Dean Solomon accepts that Essendon’s season-low tackle count against North Melbourne was the most prominent source of frustration from their 14-point loss.

Applying more pressure on the ball carrier and finding better shape in the contest has been a major focus of Solomon’s since taking the helm of his young group but the Dons have been inconsistent in adapting to a different game style. 

At Thursday morning’s press conference, Solomon spoke to his side’s struggles and how they’ll look to mend going forward, while also addressing his role in the Club’s search for its Senior Coach in 2027 and beyond. 

Solomon on… a ‘disappointing’ showing of pressure

The weekend was really disappointing, I felt like we didn't lift to the standard we're chasing. 

35 tackles is not where we want it to be and they had 55 per cent of the ball, so we had our opportunities. Reviewing it, we had nine players that didn't have a tackle, we had three players with one tackle, we had two players with 12 tackles between them. 

We're going to continue to focus on it and drive it, train it, and look for a conversion on gameday. 

It's not just about me (and how I played my footy), it's the whole coaching group, it's the whole playing group as well. They want to apply more pressure in the contest more often and be really steely in defence. We're just not there at the moment.

Solomon on… plan of attack in the final two months, a potential Wright return 

The easy thing for me to do is go, okay, let's just play shootout footy, let's just play with flair. But I truly believe the best way for a young group is to learn the contest out, how to shape the contest, and then our team defence in behind that.

Our offence is going to take a little bit of a hit at times and it has so far, but, we have reduced our opposition averaging 109 points down to 82.

There's little shifts that we're chasing. It didn't look and feel the way we wanted to against North Melbourne, but I feel like that's the right way to coach this group for the long-term. 

We've had good patches – that second half against Melbourne, the Carlton game I thought we were a lot better - it's a little shift in the mindset, it’s a little shift in the focus and we haven't got consistency yet.

We didn't play a brand of footy we were chasing against North Melbourne and we wear the responsibility of that.  

Peter Wright will train today, if he gets through he’ll become available to be selected for VFL or AFL, but we'll just see how he trains.

Solomon on… senior player responsibility, Zach Merrett’s leadership 

There’s a lot of pride in (the senior players) and they're not settled on how they walked off against North at the end of the game. 

As coach, I take the responsibility as well - it's what we're coaching, it's a shift in mindset. I want them to value how they can impact the game without the ball. 

I can't talk highly enough of how supportive (Zach’s) been, how much he's driving in this room here, in our team meetings. He wants to continue to be great and he's a great footballer of our club. He wants to stay at that level and he will. 

Solomon on… the Club’s coaching process for 2027 

My head is down, but I understand at some stage there's going to be a conversation that needs to be had. 

Tim Roberts just said to me, ‘mate, right here, right now, these couple of weeks, keep your head down. Focus on what you're going to focus on, and at some stage we'll come give you a nudge and have a conversation.’

I'm imagining it would be the next couple of weeks, but obviously the process is in place now, so we'll get moving. I don't think they're in a rush, they’re really, really clear on what they want to focus on and what they want to attract and get into the club. I'm sure I'll get the tap on the shoulder at some stage. 

For a start, my family still live in Northern New South Wales, so the conversation needs to start there with my wife and kids. There are multiple layers from a personal side of things, but that's something I need to go through myself over the next couple of weeks and then whenever that conversation happens.

I'm grateful the club hasn't rushed me in any way, shape or form. Again, I just have to focus on what we focus on, and you can see the challenge we've got right now.