Dean Solomon’s Strike Leaves Cameron Ling out for a Month

Yesterday’s firey clash between Geelong and Fremantle, where the Dockers employed every THUG-LIFE tactic in the book en route to a 74 point belting, has left the Cattery a little worse for wear. The highlight of rough incidents was Dean Solomon’s strike with an elbow on Cameron Ling. Solomon came in late after Ling had disposed of the ball and appears to follow through with an elbow cathing Ling (who was frog marched off the feild) right on the jaw – video footage can be seen here – as a result Ling has had to undergo surgery on his cheek bone and is expected to miss a month of action:

Ling had surgery today for a depressed fracture of the cheekbone and the club reported he will be out of action for 3-4 weeks.

Solomon issued a TV apology not long after the match:

“It was totally unacceptable and I apologise wholeheartedly to Cameron and the Geelong Football Club. I don’t want this to benefit me in any way, I deserve my penalty whatever that will be, but I just want to apologise to Cameron.”

This may have been an attempt to gain some much needed points at the tribunal, however it did appear heartfelt and Solomon does have an extremely good record off the feild. That said however he is still going to miss significant time considering his past record (he has 30% loading), and the fact that Barry Hall’s hit on Staker is still fresh in everyone minds – I expect him to get about 6 weeks, cannot see it being longer then Hall’s king hit, but it is still severe.

In addition to Ling, the Cats may have also lost star midfeilder Gary Ablett who turned an ankle just before half time and is currently questionable for next weeks clash against the Dogs.