‘Going to be a lot of noise’: Solomon responds to Bombers coaching talk
Essendon caretaker boss Dean Solomon says he hasn’t spoken to president Andrew Walsh about becoming the club’s full-time coach.
It follows a report Solomon has emerged as Welsh’s preferred option to be appointed Brad Scott’s permanent successor from 2027, despite the spectre of James Hird looming large.
Speaking after Saturday’s 45-point loss to Melbourne, Solomon said he’d held no talks with Welsh on the matter and insisted his main focus was on the task at hand.
Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
“None. I haven’t (spoken with Welsh about the role),” Solomon told reporters.
“That was part of when I took the interim role, I needed to focus on what I needed to focus on.
“The club is obviously working behind the scenes about what the next coach would look like and time frames. I have no knowledge, I didn’t want to know any of that, I still don’t want to know any of that.
“Because I’ve got to focus on what I’ve got to focus on. The most important role I need to play right now is ensuring we have momentum into the finish line here.
“If we fall away the other way, it can do a fair bit of damage.
“My sole focus is on these players and staff and ensuring they’re in a good headspace and we’re playing the right way and we hit the finish line with momentum.”
After previously distancing himself from the role, Solomon reiterated “I honestly haven’t thought about it and I’m not going to think about it.”
But the Bombers interim coach was “unsure” how much the coaching “noise” has seeped into the playing group.
“I’m unsure how much they read or take on, I’m absolutely sure they’ve been advised not to read everything in the paper,” Solomon added.
“I’ve been around footy for a long time and understand the world around out footy club. We don’t have a coach at the moment, we need to choose a coach. I know there’s going to be a lot of noise around that.
“But I’m right in the middle here focusing on what I need to focus on.
“The players, I haven’t heard or had any conversations about any of that and who’s our next coach.
“So, I’m pretty confident they’re not thinking about that and that is absolutely not the reason we had the half we had at the start of the game.”
Solomon says the basic fundamentals of the game “just kill” his side as they lacked polish in their loss to the Demons at the MCG.
Essendon weren’t at the races in the first half, slumping to a 41-point half time deficit which left them with too much work to do in the second half.
Solomon said his team got “smashed” in the contest - an area they had improved in over the past two games.
“It didn’t look like the way we wanted it to look and (it was a) very disappointing first half,” Solomon said.
“We were flicking it out of contest when we wanted to hold it in. Basic fundamentals of the game just kill us. The game’s giving us feedback, we’re not at the level we need to be.”
Zach Merrett started off half back for the second week in a row but Solomon was forced to bring him into the middle late in the second quarter to “stimulate something”.
However he said long term he wants Merrett to remain off half back.
“Ideally in my mind, right here right now … I’d love to settle him at half back so we can continue to drive the ball forward a lot more than we currently are,” he said.
“But it’ll depend on balance too. Archie Roberts, his shoulder has popped so we wait to find how long that will be as well, so that’ll determine a fair bit.”
Roberts’ injury adds to Essendon’s already extensive injury list.
Kyle Langford also exited the game late with quad soreness which Solomon said doctors initially thought was a strain but now they’re “unsure” on the severity.
Despite the injuries adding to their woes, Solomon refused to use them as an excuse.
“Nah, I’m not going to lean on the injuries, we should have been better today,” he said.
“It didn’t matter who was on the field … we didn’t like the way we played in the first half. The game plan compliance component of the game just wasn’t where we needed to be.”
He added the players have “bought in” to what he and his coaching staff are trying to do and he understands the frustrations of fans because they are yet to show it on game day.
But he said they want to play more “gritty than pretty” as a side would on Grand Final day.
“I can’t really sit here with KPI’s, but just the brand of footy, the passionate spirit that we play with ... we haven’t got consistency yet in that,” he said.
“The second half looked a little better but we make no apologies. We want it to be a bit more gritty than pretty, a bit more Grand Final day.
“That’s just how I was trying to coach. We understand the modern game, and we’ve got to use the ball better no doubt about that.”
