‘First I heard of it’: Solomon responds to Hird’s Essendon ‘all-star’ coaching package

Dean Solomon’s inclusion in an all-star team being assembled by James Hird to coach Essendon next year is news to Dean Solomon.

“The first I heard of it was yesterday when someone told me at the footy club,” Solomon said before an Essendon training session on Thursday morning. “I haven’t spoken to Hirdy about football at all, so that’s the first thing I’ve heard of it.”

Hird has announced his desire to coach Essendon next year, following the axing of Brad Scott, and was reported to be gathering a “Team Hird” package should he land the job. Names included Solomon, Mark McVeigh, Dyson Heppell, Hayden Skipworth, James Kelly and Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel as potential football manager.

“As I said last week here, my sole focus right now is this football club, and these players and staff,” Solomon said.

“I can’t look outside of that bubble, it’d be distracting for me, and I wouldn’t be doing the right thing. So, my pure focus right now is on my role, and I’ve got a big role to play on how we finish this year.

“The decisions around who becomes senior coach or who comes in to support the senior coach will obviously be done at the end of the year and from powers above me, so I can’t control any of that.”

Solomon said he had shut off from all media and social media to avoid being distracted, but was made aware by the club’s communication team that Essendon had applied for a priority draft pick, with the Bombers board having written to the AFL, pleading their case for special draft assistance.

“The board obviously have done, would have done, a huge amount of work in working out why we feel like we can potentially apply for that,” Solomon said.

“I just think it doesn’t hurt to ask the question to find out.”

But the interim coach would not be drawn on what sort of young players the beleaguered Bombers needed to escalate a rise up the ladder.

“It’s probably a question for list management, Matty Rosa and his team, they have a much better handle on that,” he said.

The Bombers are looking to bring back Sam Durham (concussion) and Mason Redman (knee soreness) for Sunday night’s clash against arch rivals Carlton, while Jordan Ridley (calf) will come into calculations.

“We will see how he trains and how it feels, discuss with him where he’s at post training,” Solomon said. “But I think we get something like 10 players back between here and post bye, which would be significant for every club.”

Lewis Hayes will not require surgery after an arthroscopy on Thursday found that he had sprained his ACL, rather than rupturing it. The key defender, who felt sore in