Footy Dept. Adrian Dodoro - Leaving EFC. #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

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  21.1

  5star

  K

  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.​

​

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.”​

 

[Lore]

Yep its been no mans land for years I think not bad enough that you seriously look at a major rebuild. Good enough that we're often we can work on things from here.

it's so frustrating.

Good clubs:

Essendon:

 

[Zach Package]

Vozzo was list manager at West Coast from 2010 to 2013 and not only did he build the bones of that premiership side in that period, but they were active at the trade table and in free agency and with a minimum of fuss.

Reckon he will watch how Dodoro navigates McKay and Zerk with much interest, could well inform his decision on his future.

 

[Nifft]

it's so frustrating.

Good clubs:

Essendon:

I'd swap the Bugatti for a Toyota Corolla... and not a new one.

 

[eighties_bomber]

nothing will change while this incompetant ****wit has any involvement with our list. He should have been removed 5 years ago #sackdodoro

 

[lenny2013]

nothing will change while this incompetant ******* has any involvement with our list. He should have been removed 5 years ago #sackdodoro

RFK has been a constant in our recruiting setup for nearly the last 13 years. Not much scrutiny comes his way.

Played under Sheeds, so he will have a long and guaranteed career at EFC regardless of performance.

 

[yodellinhank]

RFK has been a constant in our recruiting setup for nearly the last 13 years. Not much scrutiny comes his way.

Played under Sheeds, so he will have a long and guaranteed career at EFC regardless of performance.

We could bring back Keane, he recommended Matty Llyod to the club, back when the club won a final

 

[jannissary]

Not sure if it's just Dodoro but historically as a club we've had way, way too much faith in drafting flawed players with the expectation we'll be able to change them. This also extends to drafting players that have had a good junior career in one position but expecting them to play somewhere totally different. Langford, Laverde, Francis, Morgan, McGrath, Begley, Clarke etc. the list goes on. You can forgive some of the late round speculative picks like Clarke or genuine best available picks like Langford but the McGrath and Francis selections were straight up howlers at the time and have never turned better.

i’ll never understand playing francis in the forward line, he always showed much, much more as a defender

 

[Zach Package]

Not sure if it's just Dodoro but historically as a club we've had way, way too much faith in drafting flawed players with the expectation we'll be able to change them. This also extends to drafting players that have had a good junior career in one position but expecting them to play somewhere totally different. Langford, Laverde, Francis, Morgan, McGrath, Begley, Clarke etc. the list goes on. You can forgive some of the late round speculative picks like Clarke or genuine best available picks like Langford but the McGrath and Francis selections were straight up howlers at the time and have never turned better.

Pretty specious stuff, especially given clubs now more than ever are drafting the attributes and then backing themselves to develop the player in a position later.

Francis was drafted a month after Hawthorn completed a 3 peat based around multiple mobile medium defenders who could mark the footy overhead and kick absolute piss missiles, you can't tell me with a straight face that in the moment Francis was anything but the pick that made the most sense and was following the trend of where the game was headed.

Once he gets them in the door, then it's onto the next stop in the conveyor belt to create an AFL footballer, and that's the part where we failed not only Francis but dozens of others.

 

[P Money]

I feel that Dodo has more responsibility than a lot of people give him credit for. This is an article that was posted on blitz that I found very insightful. Speaks to the relationship between the coach, list managment, and other key roles.

When list manager is the AFL's most important job

It's known as the "silly season" or "meat market", when 18 AFL clubs trade draft picks and players to build new hope for a new football season. It's also a time when one club official becomes the most important person in the game, writes Michelangelo Rucci.

indaily.com.au

Perhaps things haven't operated like this at Essendon, I agree we are a total basket case. I still want dodo gone though.

Dodoro has at once the most influential and important role at the club and also such an esoteric mysterious role that you cannot pin him for any of the past 20 years of failings. Guy is a f**ing genius!

 

[Nifft]

We could bring back Keane, he recommended Matty Llyod to the club, back when the club won a final

 

[Nuggs Bunny]

Pretty specious stuff, especially given clubs now more than ever are drafting the attributes and then backing themselves to develop the player in a position later.

Francis was drafted a month after Hawthorn completed a 3 peat based around multiple mobile medium defenders who could mark the footy overhead and kick absolute piss missiles, you can't tell me with a straight face that in the moment Francis was anything but the pick that made the most sense and was following the trend of where the game was headed.

Once he gets them in the door, then it's onto the next stop in the conveyor belt to create an AFL footballer, and that's the part where we failed not only Francis but dozens of others.

