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

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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.”
 
Listening to SEN Friday and this guy popped up, mentioned the urban myth of being hard to deal/sh*t list manager has cantered into the real world where his daughter cops it.

Pretty f*n poor from people who do this


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Probably the same Carlton supporters scumbags who troll the main board.
 

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where his daughter cops it
I think you misheard this. He was saying you have to have a laugh, his eldest daughter Danielle “cracks up laughing” (not ‘cops it’).

It’s actually a really solid interview (on the club website for those who missed it). Might transcribe later if they don’t put up a decent article to go with it.
 
I think you misheard this. He was saying you have to have a laugh, his eldest daughter Danielle “cracks up laughing” (not ‘cops it’).

It’s actually a really solid interview (on the club website for those who missed it). Might transcribe later if they don’t put up a decent article to go with it.

To be fair I was working so was paraphrasing what I thought I heard

Apologies


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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.
Exactly!

Dodoro's comments were more "I wouldn't have traded him either at any cost" rather than "I wouldn't trade him for what was offered".

Dogs had no intention on trading Dunkley, regardless of the offer, similar situation to us with JD the year before.
 
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)
Agree, happy with the players we picked and understand we needed to leave a spot or 2 open but with Eddie Ford available for a pick in the 50s, it would be hard to now watch him do well at Norf.
 
The 2020 draft will be one that sets Essendon up for the clubs next successful era or will be seen as another failure.
I also believe it will be one way or the other the final judgement on Adrian Dodoro’s career in the AFL.

The questions will be:

1. Should Joe Daniher have been traded in 2019 and how much did the bombers lose by missing out on the pick used for Logan MacDonald.
2. Were Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid astute choices? Their careers and careers of Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Henry and others will be watched very closely.
3. Should the club have traded for Josh Dunkley? Dodoro’s ability to locate big inside midfielders has historically been poor.
4. Should the club have traded Zach Merrett in 2020? If he leaves the club as a free agent and the club gets one pick as compensation like joe Daniher then questions must be asked. Trading Merrett in 2020 would have given Essendon the ability to secure Josh Dunkley. The optics will be terrible if Essendon lose another player they want to retain after last years exodus.
5. Did Essendon err by taking Cox, Reid, Eyre, Brand, Waterman and Baldwin in one draft/ trade period? Little was done to build the midfield.
6. Will Dodoro in partnership with Rutten make the correct call on the careers of Hooker, Hurley, Heppell, Zaharakis and to a much lesser extent Ambrose, Gleeson and other periphery players.
7. Was Jye Caldwell an astute trade target?

i feel like the next two years will tell the tale on the’Dodoro Era’.
If Cox, Perkins and Reid can be as successful as Franklin, Roughead and Lewis then success may await.
‘if they become as successful as Gumbleton, Jetta and Hislop then the fruiterer’s son will be the lemon significantly responsible for a decade of failure.

Discuss
 
The 2020 draft will be one that sets Essendon up for the clubs next successful era or will be seen as another failure.
I also believe it will be one way or the other the final judgement on Adrian Dodoro’s career in the AFL.

The questions will be:

1. Should Joe Daniher have been traded in 2019 and how much did the bombers lose by missing out on the pick used for Logan MacDonald.
2. Were Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid astute choices? Their careers and careers of Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Henry and others will be watched very closely.
3. Should the club have traded for Josh Dunkley? Dodoro’s ability to locate big inside midfielders has historically been poor.
4. Should the club have traded Zach Merrett in 2020? If he leaves the club as a free agent and the club gets one pick as compensation like joe Daniher then questions must be asked. Trading Merrett in 2020 would have given Essendon the ability to secure Josh Dunkley. The optics will be terrible if Essendon lose another player they want to retain after last years exodus.
5. Did Essendon err by taking Cox, Reid, Eyre, Brand, Waterman and Baldwin in one draft/ trade period? Little was done to build the midfield.
6. Will Dodoro in partnership with Rutten make the correct call on the careers of Hooker, Hurley, Heppell, Zaharakis and to a much lesser extent Ambrose, Gleeson and other periphery players.
7. Was Jye Caldwell an astute trade target?

i feel like the next two years will tell the tale on the’Dodoro Era’.
If Cox, Perkins and Reid can be as successful as Franklin, Roughead and Lewis then success may await.
‘if they become as successful as Gumbleton, Jetta and Hislop then the fruiterer’s son will be the lemon significantly responsible for a decade of failure.

