Solomon has been one of the club’s most reliable players at applying pressure to help lock the ball inside the forward 50. The 27 year old has averaged five tackles per game so far this season, with his season high 12 tackles against Adelaide in Round 5 going a long way to help record the nail biting one point win.
He also averages 12 possessions and two marks per game so far this season.
His attack on the ball and defensive pressure inside the attacking 50 will hold Fremantle in good stead as they prepare to combat Geelong’s aggressive style that last week saw them defeat West Coast by 39 points.
Assistant Coach Michael Broadbridge said Solomon was included in the 22 to provide another hard body up forward.
“We were pretty happy with his game the week before the Brisbane game against Adelaide, we thought he was terrific” Broadbridge said on Thursday.
“He brings a different dimension to our forward line so we’ll be hoping for a similar sort of output from him this week.
“The conditions will suit him, the ground will suit him and it it’s a little bit wet and a little bit tacky then we think he will give us a good attack on the ball down there.”
Broadbridge said Geelong’s aggressive approach towards their opponents in recent weeks was working well for the Cats, who sit fourth on the ladder with four wins and the best per centage in the competition at 149.06.
“Geelong are in a very good attacking frame of mind at the moment,” Broadbridge said.
“They have played their best footy when they have hunted down the opposition.
“We’ll be looking to restrict the way that they want to play.”
Broadbridge said last weekend’s come from behind win over Hawthorn gave the group a massive confidence boost. With Fremantle having won only once at Skilled Stadium from nine outings, he hoped the team would feed off the result heading into Saturday’s clash.
“Confidence is an amazing thing,” Broadbridge said.
“Last week our boys in the first quarter were really ordinary and confidence looked at an all time low. But as the game progressed it started to change.
“The win will give the guys a massive boost in confidence so we expect that to carry over hopefully this weekend.”
Bouncedown on Saturday is at 2.10pm (EST), with the match being telecast live nationally on Fox Sports 1 and into Western Australia on Network 10 from 12.00pm (WST).
Fremantle Team – Round 8 v Geelong
B: Hayden, Grover, Johnson
HB: Dodd, McPharlin, M. Carr
C: Black, Hasleby, Mundy
HF: Crowley, Pavlich, Headland
F: Bell, Tarrant, Solomon
Foll: Sandilands, McManus, J. Carr
IC: Campbell, Duffield, Walker, Webster
Team Changes
In: Solomon
Out: Gilmore
