Dean Solomon (born 9 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Solomon served as caretaker senior coach with the Gold Coast Football Club for the last 3 games of the 2017 season, following the departure of senior coach Rodney Eade on 7 August 2017. Early career Solomon grew up in the small mining town of Broken Hill excelling in basketball, cricket and football though it is the latter in which he held the most promise. Playing for the North Broken Hill Football Club, a team with which his family has a long history he received several honours as a junior, along with several junior premierships, however as a 16-year-old he was awarded "best junior" when playing for the league or A-grade team against many large, hard men who would often attempt to physically intimidate him. Solomon played his last game for North Broken Hill in 1996, unfortunately injuring his fingers and missing a grand final. Solomon then went on to play for the Bendigo Pioneers in the under 18 TAC Cup competition. He was selected in the 1997 AFL Draft by Essendon with a 2nd round selection, number 20 overall. Playing career Essendon Solomon made his AFL debut in 1998 for Essendon and was part of their 2000 premiership team. Solomon played a total of 158 games and kicked a total of 56 goals for Essendon Football Club from 1998 until 2006. Fremantle On 13 October 2006, Solomon was traded to Fremantle, following a trade of draft picks No. 42 and No. 47, Fremantle also gained pick No. 52 from the Bombers. He links up with close friend, forward Chris Tarrant who was traded to the Dockers on the same day from Collingwood. In 2008, Solomon was reported for elbowing Cameron Ling to the head which resulted in broken cheekbones and eye socket. Solomon received an 8-week suspension, the most severe AFL tribunal penalty in 11 years. On 18 February 2010, Solomon announced his retirement from AFL football due to a painful degenerative knee injury. Solomon played a total of 51 games and kicked 22 goals for Fremantle from 2007 until 2009. Coaching career Fremantle Solomon was an assistant coach with Fremantle in the 2010 season under senior coach Mark Harvey. However after one season, Solomon departed the Fremantle Football