Dean Solomon

Dean Solomon
Personal information
Full name	Dean Solomon
Date of birth	(1980-01-09) 9 January 1980 (age 44)
Original team(s)	Bendigo Pioneers (TAC Cup)
Draft	No. 20, 1997 national draft
Debut	Round 5, 1998, Essendon  vs. Collingwood, at MCG
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	102 kg (225 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder / forward
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1998–2006	Essendon	158 (56)
2007–2009	Fremantle	051 (22)
Total		209 (78)
Coaching career
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2017	Gold Coast	3 (0–3–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009.
Career highlights
AFL Premiership player: 2000 AFL Rising Star nominee: 1999
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Dean Solomon (born 9 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Solomon served as caretaker senior coach with the Gold Coast Football Club for the last 3 games of the 2017 season, following the departure of senior coach Rodney Eade on 7 August 2017. ^[1]

Early career

Solomon grew up in the small mining town of Broken Hill excelling in basketball, cricket and football though it is the latter in which he held the most promise.

Playing for the North Broken Hill Football Club, a team with which his family has a long history he received several honours as a junior, along with several junior premierships, however as a 16-year-old he was awarded "best junior" when playing for the league or A-grade team against many large, hard men who would often attempt to physically intimidate him.

Solomon played his last game for North Broken Hill in 1996, unfortunately injuring his fingers and missing a grand final.

Solomon then went on to play for the Bendigo Pioneers in the under 18 TAC Cup competition. He was selected in the 1997 AFL Draft by Essendon with a 2nd round selection, number 20 overall.

Playing career

Essendon

Solomon made his AFL debut in 1998 for Essendon and was part of their 2000 premiership team. ^[2] Solomon played a total of 158 games and kicked a total of 56 goals for Essendon Football Club from 1998 until 2006. ^[3]

Fremantle

On 13 October 2006, Solomon was traded to Fremantle, following a trade of draft picks No. 42 and No. 47, Fremantle also gained pick No. 52 from the Bombers. He links up with close friend, forward Chris Tarrant who was traded to the Dockers on the same day from Collingwood. ^[4]

In 2008, Solomon was reported for elbowing Cameron Ling to the head which resulted in broken cheekbones and eye socket. ^[5] Solomon received an 8-week suspension, the most severe AFL tribunal penalty in 11 years. ^[6]

On 18 February 2010, Solomon announced his retirement from AFL football due to a painful degenerative knee injury. ^[7] Solomon played a total of 51 games and kicked 22 goals for Fremantle from 2007 until 2009. ^{[8] [9]}

Coaching career

Fremantle

Solomon was an assistant coach with Fremantle in the 2010 season under senior coach Mark Harvey. However after one season, Solomon departed the Fremantle Football Club at the end of the 2010 season on 4 August 2010. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Gold Coast Suns

He joined Gold Coast Suns as an assistant coach in the months before they entered the AFL for the 2011 season. ^[13]

During the 2017 season, Solomon was appointed caretaker senior coach of Gold Coast Suns, with three matches left to go after Rodney Eade stepped down as Gold Coast Suns senior coach, during the 2017 season, when Eade was told he would not be receiving a contract extension with Gold Coast Suns. ^{[14] [15]} The Suns under Solomon went on to lose all three games for the rest of the 2017 season. ^{[16] [17] [18]} Solomon was not retained as Gold Coast Suns senior coach at the conclusion of the 2017 season and was replaced by Stuart Dew as Gold Coast Suns senior coach. Solomon however remained at the club as assistant coach. ^[19]

After nine years of service as an assistant coach, Solomon was sacked at the end of the 2020 season. ^{[20] [21] [22]} Upon his departure from the club, and on the advice of Adam Simpson, Solomon decided to take a 12 month sabbatical from the AFL in a bid to further develop himself with an eye on returning to coaching in 2022; during this sabbatical he ran a gym in Kingscliff, New South Wales. ^{[23] [24] [25]}

Greater Western Sydney

On 17 May 2022, it was announced that Solomon would be joining the coaching staff at Greater Western Sydney as part-time assistant coach for the rest of the 2022 season under GWS caretaker senior coach and his former teammate Mark McVeigh, who replaced Leon Cameron after Cameron resigned as GWS senior coach in the middle of the 2022 season after Round 9, 2022. ^{[26] [27] [28]} Solomon left GWS Giants at the end of the 2022 season. ^[29]

Tweed Coast Football Club

On 9 November 2022, Solomon was appointed senior coach of Tweed Coast Football Club, a club that competes in the Queensland Football Association Division 2 South. ^[30]

Playing statistics

^[31]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1998	Essendon	7	7	2	1	38	25	63	12	13	0.3	0.1	5.4	3.6	9.0	1.7	1.9
1999	Essendon	7	19	4	4	139	105	244	61	39	0.2	0.2	7.3	5.5	12.8	3.2	2.1
2000	Essendon	7	25	8	7	196	136	332	115	43	0.3	0.3	7.8	5.4	13.3	4.6	1.7
2001	Essendon	7	24	8	5	208	119	327	101	55	0.3	0.2	8.7	5.0	13.6	4.2	2.3
2002	Essendon	7	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003	Essendon	7	24	11	20	243	105	348	103	86	0.5	0.8	10.1	4.4	14.5	4.3	3.6
2004	Essendon	7	23	15	17	245	154	399	79	88	0.7	0.7	10.7	6.7	17.3	3.4	3.8
2005	Essendon	7	16	4	5	130	62	192	65	45	0.3	0.3	8.1	3.9	12.0	4.1	2.8
2006	Essendon	7	20	4	3	146	97	243	72	48	0.2	0.2	7.3	4.9	12.2	3.6	2.4
2007	Fremantle	6	20	11	10	196	120	316	77	108	0.6	0.5	9.8	6.0	15.8	3.9	5.4
2008	Fremantle	6	13	7	7	149	71	220	70	36	0.5	0.5	11.5	5.5	16.9	5.4	2.8
2009	Fremantle	6	18	4	6	144	125	269	60	87	0.2	0.3	8.0	6.9	14.9	3.3	4.8
Career			209	78	85	1834	1119	2953	815	648	0.4	0.4	8.8	5.4	14.1	3.9	3.1

