Delisted Adrian Dodoro - On leave Aug ‘24. Parted ways Nov ‘24. Lodged a dispute with FairWork. Paid out. Gone. #putoutyourjackets

[ydc55]

I was at the time but I had been doing a lot less so I did not have access to the psychology stuff.
It was only later on that I heard some of it .
I would agree we did not look at character enough.

Not using using psychologists until late will haunt the club.
Adrian is a fruiterers son who is a charming guy but he never had to work through adversity so it made a fair bit of sense that he would struggle to identify the right characteristics in others.
He loves the club but simply does not have the skill set to do the job effectively. He has always tried to replicate rather than innovate.

 

[Old Campaigner]

Yeah hindsight on draft picks is a rubbish thing to do most the kids picked were the best kids in juniors it’s more the development that’s the real issue is it not?

Drafting, development, and identifying and addressing list needs all play a critical role imo.

You can draft the best kids but if you aren't able to develop them to their potential it's going to look like shit drafting.

You can have the best player development in the league but if you're drafting spuds and meth heads it won't amount to much.

If all you draft are flankers then it won't matter if they're elite at what they do.

 

[Corleone]

I am not sure if you were working in recruiting at the time but some clubs put a line through Aaron because he interviewed so poorly.
Some senior recruiters always felt Adrian did not judge footballers character as well as others and it is well known essendon were one of the last clubs to use psychologists to evaluate players personality traits.

It isn't surprising given where we are at, I keep thinking about Bombers interview on footy classified where he outlined that people just assumed Essendon were a good club. We clearly didn't invest in any forward thinking for well over 20 years.

 

[SpeckieMcVeigh]

I don't think it should come as a surprise to anyone that the Caldwell contract actually got done when Dodo was off on leave.

 

[faible]

I don't think it should come as a surprise to anyone that the Caldwell contract actually got done when Dodo was off on leave.

If there's one thing you would say he's generally gotten done, it's contracts. Not sure this is the right thing to pot him about when there's a laundry list of other things that he's actually not done well.

 

[outersanctum]

It is galling that this man is still allowed anywhere near our club. 20+ years of epic failure at your job.. I just don't get it.

The laundry list of high draft picks failing, the inability to produce a balanced list, the chronic inability to find the right type of players and the never ending issues with trading.. has decimated this club. I think we are probably a decade away from getting back to par even after they finally manage to wheel this prick out of the club.

Look at the number of first round picks we have had over the last 20 years.. and how many have actually gone to good use? We gave them away for Shiel.. Stringer.. use em on speculative picks like Cox.. tallest winger in the land Jones and never on the park Reid.. Francis already gone.. and so many more.

Most lists go through a five year cycle. Our last five years 1st and 2nd round:
- No first rounder cause of Shiel (in and out of VFL - likely to leave end of year)

• Jones (hasn't cut it as a forward is now being used as a tall winger)
• Cox (no position, not good enough)
• Perkins (VFL, not good enough)
• Reid (injured)
• Eyre (yeah who?)
• Hobbs (VFL, can't get a game)
• Lord (yeah who?)
• Tsatis (VFL, can't get a game)
• Hayes (yeah who?)
• Caddy (looks ok)
• Lual (too soon)

SO that is 11 players in the first or second round. These should be the guys that form the bulk of your improvement. Then you get to add some senior guys (Merrett, Parish, Ridley) and a few 'lucky breaks' (Martin, Durham) and some trades (Caldwell, Shield, Setterfield, Stringer) to create a strong starting 18.

This week our starting 22 will most likely feature just 2 players from the first two rounds of drafting for the past five years.. Jones and Caddy.

That is just woeful, like league worst. It shows what a deep, dark and dank hole we are truly in. I think coaching and selection play a part.. as does injuries and development.. but still.. if you did the same exercise with all other 17 teams.. I would be confident they would have more than 2 playing. Geelong will be playing 4 from the same period Sydney have 4, but they have 3 from the draft prior to that (2018 was the catalyst of their current build). Port have 5.

So yeah.. if you look at the top premiership contenders.. the backbone of their team is from the 2018/2019/2020 drafts or trades. We just have not got the cattle.

 

[faible]

Gee a decade away.

 

[P Money]

Please answer this: how do you develop a tiny mid into a tall and big bodied one? Answer: you can’t. How do you develop a non-indigenous player into an indigenous player? Answer: you can’t, and our lack of indigenous talent in some Dreamtime games is nothing short of embarrassing. Why do we manage to develop some players like Zach Merrett, yet completely fail with players like his very own brother? Is our development just selectively bad? Answer: it isn’t.

We’ve had a lack of certain types of players and an imbalanced list more generally for years (decades even), and it wasn’t development that caused that.

Development is perhaps the biggest cop out that has allowed our recruitment to avoid accountability for decades now.

