Solomon’s dire warning for the Bombers; player contact with an umpire could cost one club $50,000

‘We just weren’t there’: Solomon’s admission as Bombers fall into old habits

Danny Russell

Dean Solomon’s coaching audition took a sizeable hit at the MCG on Saturday afternoon, even though the Essendon premiership player insisted he had not given any thought to applying for the vacant role.

It was the worst Essendon had played under Solomon since he took control as interim coach three weeks ago, falling to Melbourne by 45 points in a match honouring the late Neale Daniher’s contribution to both clubs.

But while the crowd of 41,438 people stood and applauded Daniher at the six-minute mark of the game – in recognition of his No.6 jumper – the Bombers stood for little else in a listless first half.

“We just weren’t there,” a disappointed Solomon said. “It wasn’t our brand, the way we wanted to play in and around contests. We ended up minus-35 in contest, which is not how we wanted to look.”

The Demons kicked the first four goals of the match – the opener a snap off the boot of an inspired skipper Max Gawn – and cleared out to a 41-point lead by half-time on the back of the Kysaiah Pickett’s brilliance.

As solid as Melbourne were, Solomon was at a loss to explain his side’s poor showing on the back of two promising weeks.

But he insisted his players were not being distracted by the heady swirl of outside noise suggesting that both he and club great James Hird were neck-and-neck in a race to secure the Essendon coaching job.

“I’m not sure how much they read or take on, and I’m absolutely sure they’ve been advised not to read everything in the paper,” Solomon said.

“I’ve been around footy for a long time, and I understand the world around our footy club, and we don’t have a coach at the moment, and we need to replace a coach and choose a coach.

“I know there’s going to be a lot of noise around that, but I’m really kind of where my feet are at, I’m right in the middle here, focusing on what I need to focus on.

“[When it comes to] the players, I haven’t heard or had any conversations about any of that, about 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.”

Solomon also dismissed speculation he’s president and former teammate Andrew Welsh’s preferred candidate to coach the Bombers beyond this year.

“I can’t think about that, and I’m not thinking about that,” he said.

“I’ve got to ensure that this club and these players, and this team, play in a way that’s more competitive than today and I take responsibility for that.

“The most important role I need to play right now is ensuring we have momentum into the finish line because if we fall away the other way, you can do a fair bit of damage.”

Solomon said his approach would not change if Essendon suddenly announced they were starting an interview process.

“That’s hypothetical, but I’m eyes down right now,” he said.

“Of course, I love coaching. That’s why I’m back in it. I love the challenge that we’re in right now, and I love the fact that we’ve got the games giving us feedback, and we’ve got to improve on, and if coaching wasn’t a challenge, it wouldn’t be worth it, right?”

The Bombers had few four-quarter contributors outside Will Setterfield, who collected a game-high 34 disposals.

Solomon persisted with Ben McKay (one goal) as a forward, but moved Zach Merrett (32 disposals) back into the midfield from half-back late in the second term in search of a spark.

Like Brad Scott before him, he refused to blame Essendon’s injury list for their lack of fight, but there is no doubt the shortage of seasoned players is holding them back.

It was compounded further when they lost Archie Roberts to a dislocated shoulder during the second term.

Melbourne also lost a youngster to injury when club debutant and mid-season draft selection Lukas Cooke left the ground after copping a heavy knock to the cheek. He was taken to hospital for scans.

It was a more auspicious debut for another Demons mid-season draftee, Joel Fitzgerald, who picked up 26 disposals in his first game.

Essendon kicked the first three goals of the third quarter, but Melbourne was quick to snuff out any hint of a comeback, a factor that had worried a relieved Demons coach Steven King.

He sensed a danger game, coming off the back of a five-day break from their hard-fought victory over Collingwood and an emotional week following forward Brody Mihocek’s serious neck injury and a state funeral for former club coach Daniher.

“I was a bit edgy this morning, driving in,” King admitted. “I was a bit short at home, too, probably because it’s a game on paper you’re expected to win, and we dropped this one against Essendon last time [Gather Round].

“We knew they’d come out and fight for Neale as well, and they were really competitive last week, so yeah, you’ve got to rock up. No one gives you four points.

“They looked a little bit fatigued during stages, but the way they fought the game out was really impressive.”

Essendon invited club great Simon Madden to address their playing group before the game to honour Daniher, while Aaron Davey spoke to the Demons.

