"What we need is to be more consistent around the contest. We need to have a bit more of an appetite to get the ball back off the opposition, we find that will hold us in games a lot longer than we have in the past couple of years. "When we lose the contest and the opposition have the ball, you look at our tackling numbers, they're right down, so it tells us we don't have the appetite in tight, and then when the opposition get the ball on the outside, our team defence is quite inconsistent. "So we're looking to tighten that up, we know we can't change it all in three weeks, but we're drawing a lot of attention to that more so than the offensive side of the game. "That's the basics of footy [and] we feel we're inconsistent in that area … That's going to be our simple key focus and the players are all for that, the leaders are driving that and the players trained really well on the back of that."

Solomon is acting as Rodney Eade's short-term replacement before the club begins its search for a new coach in the off-season. He would not be drawn on whether he would be applying for the role. "Right now my focus is very simple," he said. "It's here with the players and trying to provide the best environment for the players … I can't look any further than that. The last 48 hours has been [about] trying to galvanise and unite this playing group and football club. "If I started looking further than that I'd be doing a disservice to our players, so I can't answer that right now. I just want to get through this next 16 days, and we'll go from there." He said that the club's players and staff had reached out to Eade and his family in the wake of his sacking. "A lot of the players and staff were shocked by the news early Tuesday morning. Obviously Rocket has done a lot for this footy club in the last three-year period, so our thoughts right away went to him, Wendy and his family, and most of us made contact with those guys straight away to make sure they're OK.

"Unfortunately with footy you've got to quickly shift and move on. Our thoughts are with Rocket and Wendy and the family, but as of today we've got to quickly move on. "The playing group have walked in today and they're really galvanised. We understand there's a big game ahead this weekend against Brisbane, and we really respect what they're building up the road." The Suns will go into the clash against the Lions significantly under strength. Co-captain and star forward Tom Lynch has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a posterior cruciate ligament injury to his knee, while Gary Ablett will miss another week with a hamstring tear. Of Ablett – who is expected to request a trade back to Geelong at the end of the season – Solomon said: "His attitude has been amazing over the last 24-48 hours, I had a good conversation with him yesterday. "He'll be up supporting the team and I want to really lean on his experience in around football to educate our players this weekend, at half-time and after the game at NEAFL and AFL level.

"He's heavily invested in this footy club and I can't be more impressed with the attitude he's shown."