Solomon's mind willing, body beat

RETIRING Fremantle hard man Dean Solomon says he had no choice but to end his career after 13 years, 209 games and a premiership, with two separate surgeons giving him no chance of ever playing football again.

Solomon, 30, was well ahead in his pre-season program leading into Christmas when an innocuous incident during a handball drill further damaged his reconstructed right knee.

After three attempts to get the knee right, Solomon said he had been left with no option but to retire and undergo a post-football operation to ensure he isn’t hindered later in life.    

“I’ve seen two surgeons in the last week and the outlook they’ve given me is I have zero per cent chance of playing football again,” he told a media conference on Thursday, in front of teammates, coaches, club officials and staff. 

“Unfortunately, with that advice, I had no choice.”

Solomon said he was changing direction in a training drill, twisted his knee and heard it pop. His immediate reaction was that it would need to be reconstructed again. 

“It felt pretty similar,” he said. “I had a couple more scans, showed them to the surgeons and they both were of the opinion that it had deteriorated pretty quickly and I was no chance now of playing.

“Basically I can run straight lines, but I wouldn’t be able to go off line and do any agility work.”

By his own admission, agility was never Solomon’s strong point as a footballer, but he said he would hang his hat on always putting his body on the line and being a team man.    

“Hopefully, I leave with my teammates knowing every time I went on the field with them I gave 100 per cent and I always committed my body in any way I possibly could,” he said.

“I’d never let them down, I feel. Maybe in some disciplinary areas, but if there was ever a 50-50 ball or I had to put my body on the line, I’d always do that.  
 
“I was never the most gifted, skillful, quickest running player, [but] I gave it everything I could, and hopefully that helped them out.”

Solomon, who played 158 games for Essendon, including the 2000 premiership, thanked his former club for the faith they had shown in him.

He also thanked Fremantle, a club he said he felt an equal attachment to after 51 games in three seasons, and coach Mark Harvey.

He said he looked forward to the next chapter in his life, which will begin in 2010 with a role in Fremantle’s coaching group.

“With a young group I think I can still help. Instead of focusing on myself I can put some more focus onto them and help them out a lot more,” he said.

“My advice to the young fellas would be take your opportunity, work as hard as you can and do whatever it takes to get out there and get the best out of yourself.

“It does come and go and you don’t want to sit back at the end and go ‘I should’ve done that better or I could’ve done that better’.”

Asked who of Fremantle’s emerging players was a young version of himself, Solomon said he particularly enjoyed watching emerging defender Greg Broughton play, and revealed the 23-year-old inherited Solomon’s No.6 jumper at the end of 2009 at his request.  

Harvey said Fremantle’s young players had learned from Solomon’s example and the former Bomber had always been active in passing on his knowledge to junior teammates.

“When you look at Dean and the way he’s gone about it, I guess today the opposition would be happy that he’s retiring and his teammates would be unhappy, because of the way he’s played the game,” Harvey said.

“He’s got the respect of all his teammates (for) the way he went about it.”