Guest Speaker: Todd Patterson

By Alex Wilson

Todd Patterson has had an incredibly successful career in the sports industry, and he is currently helping to shape the inaugural Devils teams in both the AFL and AFLW.

When people think about football success, they usually think about what happens on game day. The players. The coaches. The moments that decide matches. But long before teams run onto the field, there are people working behind the scenes trying to answer a much bigger question. Who should be part of the team in the first place?

Recently, the students at the Tasmania Academy of Leadership and Sport had the opportunity to hear from Todd Patterson, Head of List Management and Strategy at the Tasmania Devils, and what stood out most wasn't the complexity of recruiting or list management. It was the importance of people. Because despite all the data, systems, and analysis that now exist in professional sport, Todd's message was remarkably simple: The best teams are built by understanding people.

Todd's pathway into football wasn't straightforward. Like many people, he left Tasmania at 18 looking to build a career. Initially, that career had nothing to do with AFL. In fact, he jokes that he feels more like a car salesman than anything else.

Because a significant part of his role today involves convincing people. Selling a vision. Selling an opportunity. Helping players understand why joining a particular environment might be the right decision for them.

What makes that interesting is that none of it happens exactly the same way twice. Different people absorb information differently. Different people value different things. Different people are motivated by different opportunities.

And understanding that has become one of the most important skills in his career. But behind that sits a lesson he shared that applies far beyond football. "If there is something you really want, go after it." Because his own journey was built on exactly that mindset.

One thing Todd was very honest about is that sport can be an incredibly difficult industry to enter. There are limited opportunities. Competition is intense. And often there are no guarantees. He spoke about how fortunate he was that opportunities emerged when they did. But opportunity alone isn't enough. You still have to put yourself in a position to take it.

Over time, he built experience across a range of roles including Pro Scout, Draft Recruiter, AFLW List Manager, VFL List Manager, and List Management and Strategy. And with each role came new challenges and new lessons.

Some involved helping build teams. Some involved rebuilding them. Some involved trade periods, draft decisions, and managing difficult situations. But through all those experiences, one thing stayed consistent. Success never came from one person.

One misconception people often have is that list management is driven by one individual making all the decisions. Todd challenged that idea immediately. Building football teams is a collective process. Scouts. Recruiters. Analysts. Coaches. Development staff. Administrators. Leadership.

Everyone contributes information. Everyone contributes perspectives. Everyone contributes expertise. And the more information you can gather, the better your decisions become. That idea extends beyond football. Because in many organisations, the best outcomes come when people feel comfortable contributing. Not when one person believes they have all the answers.

It would be easy to assume that elite recruiting is all about talent. But talent was not the first thing Todd talked about. The first thing he mentioned was character. Character. Competitiveness. Love of the game. Because talent alone doesn't guarantee success. If a player doesn't genuinely love football, they will eventually find reasons not to do the work. Not to improve. Not to push through difficult periods.

That principle applies outside sport too. People who genuinely care about what they do are more willing to persist when things become difficult. Talent matters. Athleticism matters. Football IQ matters. But for Todd, the best prospects combine all of those with strong personal qualities.

Modern football is heavily influenced by data. And Todd works in a role where data has become increasingly important. Age profiles. Player experience. Movement patterns. Skill execution. Metres gained. Ball use. Game trends. Contract profiles. Draft outcomes. Salary cap modelling. Huge amounts of information are used to support decision making.

But data has limitations. Because numbers don't tell the whole story. That's why recruiters still spend so much time watching games in person. Some things don't show up on a spreadsheet. Some things don't appear on video. Some things only reveal themselves when you watch players operate live. The way they interact. The way they compete. The way they respond when things aren't going well. Those moments often tell you more than statistics ever can.

One of the strongest insights Todd shared was around team construction. Many people assume premierships are won by star players. His perspective was different. Stars are important. But they aren't enough. The best teams are balanced. Role players matter. Depth matters. Connections matter. And often, the players who don't generate headlines become some of the most important people in successful teams. Because great teams are rarely built around individuals. They're built around how well people fit together.

Perhaps the most important lesson from Todd's presentation was around expectations. People often assume success follows a predictable pathway. Recruit well. Improve steadily. Eventually win. But football doesn't work that way. Premiership teams rarely follow a neat progression. Success fluctuates. Performance fluctuates. Results fluctuate. There are setbacks. Unexpected challenges. Moments that force you to adjust.

That unpredictability is something the Tasmania Devils are preparing for from the very beginning. Because building sustainable success isn't about chasing shortcuts. It's about making good decisions repeatedly over time.

What makes Todd's current role so unique is that he isn't maintaining an existing system. He's helping create one. The Tasmania Devils are building from the ground up. That means every decision matters. Every player. Every strategy. Every trade. Every draft selection. Because each decision influences future decisions. Nothing exists in isolation.

And while football discussions often focus on talent acquisition, Todd repeatedly came back to something else. Relationships. Relationships with players. Relationships within staff. Relationships across the football industry. Because systems only work when people trust each other.

Another theme that emerged throughout his session was the importance of creating environments where people feel comfortable contributing. That's harder than it sounds. Every organisation contains: different personalities, different experiences, and different perspectives. And if people don't feel safe sharing those perspectives, you lose valuable information.

Todd believes the best environments allow people to listen, contribute, challenge respectfully, and learn from each other. Because good decisions rarely come from one viewpoint. They come from multiple viewpoints being considered together.

Todd Patterson's story is ultimately about much more than recruiting footballers. It's about understanding potential. Potential in players. Potential in teams. Potential in people.

His journey also highlights the value of taking a chance on something that matters to you. Leaving Tasmania. Building experience. Working through different roles. And ultimately returning home to help build the teams that will represent the state at the highest level. Because while football often focuses on results, list management operates on a different timeline. It is about seeing what something can become before anyone else can see it.

And perhaps that is why one lesson stood out above all the others. If there is something you truly want, pursue it relentlessly. Because great teams, great careers, and great opportunities rarely happen by accident. They are built deliberately, one decision at a time.