Both things can simultaneously be true

 

[Yoda_]

Please answer this: how do you develop a tiny mid into a tall and big bodied one? Answer: you can’t. How do you develop a non-indigenous player into an indigenous player? Answer: you can’t, and our lack of indigenous talent in some Dreamtime games is nothing short of embarrassing. Why do we manage to develop some players like Zach Merrett, yet completely fail with players like his very own brother? Is our development just selectively bad? Answer: it isn’t.

We’ve had a lack of certain types of players and an imbalanced list more generally for years (decades even), and it wasn’t development that caused that.

Development is perhaps the biggest cop out that has allowed our recruitment to avoid accountability for decades now.

Is there any correlation between a players size and then ability to play an alternative role if said players favoured position doesn't work out?

A 189cm midfielder could work as a 189cm fwd. A failed 178cm midfielder may well struggle to be a 178cm fwd pocket. that's why we seem to be so desperate for players to work out..

 

[Yoda_]

I am not sure if you were working in recruiting at the time but some clubs put a line through Aaron because he interviewed so poorly.
Some senior recruiters always felt Adrian did not judge footballers character as well as others and it is well known essendon were one of the last clubs to use psychologists to evaluate players personality traits.

still behind the 8-ball then

 

[Yoda_]

Yeah hindsight on draft picks is a rubbish thing to do most the kids picked were the best kids in juniors it’s more the development that’s the real issue is it not?

my gripe has nearly always been the contracts and renewals to players that bugs me.. hindsight is just the nails to this story

why did we need o downgrade Dylan Clarke? Mary Gleeson? Jake Long? Shaun McKernan? Because they were contracted for longer than they should have.. He has been so infatuated with being competitive Now that all long game sight has been lost for the betterment of the club. Even last year brining in so many free agents imho was a bad decision. We had been building through the youth and draft for once and all of a sudden, 4 list spots absorbed through free agents let alone the salary cap.

 

[ant555]

Not using using psychologists until late will haunt the club.
Adrian is a fruiterers son who is a charming guy but he never had to work through adversity so it made a fair bit of sense that he would struggle to identify the right characteristics in others.
He loves the club but simply does not have the skill set to do the job effectively. He has always tried to replicate rather than innovate.

It was not until Josh Mahoney came in that we hired someone ( can not remember her name ) to actually collate all the draft info from everyone into some sort of document rather than a random bunch of notes.
Of course the issue is Kevin Sheedy got in Dodoro's head after Judkins could not take anymore of Sheedy's interference and left for the Pies. Adrian basically got taught by a bloke who was had a limited understanding of how others where using the draft and basically had his own ideas based on recruiting in the 70's and 80's.
We have always been behind the curve. When I started in 2003 the club I worked for had 3 full time and 3 part time working in Victoria plus a full time in SA and WA . At that stage Essendon had Adrian full time with a couple of part time blokes and 1 scout in WA and SA. We where bloody lucky the SA and WA guys had some ability.
Matthew Knights dragged us to a minimum standard when he got the coaching job as part of his plan was the recruiting had to upgraded so we had a list manager and a head of recruiting which is where Merv Keane came in and we had some guys working under him.
Unfortunately with Adrian being Kevin Sheedy's man he also learnt the political game and knew who to align himself with so he has always had sympathizers in his corner. The saga basically gave him free reign for those years as we did have a list that was moving in the right direction before it blew up. He had the politic clout to see off Richardson who questioned his decisions and then Mahoney that did the same.
Finally he has run out of room to maneuver and others have taken control of recruiting but he still has enough support that they will probably find him some other non football project to do.
Have to say my experience with him has always been positive . Good guy who liked a chat when I saw him at training even though he knew I was doing a small part time role elsewhere. He was always happy to talk Essendon or whatever. He is likeable.
Problem is you are right. He has never been good. He has always been average and too smart for his own good as far as looking for players he can turn into something rather than looking at the obvious. He was never at the cutting edge and he went off plan a lott. There was a lot of half arsed stuff.

 

[ant555]

my gripe has nearly always been the contracts and renewals to players that bugs me.. hindsight is just the nails to this story

why did we need o downgrade Dylan Clarke? Mary Gleeson? Jake Long? Shaun McKernan? Because they were contracted for longer than they should have.. He has been so infatuated with being competitive Now that all long game sight has been lost for the betterment of the club. Even last year brining in so many free agents imho was a bad decision. We had been building through the youth and draft for once and all of a sudden, 4 list spots absorbed through free agents let alone the salary cap.