Discuss

How much of the above has Dodoro had the final decision on?

Rumours suggest (from memory) he didn’t want to do the Shiel deal at that price, but did want to do the Daniher deal. NFI on the Dunkley deal but I’d agree that the asking price was too high for where we were at.

Merrett is a misnomer, one because there’s no guarantee the Dogs would have done the Dunkley deal, and two, if he does go, and we walk away with a top-5 compo pick, would we have done better?
 
He's a failure. You can't manage a list that long and not get the slightest hint of a result.

Yes, he may atone in these final years but I think it will be too little too late.
 
The 2020 draft will be one that sets Essendon up for the clubs next successful era or will be seen as another failure.
I also believe it will be one way or the other the final judgement on Adrian Dodoro’s career in the AFL.

The questions will be:

1. Should Joe Daniher have been traded in 2019 and how much did the bombers lose by missing out on the pick used for Logan MacDonald.
2. Were Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid astute choices? Their careers and careers of Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Henry and others will be watched very closely.
3. Should the club have traded for Josh Dunkley? Dodoro’s ability to locate big inside midfielders has historically been poor.
4. Should the club have traded Zach Merrett in 2020? If he leaves the club as a free agent and the club gets one pick as compensation like joe Daniher then questions must be asked. Trading Merrett in 2020 would have given Essendon the ability to secure Josh Dunkley. The optics will be terrible if Essendon lose another player they want to retain after last years exodus.
5. Did Essendon err by taking Cox, Reid, Eyre, Brand, Waterman and Baldwin in one draft/ trade period? Little was done to build the midfield.
6. Will Dodoro in partnership with Rutten make the correct call on the careers of Hooker, Hurley, Heppell, Zaharakis and to a much lesser extent Ambrose, Gleeson and other periphery players.
7. Was Jye Caldwell an astute trade target?

i feel like the next two years will tell the tale on the’Dodoro Era’.
If Cox, Perkins and Reid can be as successful as Franklin, Roughead and Lewis then success may await.
‘if they become as successful as Gumbleton, Jetta and Hislop then the fruiterer’s son will be the lemon significantly responsible for a decade of failure.

Discuss
Valid points for the most part, but why would the club trade Zach Merrett? You don't trade a player of his talent if he doesn't request for a trade.
 

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Listening to SEN Friday and this guy popped up, mentioned the urban myth of being hard to deal/sh*t list manager has cantered into the real world where his daughter cops it.

Pretty f*n poor from people who do this


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The real question is whether Dodoro outfoxes his daughter on pocket money vs chores trade deals*.

If not, this criticism from the street is really unfair.

*I would have been happy to take clean bathroom in the top ten. I'm rapt and reckon clean bathroom can really add to what we're building. SEN were reporting it would take $5 to get it done but we thought a dollar coin and half a lolly snake would be enough and that's what turned out to be.
 
I did a revisionist hypothetical on our last couple of years.
it's not pretty reading. Whether you lay that at the feet of Dodoro, Richardson, Campbell, Worsfold, Rutten or the club as a whole i'll leave to one side.

2018
Walk away from the Shiel deal. Focus on Parish, Smith, Merrett, McGrath as your fleet of mids.
Use the 1st pick for Caldwell...and save some 2020 picks.
Miss out on Mosquito.

2019
1st pick from Shiel used on Bergman.
Take the gift from the Swans for Daniher. 9 & F1.
Split 9 as per the Blues deal into 17, 23 and Collingwood's F2.
17 -> Kemp.
Grab Jones @ 23 and keep our F2. Bryan at the next pick. Pick left over from Eagles trade for Riccardi

2020
Swans 1st -> McDonald. We ask ourselves Daniher who?
Our 1st is arguably better as we don't beat the hawks with a Daniher cameo -> Hollands
Saad pick 1 -> Cox
Fantasia -> 29 & F3.

