“A number of the senior guys are just rapt that we have got him. James Hird has really embraced his move to Essendon – he rang Matthew the minute the trade was completed,” Dodoro said. “Even last year James Hird had identified him as a player we should have a good look at and that will give Matthew enormous confidence – to know the leadership group is really excited about him being here.
“The key ingredient to his move across here is the fact that he feels he has a point to prove to the football world. He is that keen and determined – it might just be the spur he needed. And you know there is no welfare work required with him – he is just going to come here and do everything in his powers to play good football again.”
Allan is undoubtedly a high-quality footballer. In 1999 he was named in the ruck in the All Australian side, he finished third in the Brownlow Medal that season and was an integral player in Carlton’s Premiership push.
You don’t lose your ability overnight but with the injuries came a drop in confidence and ultimately enthusiasm. Dodoro is supremely confident that Essendon can provide him with the right environment to turn all that around.
“We certainly needed a back up ruckman. He is 28 years of age and was an All Australian four years ago. Injury has prevented him from showing his best in recent seasons but I think if he can get fit, we might just have a bargain on our hands,” Dodoro said. “He could be the recruit of the year next year and I must admit it is the trade that I have been most excited about.”
“He has been given the all clear medically and he now has the chance to do his first full pre-season for three years. He had the exact same injury that James Hird had with his navicular but that is now behind him and he has been given the green light to train.
“We are really excited about him coming here and so is he – he is just so enthusiastic. He has been training every day since the trade was completed and we have actually asked him to pull back it a bit.”
Allan was definitely in need of a change, according to Dodoro.
“He just seemed like a really frustrated footballer who had been in an environment where he had been injured and the team hadn’t been winning. He had been an elite footballer three years previous and you could just see he needed a release,” Dodoro said. “He had a limited pre-season last year and I think that showed in the way he played last year and we also think that he was a very disillusioned footballer last year. He was playing VFL football and that is hard to cop sometimes after you have reached the heights he did.”
“He has driven this trade from day one – basically the minute the season was over. We made contact with him and he has been that enthusiastic to get here, that has really encouraged me. He can’t wait to get out there and play. He identified us as the team he wanted to play for and he can’t wait to get out there and do a job.”
Dodoro said that while Allan had played limited football in 2003, he did show that he could still handle himself at the highest level.
“He got a call up against Richmond in the middle of the year (Round 12) and Carlton won that day and he was probably the best player on the ground playing in the ruck. Within a couple of weeks he was back in the VFL side. You never know what goes on internally but I was a bit surprised he didn’t play more. Then again they did have Barnaby French and Laurence Angwin – so you can understand it from the point of view of trying out new players,” he said.
“But from our perspective, he got through a full season and the full pre-season might be what he needs. And don’t forget John Quinn has a great record of getting guys of this age physically right – he did it with John Barnes and Paul Salmon and he got them playing very good football.
“He is a left-footer and a very smart ruckman who will have an impact in the midfield. He has the capacity to go forward as does David Hille so as a combination they will certainly give us some options.
