Young Men Who Went West Starthunt For Purple Patch
The Age
Thursday October 26, 2006
BOOM Fremantle recruit Chris Tarrant has set himself to reclaim his status as an All-Australian forward but has asked for 12 months' grace before being expected to find his best form.
Tarrant and Essendon premiership defender Dean Solomon arrived in Fremantle yesterday after being traded to the club this month. The 26-year-old former Pie has endured tough years since All-Australian selection in 2003, finishing in Collingwood's top 10 best and fairest only once because of injuries and being in the news this year for his off-field exploits. Tarrant will meet Fremantle's medical staff this week so the club can map out his pre-season program, but it is unlikely that he will join in full training until after Christmas. The 161-game veteran will join fellow All-Australians Matthew Pavlich and Jeff Farmer in attack and is desperate to be rated among the game's elite again. "I want to get back to playing All-Australian football but I know it's not going to be easy," Tarrant said. "I know it's going to take a lot of hard work through the pre-season. I've had a fair few knockers over this year so I'd love to turn that around and put my name back up there in the elite footballers. I've probably been down the bottom."I think it's going to take a while . . . to actually know what foot they kick on, where they're going to put the ball and stuff like that. I think it might take six to 12 months to start playing my best football."Tarrant said the larger expanses of Subiaco Oval and the warmer Perth weather would suit his style of play, and joining Fremantle with Solomon, who has been one of his closest friends since joining the Bendigo Pioneers as a teenager, would make the move easier. "I just want to enjoy sort of everything Perth has to offer," Tarrant said. "Enjoyment is a big thing, because if you're enjoying your footy, you're pretty much playing good footy, usually." While many of Solomon's friends from his former home town of Broken Hill have lived in WA for years after moving to take up mining jobs, Solomon, who was dropped for turning up late to an Essendon recovery session in Sydney late in the year, said it was wrong to suggest the duo had joined Fremantle for social reasons. "We're only here for one reason and that's to play footy," the 158-game veteran said. "We've been given an opportunity by the Fremantle footy club. We're not going to come over here and waste it by any stretch of the imagination. We know why we're here and the Fremantle footy club know why we're here. That's all that matters to us." Solomon has played in defence and across the half-forward line at Essendon, but said that he did not care where he played; he just wanted the opportunity for redemption. "I've been very disappointed with my last two years of footy. To be given an opportunity by the Fremantle footy club, I feel it's a new lease of life. It's exciting for me to try and prove myself to them and to myself that I can play again." -- with AAP
© 2006 The Age