Next bit is speculative AF, but anyhoo
F2 + F3 + Port F3 to Pies for F1
Pies F1 + 29 + Saad pick 2 -> Dunkley + Dogs F3 (assume they still do the Treloar deal as is)

Midfield unit;
Draper Dunkley Caldwell
Cox Merrett Langford
Support: McGrath Parish Hollands Kemp Bergman
If Merrett leaves, you still bat deep. And have two high-ish picks to fill.

Forward line;
Jones McDonald Smith
Tippa Wright Stringer
Support from Riccardi, Waterman Baldwin etc.

Backline still relies on Hooker, Ambrose, Hurley, BZT, Francis, Ridley, with the addition of Brand, Eyre being capable, Cox too & Stewart & Laverde going back.

The Shiel deal & Daniher non-deal were a couple of mis-steps imo.
Goes to the heart that the club either didn't have a clear plan or misread where we were at. A more honest assessment of things likely changes the outcomes of both deals and we'd be better for it.

Daniher deal especially. I can accept the Shiel deal and getting Caldwell in fairly cheap as a result (though i think it made getting Dunkley harder)
Top 10 pick plus another top 10, likely top 5 pick for an injury prone fwd who wasn't showing signs of signing a contract extension.....
 
I did a revisionist hypothetical on our last couple of years.
it's not pretty reading. Whether you lay that at the feet of Dodoro, Richardson, Campbell, Worsfold, Rutten or the club as a whole i'll leave to one side.

2018
Walk away from the Shiel deal. Focus on Parish, Smith, Merrett, McGrath as your fleet of mids.
Use the 1st pick for Caldwell...and save some 2020 picks.
Miss out on Mosquito.

2019
1st pick from Shiel used on Bergman.
Take the gift from the Swans for Daniher. 9 & F1.
Split 9 as per the Blues deal into 17, 23 and Collingwood's F2.
17 -> Kemp.
Grab Jones @ 23 and keep our F2. Bryan at the next pick. Pick left over from Eagles trade for Riccardi

2020
Swans 1st -> McDonald. We ask ourselves Daniher who?
Our 1st is arguably better as we don't beat the hawks with a Daniher cameo -> Hollands
Saad pick 1 -> Cox
Fantasia -> 29 & F3.

Next bit is speculative AF, but anyhoo
F2 + F3 + Port F3 to Pies for F1
Pies F1 + 29 + Saad pick 2 -> Dunkley + Dogs F3 (assume they still do the Treloar deal as is)

Midfield unit;
Draper Dunkley Caldwell
Cox Merrett Langford
Support: McGrath Parish Hollands Kemp Bergman
If Merrett leaves, you still bat deep. And have two high-ish picks to fill.

Forward line;
Jones McDonald Smith
Tippa Wright Stringer
Support from Riccardi, Waterman Baldwin etc.

Backline still relies on Hooker, Ambrose, Hurley, BZT, Francis, Ridley, with the addition of Brand, Eyre being capable, Cox too & Stewart & Laverde going back.

The Shiel deal & Daniher non-deal were a couple of mis-steps imo.
Goes to the heart that the club either didn't have a clear plan or misread where we were at. A more honest assessment of things likely changes the outcomes of both deals and we'd be better for it.

Daniher deal especially. I can accept the Shiel deal and getting Caldwell in fairly cheap as a result (though i think it made getting Dunkley harder)
Top 10 pick plus another top 10, likely top 5 pick for an injury prone fwd who wasn't showing signs of signing a contract extension.....
We would still have had Mozzie. His pick was part of the Smith trade, not Shiel trade.
 
ah. i always mix those two up.
need to check who we got/what we did with the GWS pick we got with Shiel....
In a roundabout way we got the Jones pick
 
He's a failure. You can't manage a list that long and not get the slightest hint of a result.

Yes, he may atone in these final years but I think it will be too little too late.
I don’t agree.

Essendon’s recent failures relate to a broken football club much more broadly than broken list management.

With everything taken away from Dodoro in about 2012-4 (draft picks etc), he built a list that was capable of winning finals between 2018-22. Was it perfect? No. Was it a strong list? Yes.

