Essendon general manager of list and recruiting Adrian Dodoro has reiterated the club’s stance to retain star forward Joe Daniher.
Contracted to the Bombers until the end of 2020, Daniher last week indicated his desire to be traded to the Swans, citing a change in lifestyle and preference to live in Sydney as the motivating factor.
Speaking at the PWC and CSM Connors Trade Breakfast on Friday, Dodoro provided an update on negotiations ahead of Wednesday’s trade deadline.
“We’ve made it perfectly clear in regards to Joe that our intention is to keep him. We’re working really hard to make sure that’s (Daniher staying) the case,” Dodoro said.
“Our position hasn’t changed. We don’t think this draft will replace a guy of Joey’s ilk – 203cm, a gun key forward, they’re just so hard to find.
“As recruiters and list managers, we look at the quality of what’s coming up in the draft, and it’s about (possibly) replacing your key forward. If a key forward’s not in the draft, then the value of that player actually goes up. In that case, he’s (Daniher) irreplaceable for us at this point.
“He’s very highly valued at our club. We love him, we love the Daniher family."
Fellow forward Orazio Fantasia has also been the subject of further speculation, despite initially dismissing reports in July suggesting a move to his home state of South Australia.
Dodoro said the 24-year-old – contracted until the end of 2021 - had reinforced his commitment to the Bombers.
“He advised us during the course of the year that he wanted to stay at the club, but there’s been so much noise around what he’s doing, changed management and that sort of thing,” he said.
“I must admit there was a bit of nerves there at one point, but I spoke to him yesterday morning and he said quite clearly that he wanted to stay at the club, loves the club and was looking forward to a great year next year.”
Essendon has been a big player in recent trade periods, welcoming high-profile recruits Jake Stringer, Adam Saad, Devon Smith and Dylan Shiel.
While revealing he was “looking at couple of ruckmen”, Dodoro said the Bombers wouldn't be as active this year.
“We’ve been quiet. We’re not a big player,” he said.
“It’s about consolidation for us as a club. We’ve had a lot of injuries this year, but we’ve done a lot of work in getting 23- to 25-year-olds into the club over the last few years.
“We’ve been busy (in recent years), but you can’t trade in big names every year. We’ve got a TPP (Total Player Payments), so these things can’t happen all the time. We think we’re in a really sound position.”
The Telstra AFL Trade Period will wrap up at 7:30pm AEDT on Wednesday, October 16.
