Ben McKay's absence from Essendon's side against Adelaide was due to a lack of form and confidence, according to interim coach Dean Solomon, who confirmed the key defender would likely play VFL next weekend.
McKay, 28, has been omitted for a third time this season after managing just five disposals in a tough outing against Hawthorn. The 202cm defender was considered a natural match-up for Adelaide's Riley Thilthorpe, but instead Zach Reid drew the assignment and was beaten, with Thilthorpe booting three goals in the first quarter and finishing with 5.2 and 10 marks (six contested).
No in-form talls available
Solomon explained the team's selection dilemma bluntly. "The reality is we don't have any talls in form that we could have brought into the team," he said. "The team that we put on the park today was the team that we have that are in form, especially from the talls."
"We spoke about it halfway through the third (quarter), there's absolutely no one that we could have brought in with any confidence, unfortunately, to match those big talls," he added.
Solomon defends McKay
When asked about players low on confidence, Solomon was quick to mention McKay, who joined Essendon as a free agent from North Melbourne at the end of 2023 on a six-year deal, choosing the Bombers ahead of Hawthorn and Sydney. "I mean he's one of quite a few players that have lost a bit of confidence," Solomon said. "It amazes me how much he gets singled out, Ben."
"I said during the week, I'll protect my players and he's one that I will protect and he's getting to work on his game," he added.
McKay likely to play VFL
Solomon indicated McKay would not return against Geelong next Saturday, with a VFL bye this weekend. "He's going back, obviously we had a VFL bye this weekend, but he'll get to work during the week. He'll most likely play VFL next weekend," Solomon said.
"But he's got the hunger to work on his game and get back to a level that we know that he can. So I'm going to protect him, but his form last week against the Hawks suggested that we couldn't have selected him today. So the guys we did select, we backed them in and, as I said, there were patches that we liked, but their big guys got a hold of us at times as well."
Coaching search continues
Solomon is set to have discussions with the club regarding the full-time head coach role. "I'll have discussions with the club in the next couple of days and work through the bigger picture stuff," he said. "But that's not the priority. It's really the players. We've got three games to go."
Other contenders for the permanent role are former coach James Hird, Adelaide senior assistant Murray Davis, GWS assistant Mark McVeigh and Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham.