A now acknowledged terrible culture (club finally admits failures), injury mismanagement, lack of player development (coaching), terrible coaching (Worsfold) and poor standards and accountability measures collectively resulted in failure which ultimately led top line talent to then leave the club or not prosper. An indictment on the clubs overall environment.

Let’s just watch how Daniher, Fantasia and Saad go in likely much better club environments to truly see the extent of Essendon’s broader failures. They will likely thrive and prove the good work of Dodoro and highlight the clubs overall failure, mistakenly recognised as poor list management by many.
 
misread where we were at

This is what I believe they did imo.

Daniher was trending up in 2017, looking for all money like from 2018 onwards he was going to be clearly the best forward in the game, the guy you build a genuine premiership side around.

They went all-in, brought in Saad + Stringer + Smith (all of which were pretty good value trades I'd say) then had Daniher fall to pieces in 2018, along with Stewart, Fantasia, and Hooker all having issues or simply not playing forward.

We should have had the best forward-line in the comp in 2018 lead by Daniher.

Daniher, Stringer, Fantasia, AMT with support from guys like Stewart, Laverde, Langford, McKernan and Mitch Brown would have been a potent forward group. We had 4 players kick >30 goals in 2017 with no Stringer, 1 in 2018 (Stringer), and 2 in 2019 (Stringer + AMT), then 0 in 2020 for obvious reasons.

We didn't just lose Daniher, we lost all potency up front. We went from the 3rd highest scoring team in 2017, added Stringer, to the 9th highest scoring in 2018, 13th in 2019, and finally 14th in 2020.

They doubled down at the end of 2018, bringing in Shiel for what was regarded at the time as a lot, and in hindsight, was probably too much. All this based around the potential to get Daniher + Fantasia back and firing, and seeing what the 2017 forward-line + Stringer would be capable of.

At the end of 2019 Daniher wants out, Sydney offers a deal that in hindsight we should have taken, but at the time, given the club had invested years in the Daniher basket, many supporters and players were dead set against trading him. Drafting that year showed some forward planning, bringing in Jones & Bryan (plus Crauford) as potential KPP's.

2020 saw a hard and fast change of strategy to clearly build around the U23 portion of the list, with Rutten very much appearing to be driving the culture and expectations from the top-down instead of the player-led mentality that Worsfold had.

I'd say the moves at the end of 2017 made sense given what we knew at the time. 2018 with Shiel was always very risky, as was the Worsfold re-signing when we didn't need to.
 
This is what I believe they did imo.

Daniher was trending up in 2017, looking for all money like from 2018 onwards he was going to be clearly the best forward in the game, the guy you build a genuine premiership side around.

They went all-in, brought in Saad + Stringer + Smith (all of which were pretty good value trades I'd say) then had Daniher fall to pieces in 2018, along with Stewart, Fantasia, and Hooker all having issues or simply not playing forward.

We should have had the best forward-line in the comp in 2018 lead by Daniher.

Daniher, Stringer, Fantasia, AMT with support from guys like Stewart, Laverde, Langford, McKernan and Mitch Brown would have been a potent forward group. We had 4 players kick >30 goals in 2017 with no Stringer, 1 in 2018 (Stringer), and 2 in 2019 (Stringer + AMT), then 0 in 2020 for obvious reasons.

We didn't just lose Daniher, we lost all potency up front. We went from the 3rd highest scoring team in 2017, added Stringer, to the 9th highest scoring in 2018, 13th in 2019, and finally 14th in 2020.

They doubled down at the end of 2018, bringing in Shiel for what was regarded at the time as a lot, and in hindsight, was probably too much. All this based around the potential to get Daniher + Fantasia back and firing, and seeing what the 2017 forward-line + Stringer would be capable of.

At the end of 2019 Daniher wants out, Sydney offers a deal that in hindsight we should have taken, but at the time, given the club had invested years in the Daniher basket, many supporters and players were dead set against trading him. Drafting that year showed some forward planning, bringing in Jones & Bryan (plus Crauford) as potential KPP's.

2020 saw a hard and fast change of strategy to clearly build around the U23 portion of the list, with Rutten very much appearing to be driving the culture and expectations from the top-down instead of the player-led mentality that Worsfold had.

