Outgoing Essendon board member Simon Madden has thrown his support behind much-maligned list manager Adrian Dodoro.
Madden resigned his position last month following the club’s decision to sack coach Ben Rutten after just two seasons at the helm, the club champion telling SEN Breakfast that he believes Dodoro should remain in his role as General Manager of List and Recruiting despite major turnover at the club.
“I hope he (survives), but I mean I’m not close enough to be able to make a decision on that,” he said.
“I think what the club has needed before is to have really good direction from the coach about what type of players (we need). I think Adrian Dodoro’s very good at picking talent, but whether he’s been directed enough by the coaches panel on what that talent is, is always a question.
“I think your coach and your list manager have to work hand in glove, arm in arm to actually get the right players to fit the position.”
Who that coaching panel will be comprised of remains to be seen, with the Dons currently the only AFL side without a senior coach in place for season 2023.
Dodoro, who has been with the club since 1998, has long been the subject of ridicule from the Bombers faithful as the club has progressed through 18 straight seasons without a finals win.
The dealing of first round selections for the likes of Dylan Shiel and Devon Smith, the latter of whom retired last week having donned the sash just 73 times across five seasons, has drawn the ire of supporters.
But Madden claims that Dodoro has a good track record in the job and should not join CEO Xavier Campbell on the scrap heap.
“If you look at the players Adrian’s actually selected over a long period there’s been some very, very good players,” he said.
“A lot of first year players get nominated for awards, get awards, you see blokes that hang around for a long time, and again there was a big hit to the Essendon playing list when 36 players had 12 months off and then a few players left because of what happened.”
“There’s layer upon layer upon layer of what’s happened to the club and that’s why I’ve always been big on that now they have to talk about stability, stability, stability for the next number of years.”