“Then was Checkers [Mihocek] as well,” King said.

“That again is another layer of emotion, and for us, you know, I think it reminded all of us how lucky we are, and the players, especially, to play this game.

“So we had a little bit of Checkers with us today, knowing he’s at home and won’t be with us for at least this year with his neck. So, yeah, we’re thinking him as much as Neale today.”

Rioli’s umpire contact could cost the Suns $50,000

Andrew Wu

Gold Coast are at risk of becoming the first club to cop the wrath of the AFL in the league’s crackdown against umpire contact by players.

The Suns face a fine of up to $50,000 after defender Daniel Rioli was cited on Saturday by the match review officer for making careless contact with an umpire.

Rioli is the fifth Sun to be charged with the offence after colliding with veteran whistleblower Matt Stevic at a stoppage during the first quarter of the club’s loss to Geelong on Friday night.

Under a rule brought in this season by the league to protect umpires, a club can be fined up to $50,000 if their players transgress five or more times in the same season. The Suns are the first club to reach this threshold.

Suns midfielders Alex Davies (opening round), Touk Miller (round six), Matt Rowell (round 11) and Noah Anderson (round 13) have all been fined this season for making contact with an umpire.

Rioli had his back turned to umpire Stevic as he attempted to shadow Geelong’s Shaun Mannagh at a ball-up in the Cats’ forward 50. Contact was made as Stevic was backing out of congestion. The contact was forceful enough to jolt Stevic, but did not bring him to ground.

Umpires typically warn players on the path they will take to exit the stoppage. Stevic did not do this, though the umpire had signalled his exit pathway at a ball-up only seconds earlier.

The threat of a heavy fine adds to the Suns’ frustration with the umpires after their 45-point defeat to Geelong.

Coach Damien Hardwick hit out at the umpires, accusing them of paying free kicks due to the partisan Cats crowd behaving like a “Roman Colosseum”.

The triple premiership coach exploded in the coach’s box after Cats forward Jeremy Cameron received a free kick for front-on contact from Gold Coast’s Oscar Adams just before half-time. It happened minutes after the out-of-zone umpire awarded Cameron a free kick for high contact following a spilled mark.

Australian Football Hall of Fame Legend Jason Dunstall said on Kayo Sports the umpires had “given away some reasonably soft ones tonight” after Cameron was given the free kick for high contact. Suns captain Anderson approached the umpires at half-time for clarification.

In his post-match press conference, Hardwick said the lasso rule needed to be changed so it was not paid if the ball accidentally came off a boot.

About his outburst on half-time, Hardwick said it seemed umpires were swayed by the crowd.

“It was like the Roman Colosseum. I reckon they [the umpires] were waiting for the crowd to do this one [thumbs down] then, all of a sudden, free kick,” Hardwick said.

“At the end of the day it is what it is, home-ground advantage, we understand that, we know you’re up against it from the start, but a couple of them, I thought, weren’t there.”

Anderson was bemused by some of the umpiring but held back on his criticism.

“It was a frustrating night,” Anderson said on 3AW on Friday night. “It’s a bit confusing at times, to be honest. But that’s not the problem we face tonight, can’t really focus on it.”

West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson was critical of the umpires’ performance.

“When there’s 35 umpires, you’re not going to get the best four every game,” Simpson said on SEN.

“They’ve got to pick and choose who does what. You want the good ones on Thursday and Friday when you’re on show, and last night there were a few decisions there, not the rules, the decisions, I think, cost the teams goals or prevented them from scoring.”

Cats fans were irate when wingman Ollie Dempsey was penalised for a push in the back after making in the goal square, denying Geelong a certain goal.

Cats coach Chris Scott was visibly frustrated after Bailey Smith was not rewarded for a tackle on Matt Rowell, which he said was a “mistake”.

“I think it’s worth putting on the table that if you’re going to get really frustrated by something, make sure it’s not your own ignorance that you’re displaying for everyone,” Scott said.

“Sometimes we’ll have a difference of opinion on how those things are interpreted, but it should never be because you think that prior opportunity looks like that. They’ve been really clear on what it looks like and what it doesn’t.

“I'm not confused by the rule at all. When you see things that are really confusing, when you think you understand it, it’s likely there was a mistake, and mistakes happen a lot more than people realise.”

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