Tribunal history

Season	Round	Charge category (level)	Victim	Result	Verdict	Ref(s)
2004	11	Melee involvement	—	Guilty (accepted fine)	$4,500 fine	[32]
2005	18	Melee involvement	—	Guilty (accepted fine)	$2,400 fine	[33]
2006	8	Charging (3)	Ben Cousins (West Coast)	Not guilty (won at tribunal)	—	[34]
2007	PS-QF	Striking (1)	Brent Harvey (Kangaroos)	Guilty (early plea)	Reprimand	[35]
	6	Misconduct (3)	Jason Roe (Brisbane Lions)	Guilty (lost at tribunal)	1 match suspension	[36]
	21	Wrestling	Brad Miller (Melbourne)	Guilty (accepted fine)	$900 fine	[36]
2008	1	Rough conduct (1)	Shane Wakelin (Collingwood)	Guilty (lost at tribunal)	2 matches suspension	[37]
	8	Wrestling	Tom Williams (Western Bulldogs)	Guilty (accepted fine)	$1,800 fine	[37]
	15	Striking (6)	Cameron Ling (Geelong)	Guilty (direct to tribunal)	8 matches suspension	[37]

Key:

PS – Pre-season competition EF – Elimination final QF – Qualifying final

SF – Semi-final PF – Preliminary final GF – Grand final

References

1. Whiting, Michael (8 August 2017). "Eade out: 'Not even close' on win–loss ratio". BigPond. AFL.com.au. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
2. "DEAN SOLOMON" . Retrieved 12 May 2022.
3. "Solomon announces retirement". 17 February 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
4. "Solly recalls his London scare". 24 October 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
5. "Solomon's high contact on Ling". YouTube. Freo95. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
6. Dean Solomon Rubbed Out For 8 Weeks Archived 4 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
8. "Solomon announces retirement". 17 February 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
9. "DEAN SOLOMON" . Retrieved 12 May 2022.
10. "Football Staff". goldcoastfc.com.au. Gold Coast Football Club. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
11. "Solomon heads to Gold Coast Suns". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 4 August 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
12. "Dean Solomon departs Fremantle". 4 August 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
13. Dean Solomon joins Gold Coast
14. "Gold Coast Suns sack coach Rodney Eade, Dean Solomon steps in as interim coach". 8 August 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
15. "Gold Coast sack coach Rodney Eade, Dean Solomon steps in as interim coach". 8 August 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
16. Whiting, Michael (8 August 2017). "Eade out: 'Not even close' on win–loss ratio". BigPond. AFL.com.au. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
17. "Gold Coast needs an expedition leader to climb up the ladder in 2018". 20 August 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
18. "Let's get physical, says Gold Coast Suns coach Dean Solomon". 10 August 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
19. "Gold Coast Suns AFL club begin changes to coaching staff with Matthew Lappin to leave". 11 October 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
20. Matthey, James. "AFL 2020: Gold Coast Suns deny Dean Solomon conspiracy after sacking". News.com.au. News Corp. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
21. De Silva, Chris. "'This smells a bit': Andrew Welsh suggests sinister motive behind Gold Coast Suns' Dean Solomon call". Wide World of Sports. Nine Network. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
22. "'Dark cloud' over AFL fairytale as greats baffled by Dean Solomon sacking that just makes 'no sense'". Fox Sports Australia. News Corp. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
23. Raynor, Bonnie (4 December 2020). "Former Docker Dean Solomon reveals future AFL plans after honest conversation with Adam Simpson". The West Australian. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
24. Rosen, Laurence. "SACKED SUNS ASSISTANT DETAILS WHAT'S NEXT IN COACHING CAREER". SEN. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
25. Schmook, Nathan. "Footy or family? For this ex-Hawk, the choice was simple". Australian Football League. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
26. "Dons party: Hird, Solomon join Giants coaching staff". 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
27. "James Hird gets first AFL coaching role since drugs saga as Giants revamp staff after Cameron exit". 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
28. "Hird, Solomon help out GWS' AFL coach". 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
29. "Adam Kingsley unveiled as next GWS Giants coach on three-year deal". 22 August 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
30. "Former Gold Coast Suns assistant coach makes major return to football". 9 November 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
31. Dean Solomon's player profile at AFL Tables
32. "Tribunal History in Season 2004". AFL Historical Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
33. "Tribunal History in Season 2005". AFL Historical Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
34. "Tribunal History in Season 2006". AFL Historical Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
35. "Tribunal History in Season 2007 (pre-season)". AFL Historical Statistics. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
36. "Tribunal History in Season 2007". AFL Historical Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
37. "Tribunal History in Season 2008". AFL Historical Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2009.

External links

• Dean Solomon's playing statistics from AFL Tables