Banned Fremantle utility Dean Solomon remains unsure about his AFL future after the much-publicised elbow to Cameron Ling's face.

The ugly incident during Saturday's big loss to Geelong left the Cats midfielder sidelined for up to six weeks with a depressed fracture of the cheekbone and Solomon suspended for eight matches.

It is the biggest tribunal penalty since 1997, when Carlton star Greg Williams received nine weeks for pushing away field umpire Andrew Coates.

Solomon's season is over and he will be out of action until round two next season; he is out of contract at the end of this year.

Following Tuesday's tribunal hearing, Dockers coach Mark Harvey indicated the club would offer Solomon a new deal but Solomon is taking nothing for granted.

"There are no assurances, there's no contract been spoken about yet, I'm leaving that to my manager and Fremantle," he told Channel Nine's The Footy Show.

"Whether they have me in their plans next year or not, I will respect their decision either way.

"Obviously I haven't given myself the best chance by doing this, but I'd definitely love to be involved with the club next year."

Solomon publicly apologised immediately after the game and pleaded guilty to his striking charge.

He was similarly contrite tonight, admitted he would have to alter his hard playing style.

"I have to tweak my ways to a certain extent, I can't completely change my whole game, because it would just be impossible," he said.

"But when it comes to things like this, it's totally not acceptable what I've done."

Solomon struggles to watch replays of the incident and said he had found the aftermath difficult.

"There have been people in the streets who have given me a fair bit and I deserve it, I guess, I've gone outside the line," he said.

"I've really tried to stay away from reading papers or looking at the news, I've tried to keep it low key."

But Solomon is grateful that Ling forgave him when they exchanged text messages the day after the game.

They crossed paths at Torquay, near Geelong, where the two players surf.

"He accepted my apology and knew that I didn't mean to do that and that it's my shout the next time we're at the Torquay pub, which is fair enough," he said.

"It's great of him to take it that way and I appreciate that."

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