It must’ve been hard to pick the highlights of the Duds glittering career at Essendon. Apparently it was getting Nic Martin, Sam Draper and Sam Durham on the cheap….
DODORO AND DONS GO SEPARATE WAYS
Jay Clark
Essendon list boss Adrian Dodoro will formally step down from his role in the recruiting department after 36 years with the club.
The club confirmed on Friday that new talent boss Matt Rosa had assumed all list responsibilities as part of the Bombers’ succession plan, which it announced in September last year.
Dodoro, who picked his first player for Essendon in 1998 when he selected gun forward Dean Rioli as a rookie, has begun a period of leave as Rosa takes over.
He is not expected to rejoin the Bombers following talks with club chiefs at the end of the season, although that is yet to be finalised.
Rosa will take charge of the club’s trade period moves where Essendon will again head to the draft to round out its side with more top young talent.
Essendon chief executive Craig Vozzo released a statement on Friday, saying Dodoro was on personal leave.
“Adrian Dodoro has stepped away from the club to focus on personal matters,” Vozzo said.
“In accordance with the club’s transition plan which commenced in November last year, Matt Rosa has fully assumed responsibility for leading the club’s list management and recruiting team during the 2024 trade, free agency and draft periods. The club asks people to respect Adrian and his family’s privacy during this period.”
The club has previously lauded Dodoro for his enormous contribution to the club over more than a quarter of a century, which has included some jackpot picks on the cheap in recent years.
Dodoro found superstar captain Zach Merrett with pick 26, jet midfielder Sam Durham in the mid-season draft, gun half-back Nic Martin in the supplemental selection period and ruckman Sam Draper as a rookie.
He was tasked with finding 10 top-up players at short notice for the 2016 season after 34 players were banned for one year as part of the crippling supplement saga.
Dodoro first worked for the club in a part-time role in the coaching department under Kevin Sheedy in 1988, as the coach’s board man and an assistant coach for the reserves’ side. He stepped up as list manager a decade later, and was made a life member late in 2021.
“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.”
There have been major changes at Essendon over the past two days with the club announcing club legend Sheedy would be stepping down from the board at the end of the season.
Dodoro has continued to lead the club’s contract and re-signing work over the past eight months but has officially passed the baton on to Rosa, who played 207 AFL games at West Coast Eagles and Gold Coast.
Essendon has acknowledged it needs to keep adding top talent to a team which hasn’t won a final in 20 years, amid the disastrous drugs crisis in 2013.
. Absolutely despises Essendon.
