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

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  No current season stats available

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  – 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.”​

 

[DERO]

Too much speculation with picks in the 20's/ 30's for mine. Jackson Merrett, Anthony Long, Steinberg (WTF?), Jay Nash, Jason Ashby, Alex Morgan, Andrew Lee Begley etc.

Carlisle, Zaka and Z Merrett are the only picks in the 20-40 range that we have nailed over the last 15 or so years.

 

[eDPS]

Too much speculation with picks in the 20's/ 30's for mine. Jackson Merrett, Anthony Long, Steinberg (WTF?), Jay Nash, Jason Ashby, Alex Morgan, Andrew Lee Begley etc.

Carlisle, Zaka and Z Merrett are the only picks in the 20-40 range that we have nailed over the last 15 or so years.

Plenty of other clubs rated Merrett, Ashby, Begley and Morgan. They would have been drafted for sure if we didn’t take them

 

[eth-dog]

Too much speculation with picks in the 20's/ 30's for mine. Jackson Merrett, Anthony Long, Steinberg (WTF?), Jay Nash, Jason Ashby, Alex Morgan, Andrew Lee Begley etc.

Carlisle, Zaka and Z Merrett are the only picks in the 20-40 range that we have nailed over the last 15 or so years.

From memory Merrett, Ashby, Morgan and Begley were all in the second to third round range according to draft watchers. Long and Steinberg were speculative.

 

[DERO]

Plenty of other clubs rated Merrett, Ashby, Begley and Morgan. They would have been drafted for sure if we didn’t take them

I'm not privvy to that kind of information but if you take a look at our picks between 20-40 since 2003, it ain't flash!

 

[GUMBLETRON]

Picks 20-40 are rarely flash to begin with.

 

[eDPS]

I'm not privvy to that kind of information but if you take a look at our picks between 20-40 since 2003, it ain't flash!

Yeah I’m not saying they where the right choices either, Ashby was the main one on draft night I really didn’t rate myself even though other watchers did

 

[Towno78]

Plenty of other clubs rated Merrett, Ashby, Begley and Morgan. They would have been drafted for sure if we didn’t take them

I certainly don't subscribe to the theory that we should have managed to find many stars in the 20-40 pick range.
But the argument that "if we didn't pick them, someone else would have" simply does not stack up. It doesn't matter how many other list managers would have picked them up... it's the fish that John West rejects....

 

[eDPS]

I certainly don't subscribe to the theory that we should have managed to find many stars in the 20-40 pick range.
But the argument that "if we didn't pick them, someone else would have" simply does not stack up. It doesn't matter how many other list managers would have picked them up... it's the fish that John West rejects....

I know for a fact they all would have been drafted if not they would have been very close, at the very least they all had enough club interest to get National Combine invites, it’s not like they were taken out of obscurity they all had more than Essendons interest

edit: sorry correction on J.Merrett he didn’t get a combine invite, was rated there abouts by media but perhaps not so much by recruiters

 

[boncer34]

I know for a fact the all would have been drafted if not they would have been very close, at the very least they all had enough club interest to get National Combine invites, it’s not like they were taken out of obscurity they all had more than Essendons interest

So you don't know for a fact they'd have been drafted.

I mean mate every other club would've picked Jack Watts at pick 1. So what? Still a dumb move in the end.

You can keep making excuses for the bloke but Dodo record speaks for itself. It's not great.

 

[eDPS]

So you don't know for a fact they'd have been drafted.

I mean mate every other club would've picked Jack Watts at pick 1. So what? Still a dumb move in the end.

You can keep making excuses for the bloke but Dodo record speaks for itself. It's not great.

Yeah sorry not with Jackson Merrett I made a mistake there

Yeah I’m not trying to make that point, those players weren’t that speculative at the time doesn’t mean they weren’t bad choices for sure, all of those 4 players in particular are flankers aswell hmm

 

[boncer34]

I'm not privvy to that kind of information but if you take a look at our picks between 20-40 since 2003, it ain't flash!

