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.​

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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.”​

 

[yodellinhank]

No that was when Sheedy pissed off Judkins by interfering and took over . 2007 is the year. It was the first year we had a list manager and recruiting manager and no Sheedy with his fingers in the pie .

Should have picked Rioli.

 

[ant555]

Should have picked Rioli.

The would have if they had not picked Davey and Jetta the previous year.
But yes they should have .

 

[Pweter]

Rioli, Davey and Jetta would make quite the small forward combo in the modern game.

 

[ant555]

Rioli, Davey and Jetta would make quite the small forward combo in the modern game.

Maybe.
Davey would have been a super star but he often fumbled .
Jetta is the fastest slow bloke I have ever seen play footy.
Rioli and Walla. Now that would be worth seeing.

 

[eth-dog]

Maybe.
Davey would have been a super star but he often fumbled .
Jetta is the fastest slow bloke I have ever seen play footy.
Rioli and Walla. Now that would be worth seeing.

As in he was supposed to be fast but wasn't?

 

[ant555]

As in he was supposed to be fast but wasn't?

Yep.

 

[Kong]

No that was when Sheedy pissed off Judkins by interfering and took over . 2007 is the year. It was the first year we had a list manager and recruiting manager and no Sheedy with his fingers in the pie .

From memory they actually drafted some good footballers between 2007 and 2009, too.

Fluke, or did something change after that?

 

[ant555]

From memory they actually drafted some good footballers between 2007 and 2009, too.

Fluke, or did something change after that?

Merve Keane coming on board helped a lot. They had a reasonably good period between 2007 -2010 . 2011 was a miss as was 2012 giving us Daniher who we could not miss on but nothing else. 2013 was Merrett and Fantasia .2014 Langford / Laverde / McKenna . It was pretty good although the one thing they did not do is really land 3 150 game quality players in any one draft like Geelong or Hawthorn did .

 

[ghostdog]

We have been playing key position talls on the wings, while Martin is playing in defence and Duursma was playing half forward. And the young fella was killing it in the VFL all year. That's not because of holes in the squad. That's bad coaching strategy/structure.

Durham isnt a big bodied mid?

I think we've had enough good players in every position over Dodoros tenure. We just haven't developed them or used them properly. Or they've left. Yes we've had holes. Every side does. But almost all his sides have underperformed.
Including this one that should have been a top 8 side. But our coach is a spud.

What are you playing at Adrian?

 

[ghostdog]

Oh absolutely - I did that analysis too, but it doesn't change it as much as you think it would. Absolutely Geelong are a massive outlier (27AAs in the relevant period, followed by Port and Richmond at 18 and 17), but after that we're still firmly middle of the pack at 12 (and above teams like Hawthorn, Freo and even Brisbane).

Also, to be clear, the only point I'm making is that the initial graphic was misleading and shit. I obviously agree Geelong, Richmond and Hawthorn have been way better than us (both in performance and list build), and I don't really have strong views one way or another on Dodoro. I think we're probably in agreement: these stats can be pretty meaningless and therefore it's fairly pointless using them in either direction (ie we have more AAs than Brisbane therefore Dodoro isn't bad OR we have 9 AAs out of 191 therefore he's shit). Either way it's a dumb argument. That's my point.

Phew. I thought you were up in arms about its visual design, which is why I posted it.

 

[Agronomus]

They will be back, and in greater numbers.

We're back to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And we're all out of bubblegum, sunshine

 

[Nicholas61]

Jetta is the fastest slow bloke I have ever seen play footy.

It's Essendon's own Bermuda Triangle and phenomenon - guys supposedly jets who in no time end up single paced and get no seperation. Perkins runs like he has invisible leg long metal compression socks on.

If Wilson is on the money that Rosa and Dodoro aren't pulling in the same direction it speaks well for Rosa

 

[Here_we_come]

No that was when Sheedy pissed off Judkins by interfering and took over . 2007 is the year. It was the first year we had a list manager and recruiting manager and no Sheedy with his fingers in the pie .

In virtually every other profession and industry, individual job incumbents are held accountable for fulfilling their respective responsibilities. E.g. If I let someone take over and pretty much make my key decisions for me, and I fail to perform as a result, well I would be sacked - and so would anyone else in any functional organization.

I have doubts about the claim that Dodo allowed someone else to make decisions for him, as it seems to contradict some of his own statements on platforms like the Dodcast. Nevertheless, even if this is true, it should not absolve him from accountability for the dismal recruiting performance between 1998 and 2006. Judkins' departure suggests he took issue with such an arrangement, and Dodo's apparent acceptance of it likely contributed to our downfall. In any case, he should not be excused for his role in that period.

 

[ant555]

In virtually every other profession and industry, individual job incumbents are held accountable for fulfilling their respective responsibilities. E.g. If I let someone take over and pretty much make my key decisions for me, and I fail to perform as a result, well I would be sacked - and so would anyone else in any functional organization.

I have doubts about the claim that Dodo allowed someone else to make decisions for him, as it seems to contradict some of his own statements on platforms like the Dodcast. Nevertheless, even if this is true, it should not absolve him from accountability for the dismal recruiting performance between 1998 and 2006. Judkins' departure suggests he took issue with such an arrangement, and Dodo's apparent acceptance of it likely contributed to our downfall. In any case, he should not be excused for his role in that period.