Yeah, there's a bit of irony in this post here because Francis was nowhere near mobile enough to succeed as a medium defender and that's still the biggest knock against him.

But my beef is that between 2014 and 2016 we took 5 players in the first round and only one of them (Parish) has ever been consistently played in the same role. We spent years ****ing around with the other four only for three of them to eventually end up playing in exactly the same roles that we drafted them in to varying levels of success and the other one isn't a midfielder's arseh*le anyway. Not really interested in debating Francis vs. Curnow/McKay/Weideman because that's the real issue here.

 

[ant555]

The real error in 2016 is not splitting the pick.

When you're faced with an unconvincing top 5 to 10 split the pick.

Two picks in the teens. One in the teens and 2 in the 20s. That's a range that produced English, Bolton, Ridley and Berry.

Take future picks.

Have some balls. Don't cower to convention and commentary that cares about the NAB rising star.

Interesting concept. I have always thought that the best way to build through the draft is number of picks in the top thirty rather than a pick in the top 5. Not sure it would have had a lot of support at the time and I suspect the supporters would have been screaming blue murder but hey it may have worked.

As you know I was in the Taranto camp so he was my number one pick. Was also a Jack Graham fan so I would have had those 2 in my selections .

 

[Yoda_]

Vozzo was list manager at West Coast from 2010 to 2013 and not only did he build the bones of that premiership side in that period, but they were active at the trade table and in free agency and with a minimum of fuss.

Reckon he will watch how Dodoro navigates McKay and Zerk with much interest, could well inform his decision on his future.

tl;dr

Vozzo will trade Dodoro for Dyson + a 3rd rounder for Linear Beatson

 

[Zach Package]

tl;dr

Vozzo will trade Dodoro for Dyson + a 3rd rounder for Linear Beatson

Unfortunately I actually want non linear Beatson

 

[Beerfish]

Unfortunately I actually want non linear Beatson

Aka Random Beatson

 

[Lore]

Vozzo was list manager at West Coast from 2010 to 2013 and not only did he build the bones of that premiership side in that period, but they were active at the trade table and in free agency and with a minimum of fuss.

Reckon he will watch how Dodoro navigates McKay and Zerk with much interest, could well inform his decision on his future.

13 of the 20 players who played more than 15 games for West Coast in 2018 were acquired either before or after his tenure as list manager, and of the 22 who played in that premiership, 13 of those were also acquired outside Vozzo's tenure (not necessarily the same 13 but probably).

It's much the same if you look at Hawthorn's 2008 premiership, most of which were on the list before the end of 2004 – and the same for plenty of other clubs whose coach, list manager, GM-Football or CEO is credited as a genius who single-handedly won a flag within a year or three of starting a new job.

In reality those lists, cultures, game plans, etc are a decade or more in the making, all those last few years are about is balance, fine tuning and leadership to get all the cogs in the rights spots and turning at the right speed and in the right combinations. And then hope most of your list is healthy enough for long enough to get the job done.



If we got a new list manager it wouldn't take long to balance and fine tune, most of the list would be Dodoro's handiwork. But the new guy would likewise get the credit.... but having said that, you leave Dodoro in the job and you never get the balance and fine-tuning required.

 

[fairbump_playon]

now that you say it, how often do we hear "Essendon is a young and exciting team" ?

Feels like it's been that way since 2010

Young and exciting is what happens when 25-30 year olds of dubious quality are replaced with unproven kids

 

[BrunoV]

Pretty specious stuff, especially given clubs now more than ever are drafting the attributes and then backing themselves to develop the player in a position later.

Francis was drafted a month after Hawthorn completed a 3 peat based around multiple mobile medium defenders who could mark the footy overhead and kick absolute piss missiles, you can't tell me with a straight face that in the moment Francis was anything but the pick that made the most sense and was following the trend of where the game was headed.

Once he gets them in the door, then it's onto the next stop in the conveyor belt to create an AFL footballer, and that's the part where we failed not only Francis but dozens of others.

Francis isn't / wasn't mobile.

He may have been Brian Lake.

 

[jdstorm]

now that you say it, how often do we hear "Essendon is a young and exciting team" ?

Feels like it's been that way since 2010

If you took the list and replaced Sheil with 2 top 10 talents that fit a need (say wing/mid or key defender)

Then replaced Nic cox with Joe Daniher and Zach Reid with Adam Saad that’s a team that’s pretty competitive and well balanced.

