wrong.....jeez.

Better hope he doesn't as we will not really know for two years if he has.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

Better hope he doesn't as we will not really know for two years if he has.

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

 

[eth-dog]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

You reckon that will work?

 

[JayJ20]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

Yeah we'll be hearing about how we should have selected Max Holmes with pick 6.

 

[Harlequin Dream]

Happy with the national draft.

They were the obvious three in the end.

I still think we should be doing better with mature-age players late in the draft and in the rookie draft. Redrafting Gleeson instead of taking one, doesn't feel right with me.

However, I think keeping spots open for midseason might be very smart. Plenty of opportunity for a 19-year-old to surprise next year.

 

[JayJ20]

Happy with the national draft.

They were the obvious three in the end.

I still think we should be doing better with mature-age players late in the draft and in the rookie draft. Redrafting Gleeson instead of taking one, doesn't feel right with me.

However, I think keeping spots open for midseason might be very smart. Plenty of opportunity for a 19-year-old to surprise next year.

I'm fairly certain we had to select him because Gleeson is contracted. He met a trigger clause in his contract for an extra year.
Clarke is obviously still contracted so not much can be done.

 

[MiguelM]

Liking the long term approach from the club in terms of recruiting. It is about time we built the list properly. Getting the talls in early is a smart move IMO, esp with Hooker, Hurley & Ambrose getting a bit long in the tooth. It is the right timeframe as they will take 2-3 years to develop.

We can now target midfielders next year having had more time looking at Parish, Caldwell, etc & how they emerge. Maybe even Perkins might get a game or two.

For the record, IMO, I think Parish will have a breakout year, fingers crossed anyway.

 

[blitzer]

If we were to move him on - right now post draft (and trade period) would be the time to part ways.
It would give a newcomer plenty of time to get up to speed with where our list is at. I don't think you ever want to part with your list manager right before or during the draft and trade period.

I don't think Dodoro is as bad as some people say but he's still been at the club a very lengthy time without success.
Wonder if the club is enquiring or if its business as usual.

 

[Lore]

If we were to move him on - right now post draft (and trade period) would be the time to part ways.
It would give a newcomer plenty of time to get up to speed with where our list is at. I don't think you ever want to part with your list manager right before or during the draft and trade period.

I don't think Dodoro is as bad as some people say but he's still been at the club a very lengthy time without success.
Wonder if the club is enquiring or if its business as usual.

I don’t think Dodoro is going anywhere. There isn’t any whispers about anything of the sort, no one influential is gunning for him in the media (Caro and Damo aren’t stirring the pot, none of the Essendon people like Watson, Lloyd are bitching about it, and none of the other journos that usually get leaks if there’s internal friction either), and he is typically well liked or at least tolerated by most Essendon supporters, at least outside of BigFooty.

There’s also a massive amount of rationalising going on regarding the length of his tenure, anything before 2007 is irrelevant because we didn’t put any funding into the department and then Sheedy was too influential and seemed to have lost the plot.

After that you get the saga influences and the revolving door of leadership that basically bins the entire rebuild that Knights and then Hird and Bomber were part of, which Woosha inherited, half got suspended, the other half left, then Campbell and Richardson got a say in whether we’d bring in this or let go of that and rebuild etc. which seems to be more of an arrogant face-saving exercise almost akin to corporate greed in the end.

What they should do is put a broom through the department, if not Dodoro himself then everyone else who gets to put an oar in, but who knows if the replacements would be capable right now. We do need some fresh blood but on the other hand I’d much prefer Dodoro to Guy, McCartney or Bains for starters.

 

[Fin ice Smuggler]

I love Dodoro. At the moment he is the 1 grain of true Essendon we have. We’ve finally started to rebuild and the onus now is on the club and coaching staff to develop the kids. Something we have lacked in last 20 years.

Next year may look similar if looking at results but I think it will be a glass half full year rather than a glass half empty. The results will have nothing to do with Dodoro.

 

[Duckworth]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

This year, I think BigFooty were overwhelmingly happy with the early selections. The only exception could be at the end of the draft if someone like Zane Trew, Eddie Ford or Zavier Maher comes good (after we passed)

 

[Old Campaigner]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

Quite happy to go on the record as being happy with the players we picked. As with any draft there’s always risk involved but I think they all complement our list nicely given where it’s at.

 

[BombersDave]

Pick 6: Perkins
Pick 7: Cox
Pick 8: Reid
Pick 34: Eyre match
Pick 43: Brand match
DFA with last pick

Considering this was my predraft wish I'm pretty happy to support his choices!!

 

[rumply]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

Interestingly, with the selections made in the draft, all of which look promising & address needs, there may be a case to be made that getting Dunkley in for next season would have been a season too early & set the club back in effectively restocking the spine. Get Dunkley in at a cheaper price for '22 after Truck has had a year to reshape the team & when we can realistically expect to see an improvement ladder wise.

 

[ant555]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

Absolutely. For the record this was my pre draft list.
Cox
Perkins
O'Driscoll
Brand
Eyre
Not that I am complaining with the way we went.

 

[boncer34]

There were no "Dodoro specials" this year. We drafted to our needs, admittedly no 2nd or 3rd rounders probably helped contribute to that. Less "speculative" picks for him to try to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

 

[Burzum]

Speaking of which, this is where our resident hindsight heroes stake their claims - name the player(s) he should have picked or forever hold your peace.

Uh, no, it doesn't work like that. Your average BigFooty poster does not have the access to the information, stats, and footage that teams do.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

Your average BigFooty poster does not have the access to the information, stats, and footage that teams do.

That's never stopped us before.

 

[Burzum]

That's never stopped us before.

It hasn't and if people want to have their favourite prospects then by all means go ahead but just because they might be wrong doesn't absolve Dodoro and his team. For what it's worth, I don't have a problem with our selections but we have no idea of the results until years from now. Dodoro shouldn't just keep getting chances until he nails a draft then get to smirk three times at his critics for finally succeeding at what he's been paid to do for the past fourteen years.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

we have no idea of the results until years from now.

At which point many of our peers suddenly did know all along.

 

[Burzum]

At which point many of our peers suddenly did know all along.

Do they claim to know or are they questioning the decisions made based on the results?