You do know that during his time as recruiting officer , yes recruiting officer that was his title, he was also Sheedy's personal assistant . You can have as many doubts as you want but it happened. It was half baked and decisions where being made with maybe a 1/4 of the information that other clubs where gathering. We where bloody lucky that the spotters we had in SA and WA knew a good player when they saw one.
One of the reasons Knights got the coaching job was he had a detailed plan about our recruiting and how under resourced it was and the fact that the bloke who was supposed to be out watching junior footy was being used in a secondary role as a general dogs body for the coach.
The reason our recruiting was average between 1999-2005 was Sheedy had his fingers in the pie and we basically had a part time recruiting department . The first year it changed was 2006 when Adrian was full time on recruiting and had no other roles . In 2007 Merve Keane came on board as head of recruiting and Adrian became list manager. In general the recruiting in the 2007 - 2012 period was decent. Not top level but decent.
The reason it was so bad between 1999 - 2004 was simply because Sheedy ran the football department and he did not have a grasp on how drafting was changing and the man hours other clubs where putting into it. It is totally the clubs fault as we did not put the resources into it.
I started in recruiting around the same time and there was a running joke amongst other clubs as far as wondering if Adrain or anyone from Essendon would turn up.

 

[MiguelM]

Maybe.
Davey would have been a super star but he often fumbled .
Jetta is the fastest slow bloke I have ever seen play footy.
Rioli and Walla. Now that would be worth seeing.

Rioli was silk. What a user of the ball he was!

 

[nipst@r]

Great insights

You do know that during his time as recruiting officer , yes recruiting officer that was his title, he was also Sheedy's personal assistant . You can have as many doubts as you want but it happened. It was half baked and decisions where being made with maybe a 1/4 of the information that other clubs where gathering. We where bloody lucky that the spotters we had in SA and WA knew a good player when they saw one.
One of the reasons Knights got the coaching job was he had a detailed plan about our recruiting and how under resourced it was and the fact that the bloke who was supposed to be out watching junior footy was being used in a secondary role as a general dogs body for the coach.
The reason our recruiting was average between 1999-2005 was Sheedy had his fingers in the pie and we basically had a part time recruiting department . The first year it changed was 2006 when Adrian was full time on recruiting and had no other roles . In 2007 Merve Keane came on board as head of recruiting and Adrian became list manager. In general the recruiting in the 2007 - 2012 period was decent. Not top level but decent.
The reason it was so bad between 1999 - 2004 was simply because Sheedy ran the football department and he did not have a grasp on how drafting was changing and the man hours other clubs where putting into it. It is totally the clubs fault as we did not put the resources into it.
I started in recruiting around the same time and there was a running joke amongst other clubs as far as wondering if Adrain or anyone from Essendon would turn up.

Great insights. I feel like it's a bit of arrogance of we are essendon and players, draftees will just come to us or we can make good out of any player.

Felt the hird appointment was the same arrogance of we are rich, super successful and favourite sons of yesteryear will just make it happen.

Cleaning out this local footy and poor governance is why I really really wanted sheedy and dodo gone. No place in the modern elite footy environment of today.

I really like caddy, roberts luol and vigo of last year. Vigo and luol might not make it but offer a point of difference we don't have on our list or will be a need soon.

I also didn't mind perkins, cox and Reid but still think we lack elite talents, difficult match ups and players with a point of difference so prefer those type of players over a mid sized accumulator or skinny private school flanker.

 

[Mootsy]

Rioli was silk. What a user of the ball he was!

They will be back, and in bigger numbers.

 

[windyhill]

Rioli was silk. What a user of the ball he was!

Fed Lloyd with silver service.

 

[Agronomus]

Why would a coach play a forward press with a side that doesn't have good enough small forwards to compliment it? And also play key position wingman that can't help the midfielders on opposition transition?

Because in a development year the coach will put players in positions they're not familiar with and observe how that player reacts.
Said coach will then use those results to work out if this player is going to be part of Essendons future or not.
Said coach won't be sooking it up if Essendon don't make finals in 2024.

 

[I Remember Bluey]

Because in a development year the coach will put players in positions they're not familiar with and observe how that player reacts.
Said coach will then use those results to work out if this player is going to be part of Essendons future or not.
Said coach won't be sooking it up if Essendon don't make finals in 2024.

Who is this Said Coach, you speak so highly of

 

[Kong]

Who is this Said Coach, you speak so highly of

i think they mean Saad Coach

 

[Foxx]

Because in a development year the coach will put players in positions they're not familiar with and observe how that player reacts.
Said coach will then use those results to work out if this player is going to be part of Essendons future or not.
Said coach won't be sooking it up if Essendon don't make finals in 2024.

And in the process hes played a dysfunctional setup and gameplan.

 

[Shanghaistu]

And in the process hes played a dysfunctional setup and gameplan.

I think that might be the entry criteria to get the job as senior coach at Essendon

 

[Yoda_]

Even 5 years after hes gone, Dodoro's legacy will still be ****ing us..

 

[Westlo]

Even 5 years after hes gone, Dodoro's legacy will still be ****ing us..

and if we somehow win a final or even better that ****ing campaigner will try and take credit for it.