Why limit yourself there let's look at his top 20 since 2003

Kepler Bradley - Fail
Brent Stanton - Pass
Angus Monfries - Fail (Sorry but he wasn't worth a first rounder)
Paddy Ryder - Pass
Courtenay Dempsey - Fail (See Monfries)
Scott Gumbleton - Not his fault
Leroy Jetta - Fail
Tom Hislop - Yeesh
David Myers - Fail
Michael Hurley - Pass
Jake Melksham - Fail
Dyson Heppell - Pass
Elliot Kavannagh - Yeesh
Joe Daniher - Pass but really does he deserve credit?
Kyle Langford - Probable Fail (Not worth a first)
Jayden Laverde - Probable Fail
Darcy Parish - Pass
Aaron Francis - Probable Pass
Andrew McGrath - Pass

20 picks

8 fails
1 fail due to injury
2 probable fails
1 probable pass
8 passes - 1 fell into his lap and a #1 pick

That is not great reading.

 

[ghostdog]

Too much speculation with picks in the 20's/ 30's for mine. Jackson Merrett, Anthony Long, Steinberg (WTF?), Jay Nash, Jason Ashby, Alex Morgan, Andrew Lee Begley etc.

Carlisle, Zaka and Z Merrett are the only picks in the 20-40 range that we have nailed over the last 15 or so years.

I really liked Heath Hocking. Solid pick 20.

 

[DERO]

I really liked Heath Hocking. Solid pick 20.

Nathan Lovett Murray would * him up.

 

[eDPS]

Why limit yourself there let's look at his top 20 since 2003

Kepler Bradley - Fail
Brent Stanton - Pass
Angus Monfries - Fail (Sorry but he wasn't worth a first rounder)
Paddy Ryder - Pass
Courtenay Dempsey - Fail (See Monfries)
Scott Gumbleton - Not his fault
Leroy Jetta - Fail
Tom Hislop - Yeesh
David Myers - Fail
Michael Hurley - Pass
Jake Melksham - Fail
Dyson Heppell - Pass
Elliot Kavannagh - Yeesh
Joe Daniher - Pass but really does he deserve credit?
Kyle Langford - Probable Fail (Not worth a first)
Jayden Laverde - Probable Fail
Darcy Parish - Pass
Aaron Francis - Probable Pass
Andrew McGrath - Pass

20 picks

8 fails
1 fail due to injury
2 probable fails
1 probable pass
8 passes - 1 fell into his lap and a #1 pick

That is not great reading.

That’s fair, a couple of outliers though is the strength of certain drafts and which players got taken afterwords, Monfries would almost if not be top 10 from the 2004 draft in hindsight

Some years just suck, also the draft with Langford and Laverde I’d like people to have a look at Carltons haul for that year ooof

 

[ghostdog]

Nathan Lovett Murray would fu** him up.

Maybe so. Buddha was a more reliable kick though. In any case, I don't think either were terrible picks by Dodo. Cale Hooker with 54 was alright too.

 

[boncer34]

That’s fair, a couple of outliers though is the strength of certain drafts and which players got taken afterwords, Monfries would almost if not be top 10 from the 2004 draft in hindsight

Some years just suck, especially the draft with Langford and Laverde I’d like people to have a look at Carltons haul for that year ooof

Yes mate other clubs have poor drafts and some years are poor.

So what? We give Dodoro a pass mark for having a less than 50% hit rate with a top 20 pick?

 

[DERO]

Maybe so. Buddha was a more reliable kick though. In any case, I don't think either were terrible picks by Dodo. Cale Hooker with 54 was alright too.

Zerk Thatcher looks good too.

 

[Red Black and Blue]

Why limit yourself there let's look at his top 20 since 2003

Kepler Bradley - Fail
Brent Stanton - Pass
Angus Monfries - Fail (Sorry but he wasn't worth a first rounder)
Paddy Ryder - Pass
Courtenay Dempsey - Fail (See Monfries)
Scott Gumbleton - Not his fault
Leroy Jetta - Fail
Tom Hislop - Yeesh
David Myers - Fail
Michael Hurley - Pass
Jake Melksham - Fail
Dyson Heppell - Pass
Elliot Kavannagh - Yeesh
Joe Daniher - Pass but really does he deserve credit?
Kyle Langford - Probable Fail (Not worth a first)
Jayden Laverde - Probable Fail
Darcy Parish - Pass
Aaron Francis - Probable Pass
Andrew McGrath - Pass

20 picks

8 fails
1 fail due to injury
2 probable fails
1 probable pass
8 passes - 1 fell into his lap and a #1 pick

That is not great reading.

His strike rate for AFL standard players is fine, maybe even above average, the problem is degree of success. We had a few above average players but how many footballers have we had in the top 20 of any given year? We had maybe Daniher, Hurley, Merrett, Heppell and Hooker for a year each. A premiership team probably has 5 of them in the single year.

