Essendon’s Adrian Dodoro in incident with Brandon Zerk-Thatcher manager

Adrian Dodoro stormed out.

The Bombers’ head of recruitment was one of the businessmen in the room at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night as the 2023 AFL trade period ended with a flurry of late deals.

Dodoro was at the heart of discussions with Port Adelaide over the futures of Xavier Duursma and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher until the final 30 seconds, he said on Wednesday night.

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There was more to the standoff with a report claiming that Dodoro and Zerk-Thatcher’s player agent Tom McConville were involved in a heated disagreement over the site.

Footy journalist Tom Morris said on SEN Breakfast on Thursday morning that the incident between Dodoro and McConville was “extremely heated” and “quite fiery”.

“There was a bruise between Tom McConville, who is Brandon Zerk-Thatcher’s manager, and Adrian Dodoro,” he said.

“There were several people in the room and I spoke to a few and they told me it was extremely hot. They showed each other their phones and said, “You said that. You said this. In a world of business discussions this can often get quite difficult, but this one is taken up a notch.

“I’m sure they all shook hands and hugged each other at the end, but at that point there were people in the room who were quite amazed at how well both sides were demonstrative.

“I think in the end Adrian Dodoro was laughing about it. Maybe he was making him angry. It was certainly heated.

Zerk-Thatcher’s manager, Tom McConville of Mac Sports, confirmed the incident to SEN Thursday morning, saying it was “getting a little heated”

However, he downplayed the severity of the incident, saying it often happens during negotiations and is “for fun.”

He added: “Adrian and I have known each other for a long time. I understand why Adrian has been in this position for so long. He is so passionate about his club and all he thinks about is Essendon Football Club – and that is at the forefront of his mind. We have to respect that.

“That’s why I thought that even before this exchange was underway, it would be one of the last to be concluded, because ultimately Adrian was going to try to get the best deal for his club, Port Adelaide was going to try and get the best deal possible for them. I was unfortunately stuck in the middle of it all for a while.

“It gets heated, but that’s all part of the problem.”

Asked if there were any phones pointed during the heated discussion, McConville replied: “Yeah, a little theater to go with that, mate.” This is how we do it. We have this relationship where we can have these arguments, come to blows and walk away. At the end of the day, it’s just business and we’re trying to push the envelope in one direction.

“There’s a little disagreement – ​​that’s good, that’s what you get this time of year.

“Of course (we shook hands). There is no disagreement there.

McConville said he was concerned 15 minutes before the deadline that a deal would not be reached.

“Around a quarter past seven, there was another impasse. We were moving slowly through the night – very slow progress – and around 7:15 I said to myself, ‘damn, we need to prepare for this not to happen,’” he said.

“But things move very quickly in the last 10 minutes of the exchange. When the deadline arrives, it puts a lot of people into action. Fortunately, I was able to do it.

Earlier, Dodoro spoke to Fox Footy’s Trading Day on Wednesday evening to talk about the Essendon deal, which also saw the club sign Todd Goldstein, Ben McKay, Jade Gresham and Duursma. The club also retained Dylan Shiel despite reports the star midfielder wanted to be traded to St Kilda.

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

“We never gave up draft capital and signed four good players, three of whom were free agents. I think the club, we did a good job.

“I’m not congratulating myself, but we’ve signed players and retained our draft capital and that’s really important for the future of the club.”

The one that caused all the drama was the Zerk-Thatcher-Duursma deal, but Dodoro said relations between Essendon and Port Adelaide were not strained.

McConville also spoke to Fox Footy’s Trading Day and said all parties were happy.

“There were three minutes left when I found out. It went right to the end,” he said.

“Very, very happy to have achieved this for both parties. He will be excited to become a Port Adelaide player next year.

“He’s on a plane right now, he’s on his way to Europe. He’ll land at some point, I don’t know when, and he’ll find out he’s a Port Adelaide player.

Meanwhile, Dodoro said veteran midfielder Shiel “never left” Essendon and again quashed suggestions St Kilda had made a serious play for the left foot.

“Dylan is a quality person, well respected at our club, and once he recovers from a few minor injuries, I see no reason why he can’t have a great year,” he said. he declared.

Dodoro will leave the Bombers after more than 30 years of service following the 2023 AFL Draft, saying he approached general manager Craig Vozzo at the start of the season about leaving his role.

Former West Coast and Gold Coast player Matt Rosa has been named as Dodoro’s replacement.