Dean Solomon is hopeful Essendon can provide a far more competitive showing against Adelaide this week, with No.1 ruck Nick Bryan and a group of experienced players set to return to the side.

The Bombers’ Senior Coach confirmed he’ll have discussions next week with CEO Tim Roberts regarding his interest in the vacant coaching role next year but remains adamant he’ll value ‘medium-to-long-term’ decisions in the final month of the season. 

The full rundown from Solomon’s round 21 presser. 

Solomon on… a poor response last week 

It was disappointing from our side of things, just the way we went about it. 

I thought for a quarter and a half, we competed well and it was the way we wanted the game to look. Hawthorn being Hawthorn, they’re obviously a very, very good side, a top three side. They really owned the ball and we couldn't defend or question them. 

We got opened up and I've said it a couple of times, but we had some compliance issues in our stoppage that we needed to look at early in the week and tidy up as well, which didn't help. Give them a spare, and they hurt us.

Solomon on… changes, selection integrity 

Nick Bryan will be back, he’s available. Caldwell, Langford, a couple of experienced players as well, which is really important. 

There could be anywhere up to four, five, maybe six changes in the team. 

(Those selection decisions are) just my philosophy around football too. Exposing some youth has been a big part of that, I think against the Brisbane Lions, we were something like 1600 games less experienced. Even on the weekend, we were 1150 games less experienced. 

We speak about Robey, Sharp, the midfield time they’ve got. It should have given our members and fans a great insight to what the future looks like and exposure to these kids can only help the football club. 

I'm one of four or five coaches who've been making those decisions and we’ve sort of stuck by that and we are confident with what we've got. 

I've thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity and challenge of this. We’re really working hard between Monday to Friday to make sure we get good momentum finishing the year off and also making decisions around the medium-to-long-term for the club. 

We haven't had the win-loss that we'd like, we've seen patches of improvement in being competitive. We’ve tried to shift the way we play, so there's been a lot to it. I hope it helps the Club in the medium-to-long-term.

Solomon on… a decision for 2027

It's a discussion I'm going to have with the club next week. We’ve had that contact now. With all due respect, I'll probably have that discussion with them first and then work from there.  

Tim (Roberts) mentioned maybe four or five weeks ago, just taking time, concentrating on coaching, doing what you have to do for this group and for this footy club. At some point in time, he’d gives a tap on the shoulder and have that discussion, so that time has come.

We’ll sit for a good chat about all things and I'll put forward my thoughts on the current situation. There are multiple layers around where I'm currently at in the position and where my family are based. That’s why it's been a good thing to actually take the time and have a good think. 

My first priority has always been and always will be my players and making sure they get the best opportunity to be the best they can be, day in and day out. 

They’ve been very respectful. There have been a handful who’ve definitely asked (about my outlook for next year) and that's between myself and the players, but it's hard not to when there’s constant speculation, right? 

When there’s constant speculation and as much as we try to shield them from everything that's going on, there's no doubt they're curious about the future.

As a player, I can understand that. 

Solomon on… Robey and Ridley 

(Robey’s) shattered and we're shattered for him. He's done a power of work for an 18-year-old boy, and that's what he is really. 

He's been run through the midfield, got high exposure. And I think that it’s given a glimpse into the future, which is quite exciting. 

He’s sore but he's progressing well, he’s in a brace at the moment. There’s no rush to get him back, if that means the season ends and we don't see ‘Robes’ again, we’d rather look after him, make sure he's right for day one of pre-season. At this point in time, I don't expect to see him this year.

We'll give (Ridley) every chance to play this year. He's progressing quite well the last two days after being quite sore initially.

I think that another week's time will probably give a better or clearer understanding of what it looks like but he’s played five of the last seven games, he shows his quality when he does play for us. 

This is a different injury, to be fair, not a soft tissue. He’s incredibly frustrated and we're frustrated for him but there's also a part where we're getting some continuity into his game as well. It’s a step up from what he's had in the past, so we remain optimistic about where he can go with his body. 

I hope (Jordan’s here next year). I guess that's a list management discussion and up to him. He's been engaged with what we're doing and he's playing a reasonable bread of football as well. 

We just sort of deal with (his injury) right now and see what the next couple of weeks look like but he’s contracted and we hope he's part of our future. 

Solomon on… covering defensively

(Harry Jones) is absolutely an option. He’s made the switch from some forward and wing time to being an defender the last six or seven weeks and has started to play some good footy at VFL level. 

We've also played Langford down back at times as well - he came back and played as a forward two weeks ago on balance of the team, but he's an option as well. 

We know how potent Adelaide’s forwards are, so there's a massive challenge there, but we'll go through those as a coaching group and finalise our team.