Think you are barking up the wrong tree on the free agents last year. Firstly it was Brad Scotts call. We did not have the early draft picks and you do not want to be taking too many picks past 60.
Then there is the fact that Goldy served his purpose. They knew Draper was going to have a slow start and Bryan was not going to be ready to take on the number 1 spot.
McKay may have tailed off (and is playing with a few niggles) but he will hold down full back for 5 or 6 years. Gresham has his limitations but when he has actually played forward he has either kicked goals or made the tackles inside 50. He has two years to go and is sort of a stop gap. Duursma is a win but he was a trade.
I am about to post my Hawks rebuild stuff and they did pretty much the same. Used early draft picks and traded for some lesser players who could play roles.
Melbourne also did similar early doors. That had a few players that only lasted 3 or so seasons as they moved on.
The best builds have been done taking 3 to 5 draft picks. Trading for cheap players and using the FA or delisted FA to garb some short to mid term guys. Lets face it we did get Caddy and Roberts who both look good. Verdict out on Lual. Visentini looks good and it was not rated a really strong draft past around pick 25 or so.

 

[Yoda_]

Think you are barking up the wrong tree on the free agents last year. Firstly it was Brad Scotts call. We did not have the early draft picks and you do not want to be taking too many picks past 60.
Then there is the fact that Goldy served his purpose. They knew Draper was going to have a slow start and Bryan was not going to be ready to take on the number 1 spot.
McKay may have tailed off (and is playing with a few niggles) but he will hold down full back for 5 or 6 years. Gresham has his limitations but when he has actually played forward he has either kicked goals or made the tackles inside 50. He has two years to go and is sort of a stop gap. Duursma is a win but he was a trade.
I am about to post my Hawks rebuild stuff and they did pretty much the same. Used early draft picks and traded for some lesser players who could play roles.
Melbourne also did similar early doors. That had a few players that only lasted 3 or so seasons as they moved on.
The best builds have been done taking 3 to 5 draft picks. Trading for cheap players and using the FA or delisted FA to garb some short to mid term guys. Lets face it we did get Caddy and Roberts who both look good. Verdict out on Lual. Visentini looks good and it was not rated a really strong draft past around pick 25 or so.

My gripe on the free agents was we had the cattle developing, we just haven't wanted to play them. Sometimes the list spot is more valuable than the competitive nature we desire (Id trade Shiel or Parish on this proviso that we've got guys who could fill that void).

We always seem to be on he right path and then trade away picks or bring in FA's. Feels like it happens every 3 - 5 years and then when we don't get that boost we rehash in a desperate search to stay relevant competitive.

 

[Here_we_come]

Both things can simultaneously be true

Not denying that. But at least development has seen some change to try and improve and most people only blame development to shift blame away from recruiting.

 

[ant555]

My gripe on the free agents was we had the cattle developing, we just haven't wanted to play them. Sometimes the list spot is more valuable than the competitive nature we desire (Id trade Shiel or Parish on this proviso that we've got guys who could fill that void).

We always seem to be on he right path and then trade away picks or bring in FA's. Feels like it happens every 3 - 5 years and then when we don't get that boost we rehash in a desperate search to stay relevant competitive.

My gripe with that is we do play them . When they are ready . Take Gresham. Are you saying Alwyn and Jayden are ready for a full season?
Bryan was not ready to play number 1 ruck to start the year.
Like I said. Others have done the same .
We did not trade away any picks this time around. The only picks trading was to get up the order to get Caddy.
Seems to me you should do some research.

 

[Kong]

It was not until Josh Mahoney came in that we hired someone ( can not remember her name ) to actually collate all the draft info from everyone into some sort of document rather than a random bunch of notes.

That was what, 2019?

That is crazy. Basic entry level recruitment shit. Jesus Christ.

 

[ant555]

That was what, 2019?

That is crazy. Basic entry level recruitment shit. Jesus Christ.

Around that time yes.

 

[Lore]

Not using using psychologists until late will haunt the club.
Adrian is a fruiterers son who is a charming guy but he never had to work through adversity so it made a fair bit of sense that he would struggle to identify the right characteristics in others.
He loves the club but simply does not have the skill set to do the job effectively. He has always tried to replicate rather than innovate.

It isn't surprising given where we are at, I keep thinking about Bombers interview on footy classified where he outlined that people just assumed Essendon were a good club. We clearly didn't invest in any forward thinking for well over 20 years.

An article popped up on my newsfeed this morning that was an interesting take on sports psychology;

Elite athletes are generally smarter than us – cognitive sciences can explain why

Elite athletes are highly specialised decision-makers because they practise it every day, which is why, on many cognitive tasks, they’re smarter than ‘the average Joe.’

theconversation.com

Although the fact it goes back to Babe Ruth in the 1920s makes it even more of an indictment — we’re 100 years behind the eight ball!

 

[Bjchan13]

 

[BomberTime]

Put out your jackets.

 

[Phone]

And people say this hasn't been a successful season.

 

[bommer16]

Take care Adrian. All the best.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Coup completed

 

[Petrify]

Sheedy leaves, next day Dodoro leaves.

I bet Sheedy gave some ultimatum about him leaving if Dodoro is gone and the board was like seeya Sheedy