I'd say the moves at the end of 2017 made sense given what we knew at the time. 2018 with Shiel was always very risky, as was the Worsfold re-signing when we didn't need to.
yep
if you look at it dispassionately (supporters don't get to make/influence trade decisions imo) & as a business decision model you have;

Daniher + Fantasia + Stringer + Jones + Tippa + Smith - 20% likelihood that lineup is there in 2021
vs.
McDonald + Wright + Stringer + Jones + Tippa + Smith - 90% likelihood (you take the risk on McDonald going before your pick...i imagine we'd have been tracking Wright)

Backed the club decision in 2019, but with a caveat that they'd be closer to Daniher's state of mind & likelihood of staying.
2x top 10 talents vs. 1 elite player who had missed the best part of two seasons, was OOC in a year and wasn't signing an extension was high risk...i'm not sure it was high reward.
 
He's a failure. You can't manage a list that long and not get the slightest hint of a result.

Yes, he may atone in these final years but I think it will be too little too late.

Nah.

That's like saying we suck because the boot studder isn't on point.

The 2013 list featured Ryder, Carlisle, Hurley, Hooker, Watson, Pears, Melksham, Heppell, Gumbleton, Daniher, Goddard, Zaharakis, Hibberd, Winderlich, Crameri, Davey... the core of a bloody strong side is there.

Some players didn't work out because of injury (Pears, Gumbleton).

Some didn't work out because they're peahearts (Ryder, Daniher).

But that doesn't cancel the fact that the effort to get that sort of talent to the club was very good.

The mix of how it was done was good as well - early picks, late picks, rookie selections, free agency.

Pointing to Essendon's on field performance is not in isolation a good measure of how list management has gone.
 
Nah.

That's like saying we suck because the boot studder isn't on point.

The 2013 list featured Ryder, Carlisle, Hurley, Hooker, Watson, Pears, Melksham, Heppell, Gumbleton, Daniher, Goddard, Zaharakis, Hibberd, Winderlich, Crameri, Davey... the core of a bloody strong side is there.

Some players didn't work out because of injury (Pears, Gumbleton).

Some didn't work out because they're peahearts (Ryder, Daniher).

But that doesn't cancel the fact that the effort to get that sort of talent to the club was very good.

The mix of how it was done was good as well - early picks, late picks, rookie selections, free agency.

Pointing to Essendon's on field performance is not in isolation a good measure of how list management has gone.
Failure is not an accurate reflection. As you point out, we've recruited well.
2x RS winners in Heppell and McGrath
Some excellent 2nd rd picks (Merrett, Ridley, Carlisle, Zaka being standouts)

All in all, up until 2017 we were pretty good in that respect.
2 missteps in recent years, both i attribute to thinking we were closer than we were (or wanted to be given what we did to the players entering their prime), have tripped us up.
We could have lived without Shiel. In fact, his presence has probably stunted Parish in a lot of ways.
We should have swallowed the bitter pill of Daniher for 9 & 4
I'd also argue we should have put our 2021 1st on the table for Dunkley. Ready made, square peg for square hole, right age profile.

Overspent on a luxury item
Looked a gift horse in the mouth
Baulked at the price of a critical need.
 
Failure is not an accurate reflection. As you point out, we've recruited well.
2x RS winners in Heppell and McGrath
Some excellent 2nd rd picks (Merrett, Ridley, Carlisle, Zaka being standouts)

All in all, up until 2017 we were pretty good in that respect.
2 missteps in recent years, both i attribute to thinking we were closer than we were (or wanted to be given what we did to the players entering their prime), have tripped us up.
We could have lived without Shiel. In fact, his presence has probably stunted Parish in a lot of ways.
We should have swallowed the bitter pill of Daniher for 9 & 4
I'd also argue we should have put our 2021 1st on the table for Dunkley. Ready made, square peg for square hole, right age profile.

Overspent on a luxury item
Looked a gift horse in the mouth
Baulked at the price of a critical need.

The Shiel and Daniher ones I agree with.

Dunkley? They were asking WAY too much.
 

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