Fb Ridley - ??? - mcgrath
Hb Redman - Zerk - Saad
C Martin - Merrett - durham
HF Perkins - Daniher - stringer
FF Menzie - wright - Langford
OB Draper - parish - setterfield

Essendon do pretty well with undrafted/late picks. So there’s decent talent identification people with the org.

They just need to build depth vs consolidating a list that’s 3/4 built.

 

[Zach Package]

Francis isn't / wasn't mobile.

He may have been Brian Lake.

I’ll preface this by saying he’s obviously not Hodge but he was a burst athlete that was agile enough to play as a small in a side that could hold the footy up.

He’s probably the greatest example of the kind of altruistic recruitment that doesn’t suit a club that can’t develop anyone. There’s little point drafting anyone whether it’s pick 6 or 66 that can be described as ‘high upside’ or ‘scope to play multiple positions’ or ‘versatile’ when you’re incapable of putting work into them and moulding them.

 

[FlyingV]

I’ll preface this by saying he’s obviously not Hodge but he was a burst athlete that was agile enough to play as a small in a side that could hold the footy up.

He’s probably the greatest example of the kind of altruistic recruitment that doesn’t suit a club that can’t develop anyone. There’s little point drafting anyone whether it’s pick 6 or 66 that can be described as ‘high upside’ or ‘scope to play multiple positions’ or ‘versatile’ when you’re incapable of putting work into them and moulding them.

I think also it helps not recruiting players who actually have a poor tank, not an average one, but an aerobic capability that is a legitimate weakness… which is what Francis had. Every injury he incurred was compounded by the fact it took him months to rebuild some sort of running fitness.

 

[Zach Package]

I think also it helps not recruiting players who actually have a poor tank, not an average one, but an aerobic capability that is a legitimate weakness… which is what Francis had. Every injury he incurred was compounded by the fact it took him months to rebuild some sort of running fitness.

Good clubs back themselves to build it, and build up such a high base that a 6 week calf injury at Essendon is a one weeker elsewhere.

Argument to be made that this is Adrian’s second biggest flaw outside of an inside midfielder blindspot.

He recruits oblivious to the flaws of the rest of the organisation. He doesn’t understand that we can’t bulk anyone up, put an endurance base on them or take their raw tools and develop them into anything but still recruits and talks as if we can.

 

[FlyingV]

Good clubs back themselves to build it, and build up such a high base that a 6 week calf injury at Essendon is a one weeker elsewhere.

Argument to be made that this is Adrian’s second biggest flaw outside of an inside midfielder blindspot.

He recruits oblivious to the flaws of the rest of the organisation. He doesn’t understand that we can’t bulk anyone up, put an endurance base on them or take their raw tools and develop them into anything but still recruits and talks as if we can.

I agree that there is recruitment misalignment, and I agree we are poor at developing strength and conditioning of our talent, I believe that’s what the investigation pre season found.

I also think we have been poor at prioritising naturally gifted runners which is a difficult attribute to develop and in some cases simply can’t reach the required level. Even Martin and Durham, two of our best, we got them in the most obscure ways. We didn’t know Martin was a total racehorse, he litterally rocked up and randomly was our best!

There are signs RFK is more onto this, but dodoro didn’t value it at all imo, development or no development.

 

[jdstorm]

I’ll preface this by saying he’s obviously not Hodge but he was a burst athlete that was agile enough to play as a small in a side that could hold the footy up.

He’s probably the greatest example of the kind of altruistic recruitment that doesn’t suit a club that can’t develop anyone. There’s little point drafting anyone whether it’s pick 6 or 66 that can be described as ‘high upside’ or ‘scope to play multiple positions’ or ‘versatile’ when you’re incapable of putting work into them and moulding them.

In basketball there’s a term called a tweener.

Players who are versatile and athletically gifted but don’t have a position they can realistically play. Ie too slow to be a small and not strong enough to be a big.

Essendon bring in a lot of these players and hope they could be anything. Where as the best versatile multiple positions are usually established at one position and their élite physical tools/skills allow them to also play another

 

[citizen-erased]

The real error in 2016 is not splitting the pick.

When you're faced with an unconvincing top 5 to 10 split the pick.

Two picks in the teens. One in the teens and 2 in the 20s. That's a range that produced English, Bolton, Ridley and Berry.

Take future picks.

Have some balls. Don't cower to convention and commentary that cares about the NAB rising star.

I believe we tried that with gcs but they knocked us back
I think we wanted 4 and one of the other top 10 picks.
1 of their 4 picks remain.
Our pick 1 is less than impressive

Win win that went lose lose.
Two most incompetent teams in the business