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Fremantle hardman Dean Solomon is set to face the full wrath of the AFL tribunal after his sickening elbow to Geelong opponent Cameron Ling’s head left the Cats midfielder needing hospital attention last night.
Solomon took footy back to the bad old days in a vicious first quarter incident during Geelong’s 74-point thumping of the Dockers at Skilled Stadium.
Solomon lined up Ling from about 25 metres, ran in at pace and landed an elbow to his face well after the midfielder had disposed of the ball during a fiery first term.
Ling left the ground jelly-legged in the hands of two trainers, and did not play any further part in the Cats’ 18.10 (118) to 6.8 (44) win.
Geelong football manager Neil Balme later said Ling had been taken to hospital where scans revealed a depressed fracture of the cheekbone.
He was scheduled for surgery as soon as possible.
A repentant Solomon apologised unreservedly to Ling and Geelong for the incident tonight, saying it was probably the lowest point in his career.
“I don’t want this (my apology) to benefit me (at the tribunal) in any way. I deserve any penalty, whatever that will be,” Solomon said.
Mea culpa is unlikely to spare the 28-year-old a hefty suspension from either the match review panel on Monday or at the tribunal on Tuesday should he be referred directly there.
It is likely to be viewed as seriously as Sydney forward Barry Hall’s now-infamous punch on West Coast’s Brent Staker and may earn Solomon a long enough stretch to end his season.
Fremantle coach Mark Harvey was disappointed, describing Solomon’s conduct as “unacceptable”.
But he said the club was unlikely to mete out any extra sanction to Solomon to that provided by the league’s judiciary.
“It is unacceptable (but) I’m not one of the coaches who goes beyond the punishment of the tribunal,” Harvey said.
Cats coach Mark Thompson chose his words carefully when quizzed about Fremantle’s tactics, as they clearly tried to unsettle the premiers physically in the opening term.
Twenty-six free-kicks were awarded in the quarter – oddly most against Geelong.
Cats star Gary Ablett came in for heavy attention from Dockers tagger Ryan Crowley.
Then Solomon’s hit turned the game from niggly to nasty, sparking spot fires throughout the match.
“I don’t think we could avoid not giving a little bit back. It’s an extremely difficult situation to be in,” Thompson said.
“Our boys were really professional. We played football … whatever happened today wasn’t about Geelong.”
As well as losing Ling, the Cats also had to make do without star midfielder Ablett for most of the match after he rolled an ankle.
Thompson said the Brownlow Medal favourite was likely to miss at least a week but scans tomorrow would shed more light on the extent of Ablett’s injury.
In their absence, Cats midfielders Joel Selwood and Joel Corey ran riot, leading an unrelenting steamrolling of the Dockers throughout the second, third and fourth quarters.
Geelong grew the lead at every change – forward Tom Lonergan finishing with four goals.
Chris Tarrant was Fremantle’s leading goalkicker with three of their six.
Today’s win was Geelong’s 14th in 15 matches this season and keeps them at the top of the AFL ladder.
Fremantle have just two wins for the season.
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