Jaeger O'Meara

Jaeger O'Meara (born 23 February 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Gold Coast Suns from 2013 to 2016. O'Meara won the AFL Rising Star award in his first season in 2013.

Early life
O'Meara was a former student of Nagle Catholic College in Geraldton. O'Meara began playing football for Railways Football Club in the Great Northern Football League. He competed for the Railways senior team in their 2010 GNFL Grand Final win and lined up on future Gold Coast Suns teammate Jack Martin. He was awarded the Guardian Medal for his best on ground performance at 16 years of age. O'Meara was then recruited by the Perth Football Club for the 2011 WAFL season and made his senior debut in August.

AFL career

Gold Coast (2013–2016)
O'Meara was recruited by  with the first selection in the 2011 mini draft, a special draft of players who were too young to be eligible for selection in the main 2011 AFL Draft. Gold Coast obtained the first selection in the mini draft by trading their first selection, the fourth overall, to the new  team.

As part of the mini-draft rules, O'Meara was unable to play for the Gold Coast Suns in the 2012 season, but did play for them in the 2012 NAB Cup preseason competition and then with the reserve team in the North East Australian Football League. He underwent groin surgery that prevented him from playing for the rest of the season.

O'Meara made his debut in the opening round of the 2013 AFL season and was rewarded with the round 5 nomination for the 2013 AFL Rising Star after recording 25 disposals, five marks, four tackles and two goals in the forty-four point win against . He re-signed with the Suns for a further two seasons midway during the year. After playing every game for the Suns during his stunning debut season, he was subsequently named the NAB AFL Rising Star for 2013. Since making his debut in 2013, O'Meara didn't miss a game in 2013 and 2014, playing all possible 44 games during that period.

He had a horrible start to the 2015 season, he injured his knee in a NEAFL scratch match that required extensive surgery. More surgery was required for his patella tendon that eventually resulted in him missing the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons through injury.

Hawthorn (2017–present)
O'Meara requested a trade from Gold Coast in August 2016. In September, he nominated  as his preferred destination. He was officially traded to Hawthorn in October. O'Meara had an injury-plagued first season at Hawthorn, managing only six games due to ongoing knee problems.

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of the 2019 season.

|- style="background:#EAEAEA"
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2013
| 
| 1 || 22 || 16 || 11 || 231 || 245 || 476 || 97 || 111 || 0.7 || 0.5 || 10.5 || 11.1 || 21.6 || 4.4 || 5.0 || 4
|-
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2014
| 
| 1 || 22 || 11 || 7 || 268 || 204 || 472 || 77 || 142 || 0.5 || 0.3 || 12.2 || 9.3 || 21.4 || 3.5 || 6.4 || 1
|- style="background:#EAEAEA"
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2015
| 
| 1 || 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0
|-
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2016
| 
| 1 || 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || 0
|- style="background:#EAEAEA"
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2017
| 
| 10 || 6 || 1 || 4 || 41 || 88 || 129 || 12 || 24 || 0.2 || 0.7 || 6.8 || 14.7 || 21.5 || 2.0 || 4.0 || 1
|-
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2018
| 
| 10 || 21 || 16 || 8 || 266 || 238 || 504 || 79 || 114 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 12.7 || 11.3 || 24.0 || 3.8 || 5.4 || 13
|- style="background:#EAEAEA"
| scope="row" text-align:center | 2019
| 
| 10 || 21 || 8 || 11 || 327 || 214 || 541 || 76 || 123 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 15.6 || 10.2 || 25.8 || 3.6 || 5.9 || 11
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3 | Career
! 92
! 52
! 41
! 1133
! 990
! 2123
! 341
! 515
! 0.6
! 0.4
! 12.3
! 10.8
! 23.1
! 3.7
! 5.6
! 30
|}

Honours and achievements
Individual
 Ron Evans Medal: 2013
 AFLPA best first year player: 2013
 AFLCA best young player of the year: 2014
 22under22 team: 2013

References

External links

Category:1994 births
Category:Australian people of Irish descent
Category:Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
Category:Gold Coast Football Club players
Category:Perth Football Club players
Category:AFL Rising Star winners
Category:People from Dongara, Western Australia
Category:Living people
Category:Hawthorn Football Club players
Category:Box Hill Football Club players