 

[eth-dog]

Why limit yourself there let's look at his top 20 since 2003

Kepler Bradley - Fail
Brent Stanton - Pass
Angus Monfries - Fail (Sorry but he wasn't worth a first rounder)
Paddy Ryder - Pass
Courtenay Dempsey - Fail (See Monfries)
Scott Gumbleton - Not his fault
Leroy Jetta - Fail
Tom Hislop - Yeesh
David Myers - Fail
Michael Hurley - Pass
Jake Melksham - Fail
Dyson Heppell - Pass
Elliot Kavannagh - Yeesh
Joe Daniher - Pass but really does he deserve credit?
Kyle Langford - Probable Fail (Not worth a first)
Jayden Laverde - Probable Fail
Darcy Parish - Pass
Aaron Francis - Probable Pass
Andrew McGrath - Pass

20 picks

8 fails
1 fail due to injury
2 probable fails
1 probable pass
8 passes - 1 fell into his lap and a #1 pick

That is not great reading.

Sorry but Monfries cannot qualify as a fail at the pick he was taken at. How many players taken after him would you say were better than him? I'd say LeCras and Cloke (F/S) in the ND, Gibson, Morris and Grundy in the RD. Same with Dempsey, there are maybe 10 players taken after him that I would say 100% turned out to be better players in Vince, Gilbert, Swallow, Carlile, Patfull, Stokes in the ND and Hocking, McGlynn and Jack in the RD. How many non-academy or Father-Son players taken after Langford would you say are definitely better than him?

The strength of the respective drafts need to come into consideration. Saying Monfries is a fail because he isn't "first round worthy" when he's 100% better than 7 players taken before him and inferior to 5 players after him (one of which was F/S and an automatic 3rd round pick) is overly harsh.

 

[IggypopsTshirt]

Dodo truly draws out the Essendon cult mentality. Even in the face of 15 years of indisputable failure, we have droves willing to defend him. The staunch defence of our own is something that makes the club great, but by god we’ve inflicted some serious self harm standing by the wrong people over the more recent years.
Ponder the sides that have been assembled while Dodo has sat in the seat. The Geelong and Hawthorn dynasty’s, Tigers, Eagles, Swans etc etc and then look at the players we’re listing as Dodo’s duds (Even the successes have been moderate at best). It makes for some very frustrating reading.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

And yet at the same time it highlights the lazy, quick-fix mentality that has contributed every bit as much to the past two decades.

Just draft some stars! How hard can it be?

 

[boncer34]

And yet at the same time it highlights the lazy, quick-fix mentality that has contributed every bit as much to the past two decades.

Just draft some stars! How hard can it be?

Yes lazy mentality is thinking let's draft AFL quality players. Accepting the mediocrity he's dished up as acceptable is the height of cutting edge productive behavior.

 

[boncer34]

Sorry but Monfries cannot qualify as a fail at the pick he was taken at. How many players taken after him would you say were better than him? I'd say LeCras and Cloke (F/S) in the ND, Gibson, Morris and Grundy in the RD. Same with Dempsey, there are maybe 10 players taken after him that I would say 100% turned out to be better players in Vince, Gilbert, Swallow, Carlile, Patfull, Stokes in the ND and Hocking, McGlynn and Jack in the RD. How many non-academy or Father-Son players taken after Langford would you say are definitely better than him?

The strength of the respective drafts need to come into consideration. Saying Monfries is a fail because he isn't "first round worthy" when he's 100% better than 7 players taken before him and inferior to 5 players after him (one of which was F/S and an automatic 3rd round pick) is overly harsh.

Does that mean that in high quality draft years he gets no credit because the quality was so good he had to nail one?

Can't have it both ways Ethan. Can't ignore his failures coz "it was a weak draft" and then praise him when he gets one right in a good draft. Having your cake and eating it to is fun and is exactly how Dodoro has survived scrutiny from the Essendon faithful.

 

[DapperJong]

Let's not pretend boncer34 didn't steal his arguments from oppo supporters who get offended every time dodo wins a trade

 

[eth-dog]

Does that mean that in high quality draft years he gets no credit because the quality was so good he had to nail one?

Can't have it both ways Ethan. Can't ignore his failures coz "it was a weak draft" and then praise him when he gets one right in a good draft. Having your cake and eating it to is fun and is exactly how Dodoro has survived scrutiny from the Essendon faithful.

Of course it works both ways, but you can't label a player "not first round worthy" in a draft year he's comfortably in the top 15 players in the draft.