Essendon GM of list and recruiting Adrian Dodoro says he is satisfied to have fulfilled the club’s key priorities following the completion of the 2019 Telstra AFL Trade Period.

At the opening of the period Dodoro outlined three clear aims for the next eight days; to retain the club’s list, strengthen the squad’s midfield and bolster the ruck stocks – all three of those boxes were ticked.

The period saw the Bombers recruit two new faces to the club with versatile midfielder Tom Cutler from Brisbane and experienced ruck Andrew Phillips from Carlton donning the sash, and Dodoro was thrilled to secure their services.

“Considering what we set out to do at the beginning of the trade period, we’re pretty happy tonight,” Dodoro said on Wednesday night.

“We ended up getting Tom Cutler from the Brisbane Lions and we’re really excited to get Tom, we think he’s going to be a great acquisition for our team.

“He’s a big-bodied mid, he has got great speed, great endurance, he’s a long kick and he’s at exactly the right age demographic for what we’re looking for.

“We were also able to get big Andrew Phillips in. Andrew’s a beautiful ruck technician.”

Dodoro was impressed by Phillips’ efforts in limited opportunities at AFL level this year and said club legend Kevin Sheedy has always been full of praise for the 28-year-old since coaching him in their stint together at Greater Western Sydney.

“Ever since he was at GWS, Sheeds kept telling me we’ve got to get this kid to the club. We finally got him, so I hope Sheeds is happy with that. 

“When he did play senior football for Carlton this year, he actually got coaches votes in one of the games later in the year and showed he’s a very, very adequate AFL ruckman, so we’re really happy to get him on board.” 

The club held firm in what Dodoro said were “very respectful” negotiations with Sydney to retain important Bomber Joe Daniher despite the star forward’s request to become a Swan.

Dodoro said while Daniher is naturally disappointed with the result, he is confident the 25-year-old can settle back into The Hangar well with exciting times ahead at the club.

“I spoke to him about an hour ago and we have the utmost respect and admiration for Joe – he fully understands the situation.

“He put his case forward and we just couldn’t get the deal done in the end and he understands the reasons why.

“We went into this with an open mind, but at the end of the day we always have to do what the best thing is for the Essendon Football Club and today it was to retain him.

“Obviously he’s going to be a little bit disappointed, but by the same token we know he’ll get up tomorrow and the sun will shine, and we’re looking forward to him having a great year next year.

“We think that we’re in a terrific window and hopefully the excitement of 2020 will help Joey overcome his disappointment and he’s with us for many years to come.”

The Bombers were also able to strengthen their hand ahead of the 2019 NAB AFL Draft in a number of pick exchanges throughout the period and are currently set to take selections 31, 33, 61, 64, 65 and 88 to the draft on Wednesday, November 27.

“One of the things we wanted to do was improve our picks and we’ve slightly done that, which is good,” Dodoro said.

“We’ve got two fairly good second-round selections in this year’s draft – obviously no first-round pick, because of Dylan Shiel last year – but we’re really comfortable with where that is at at the moment.

“And we’ve got another five or six weeks to possibly negotiate a better position with the trading of picks, so it’s a positive heading forward.” 

This news is brought to you by Orchard HRO, the club's official recruitment and list management partner.