Dean Solomon

Personal information
Birth	9 January 1980 (1980-01-09) (age 29), Melbourne
Recruited from	Bendigo Pioneers
Height and weight	189cm / 100kg
Playing career¹
Debut	25 April 1998, Essendon vs. Collingwood, at M.C.G.
Team(s)	Essendon (1998-2006) 158 games, 56 goals Fremantle (2007-) 51 games, 22 goals Total: 209 games, 78 goals
¹ Statistics to end of 2009 season
Career highlights
Essendon Bombers premiership side 2000

Dean Solomon (born 9 January 1980) is an Australian rules footballer. He currently plays for the Fremantle Dockers having previously played for Essendon.

Known for his toughness, Solomon has made frequent visits to the AFL Tribunal

[edit] 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.

[edit] AFL career

Solomon made his AFL debut in 1998 for Essendon and was part of their 2000 premiership team. On numerous occasions, however, Solomon has shown his lack of discipline to be detrimental to his game, one example being the 2005 clash with Adelaide at AAMI Stadium, where Solomon's concession of a 50-metre penalty was considered a turning point in the match, from which Adelaide became big victors.

On 13 October 2006 Solomon was traded to the Fremantle Dockers, 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.

In 2008, Solomon was reported for elbowing Cameron Ling to the head which resulted in broken cheekbones and eye socket and Solomon received an 8 week suspension, the most severe AFL tribunal penalty in 11 years.^[1]

[edit] Tribunal history

Key:

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Freo Player Profile
• Dean Solomon's statistics from AFL Tables