Adrian Dodoro - Flankers into Mids since 2000 (Part 2)

Great post. I agree entirely and it’s good to see good analysis with context of the headwinds list management has faced the last decade. Importantly you shine a light on how successful list management have been in rebuilding the post saga list despite the draft penalties, all whilst navigating a backdrop of a club lurching from crisis to crisis which has forced the team to constantly recalibrate and reset mid stream.

As I’ve said for a long time, I look forward to seeing what unfolds with this current list with a high performance environment supporting their growth and development, something not afforded to them until at least 2023. Critical last step is addressing and seeing proof the injury management and conditioning performance has materially improved.

I have no doubt if the injury situation is sorted out, we have the talent to win finals. The work ahead for list management from here is to round out the remaining list holes & building the foundations beneath for sustained success.

A long way to go. We will lose games and our emotional first thought will be to say our players are hopeless and we’ve failed in recruitment. However, riding out the bumps the next 24 months will see us hopefully emerge a strong, talented and finals winning side. We just need to see through the next two years and hope the club environment is of a high caliber to support this evolution.

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So does Voss.

name one super star of the competition dodoro has picked that wasn’t a father son?

You never win them all, but adding an average of 2 to 3 decent players to the best 22 each year is enough to build a good side.

I think overall that Disco has been exceeding that in building the current side.

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Really? What exactly do you base that on? History actually shows that the genuine good sides are built around drafting some stand out talents in close drafts that have them peaking around the same time. Geelong for example drafted Corey, Chapman, Ling, Enright, Bartel, Kelly, Johnson & Ablett over 3 drafts plus some decent players like Rooke & Hunt - that was the foundation for 3 flags. Richmond picked up Reiwoldt, Cotchin, Edwards, Rance, Martin, Grimes & Astbury from 2006-09.

When exactly do you believe Dodo has done anything comparable to the above or even by your own standards exceeded getting 2-3 decent players in year? 2006 would have to be his best draft return with McGrath, Ridley & Draper.

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I think we need a change, but I think the draft/trade strategy has been a moving target since the saga in all fairness.

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I’m surprised this is still an active thread, I mean what more can we even say on this matter.

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But the SAGA!!!

Bringing in best 22 players doesn’t really mean anything. It’s all about having a balanced list. I feel we have a very even list, but very little star power in there.

you’re happy with the list but you don’t expect us to be any good until 2026? we sacked the coach last year not the players nor the list manager. the only player we’ve traded out over the past two offseasons has been Francis. it’s the same list of players. why the reset of expectations on where the list is at just because of the new coach?

Humphrey looks like the next petracca, de goey, stringer. His kicking was the knock on him, but even that looks elite at AFL level. Geez i hope dodoro got this one right.

This club is world champion of excuses.

And The supporters are just as bad.

Excuses for the Board. Excuses for Campbell. Excuses for the Players. Excuses for Worsfold. Excuses for Rutten. And Excuses for Dodoro.

Nobody ever takes responsibility for their own under performance at this club. There is always excuses to cover the cracks of someone who isn’t performing, because most people are scared of change or there is a power imbalance.

Enough of the excuses. It’s time to put up or shut up.

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we are playing greaty footy at the moment, dodoro should be the last of our worries

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depressing to realise that hasn’t happened for us since recruiting lloyd & lucas in 94, almost 3 decades.

This is still a young team and the team I’m talking about will include the likes of Jones, Tsatas, Reid & Cox. It’s the 3rd youngest list in the comp. It’s still undersized physically. The development needed of the young players has only just been addressed and stepped up. Yes, this is a side that is two years away from starting to hit straps. And Brad Scott agues similarly, often citing a medium to long term view in all the clubs decision making.

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If Brad Scott is the coach we think he is, then he deserves a list that gives him a crack at success.

If Brad Scott is no good as a coach then he needs a list that gives him a shot.

Either way, Dodoro has failed.

All this other stuff around saga, fitness, development, previous coaches etc is just excuses We have moved on from everyone basically except for the guy who is ultimately the guy who has the most influence on whether we will be any good or not.

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History will be the judge, and the Geelong and Richmond dynastic draft picks you referred to only bore fruit after a major shake up internally at the club, they were both underachieving up to that point.

I believe we are entering a new era now that we have had a seismic shift in our administration, who have been nailing key appointments. Vozzo is the perfect CEO to make the right call on Dodoro, so I will be happy with his decision in consultation with Brad, whatever it is, but I don’t see them shafting Disco any time soon.

Now we have coaching and development in hand at last, and fitness and rehab under serious review, I think in 5 years time we will be able to reflect on a dynastic level of recruitment over the period. In the following list, it won’t be all of these players starring, but we are looking for 7 or so according to your post:

In just the 3 years from 2020 onwards Dodoro has brought in: Cox, Perkins, Reid, Wright, Caldwell, Hobbs, Durham, Martin, Wanganeen, Tsatas, Hayes, A Davey, J Davey, Munkara, Weideman, Setterfield and Menzie.

Again not all 17 of them will set the world on fire, but 7 may well. Out of the Richmond crew you mentioned, only 2 were superstars in Dusty and Rance.

In addition to these 17 players, we also have Zerrett, Parish, Redman, Langford, McGrath, Ridley and Draper who will be around for our upcoming tilt at being a contender.

If we can start getting the best out of these players in the next 2 years or so, it doesn’t look an unbalanced side to me:

Backs:
McGrath Reid Ridley
Redman Hayes Cox
Mids:
Tsatas Parish Durham
Draper Perkins Zerrett
Forwards:
A Davey Wright Langford
J Davey Weideman Menzie
Int:
Caldwell, Hobbs, Martin, Setterfield
Sub: Guelfi
Emerg: Lav, Jones, Zerk, Snelling, Baldwin, Bryan, Voss, Wanganeen, Munkara, D’Ambrosio

This is taking the older players out of the equation in Heppell, Stringer, Shiel, Kelly, Walla, Hind, Phillips and Stewart.

Weirdly for Disco, if anything, we are light on for decent speedy half back flankers (losing Conor and Saad wasn’t a part of the plan).

Obviously there are more players to come in each year, so the potential best 22 for 2025 onwards will probably look better than this. But in reality, this will hang a lot on how fit we can keep our players and how well we can develop them. If we do both these to a high level, then we will see how well Disco has done.

The reason I am standing up for him is that I believe the draft penalties took his creativity in finding talent to a new level, and we would be stupid to get rid of him now.

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You just need to look at the VFL side, to see how poor the back end of the list is.

Absolutely smashed by Box Hill, and Hawthorn are a younger list.

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14 to 8 AFL listed players in favor of the Hawks, and that is including Cox who is coming back on managed minutes (off at 3/4 time), we know Cian McBride is a free hit with not a lot riding on it. We have no AFL midfielders or rucks playing at all, so not an accurate reflection of our AFL list back end.

Cox, Baldwin, Voss, Hayes, Wanganeen, Montgomerie, Lord and McBride are all of our AFL player’s out there today. If there were 20, or even 14 out there, you might have a point.

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Or you can just accept that Box hill is a better side.