‘It would be R-rated’: Dodoro’s parting jab for critics after Bombers’ boss last trade act

Asked what he would say to all the haters over his near 15-year tenure as Essendon list manager, Adrian Dodoro’s response was simple.

“I can’t say, it would be R-rated,” he joked to Fox Footy’s Trading Day.

“My focus is always the club. It’s not about what I do, it’s about doing the best thing for the club. I sleep easy at night.”

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He will certainly have no trouble getting some shuteye on Wednesday night after he and Port Adelaide were locked in negotiation in the corridors of Marvel Stadium until the bitter end, with less than five minutes remaining when a the final deal of the trade period was agreed to.

That deal saw Brandon Zerk-Thatcher and some late picks join the Power and Xavier Duursma become a Bomber.

Some may think deals are held for drama: This one wasn’t.

“Three minutes left when I found out. It did go down to the wire,” Zerk-Thatcher’s manager, Tom McConville of Mac Sports, told Fox Footy’s Trading Day.

“Very, very happy to get it done for both parties. He’ll be excited to be a Port Adelaide player next year.

“He’s on a plane at the moment, he’s on his way to Europe. He’ll land at some stage, I’m not sure when, and he’ll find out he’s a Port Adelaide player.”

It was a frantic end to the trade period and to Dodoro’s time in his current role.

Matt Rosa will take over, with Dodoro to move into a new role to assist Rosa moving forward.

His final trade period at the helm proved one of his busiest, with five players coming in and two going out.

The final deal with Zerk-Thatcher and Duursma had the potential to be the first straight player-for-player swap since 2015, but the Power were unrelenting, pushing for picks in return.

While they pushed for a future second-round pick, they ultimately settled for two future fourths.

“In fairness, they felt because Xavier was a contracted player they felt they wanted a little bit more in the deal and they probably felt they could walk Zerk-Thatcher through the draft,” Dodoro explained.

“In the end, we had some picks at the end that we weren’t going to use and we threw them in the deal.

“They accepted and we got there with about five minutes to go.”

At the centrepiece of Essendon’s trade period was the acquisition of marquee free agent Ben McKay, while the club also added Jade Gresham and Todd Goldstein to its ranks without having to trade.

It leaves the Bombers with picks nine, 31, 35 and 73.

“Obviously with us, we improved our draft hand, we got an extra second-round pick in this draft and an extra fourth round pick,” Dodoro said.

“We never gave away any draft capital and brought in four good players, three were free agents. I think the club, we’ve done a good job.

“Not patting ourselves on the back, but we brought in players and kept our draft capital and that’s really important for the future of the club.”

The Bombers trajectory is always one that fascinates the AFL world, but Dodoro has faith in the list he’s played a significant part in building.

“I’m really confident. It was only round 15 or 16 we were sitting fifth on the ladder, we had some really big wins this year and we did improve quite a bit,” he said.

“The end of the season wasn’t great but if you add the players that were injured into that team plus these four acquisitions, early draft picks, organic growth in some of the boys we brought in the door, I see a lot of upside, I really do.

“I think we’re looking pretty good for the future.”

For those who think Dodoro will venture into footy obscurity from here, he also had a message.

“It’s not about me, it’s about the club,” he said.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen next year in terms of the role, but I’ll be around. I’ll still be here to give you a bit of grief.”

As for his favourite trade?

“The last one. You’re only as good as your last one.”