Even with the expectation that they were going to crucify him, Dean Solomon (pictured left greating His Holiness as he arrived in Australia) must have been shocked when the AFL Tribunal handed out a staggering 8 week suspension for an errant elbow on Cameron Ling in a side bump gone wrong. The incident was seen as full points in all categories and will see Solomon out of action for longer then Barry Hall who, in an assault behind play, swung from the heavens to knock out an unsuspecting Brent Staker.

When handing out their penalty to Dean Solomon, the AFL tribunal regretted the fact that the AFL didn't have the power to sentence a man to death. From the moment Robert Walls looked up from his game of solitaire to catch Cameron Ling lying on the ground and went into hyperbole overdrive, Dean Solomon knew the cannibals were about and his goose was going to be cooked.

Minutes after the event, the news wires were clogged with articles from the work experience kids their papers had sent to Geelong to cover a Dockers game. Crammed with adjectives that could only be done justice when read by Marlon Brando, and references to the 1970's, there was blood in the water and it wasn't the stuff pouring out of Cameron Ling's nose.

Dean Solomon was being measure up for steak size and the local media kept themselves busy collecting the kindling for a good old fashioned witch burning. By the time Geelong had returned to playing the ball and dealt with Fremantle on the scoreboard, the word was out - Dean Solomon was the greatest monster this side of Tokyo.

With the match review panel not able to get together until after Gilmore Girls on a Monday night and the media having to fill a couple of days, it became a contest to see who could be the most outraged. He was a dog, he was a thug, he was undisciplined, Fremantle were lucky to still have an AFL license.

No surprises then that, when it came to the Match Review Panel, they ticked all the top boxes and passed it onto the tribunul, where the rules are vague but justice is swift.

The tribunal wasted no time with things like, considering the arguments and coming to a well thought out conclusion, they had the guilty stamp inked up and ready to go before Solomon hit the floor and when he'd finished explining the unfortunate chain of events which caused the accident, they brought down the sort of penalty that has traditionally been reserved for events involving concealed weapons and war crimes.

Solomon wil now miss the rest of the season, one game next year and will carry a truck full of extra points with him. Cameron Ling's injury has been downgraded from a 4-6 week layoff to 1 or 2 weeks.