Solomon and big man Jason Laycock both had minor arthroscopic surgery and are recovering well. Solomon was doing running drills late last week and has pulled up well suggesting he will be able to complete a full week of training in the lead up to Saturday night's match.
""The surgery was very minor but neccessary,"" Essendon fitness coach John Quinn said. ""He was always expected to recover quickly and he moved very well late last week when we stepped things up. He is very keen to play and I would think he will provided everything goes to plan this week. I would think Laycock would be available the following week.""
Mark Johnson has not played a senior pracitce match during the pre-season after having a shoulder reconstruction. But Johnson put his shoulder through its first serious test on Saturday in a Bendigo Bombers' practice match. He got through the game well and just as importantly won plenty of the football.
Adam Ramanauskas, Ty Zantuck and Joel Reynolds also played in that practice match. Zantuck played at both full forward and full back while Reynolds got through the game in good shape. Zantuck misses the first round because of suspension while Reynolds looks a very good chance of playing. Ramanauskas played three quarters and did well, collecting 11 touches in the final quarter.
The Bendigo Bombers went down by about 10-goals to Springvale in the practice match but had a number of senior players missing including Justin Blumfield, Jordan Doering, Callum Beasy and Nick Carter. The Bendigo Bombers' final practice match is against Sandringham at QEO next Saturday afternoon starting at 1pm. The season opener is against Coburg the following weekend, again at QEO but starting at 7pm on the Saturday night.
