Gamble pays off as O’Meara finds form

IT was meant to blow up in the club’s face. When Hawthorn offloaded two club champions and sold the farm in draft picks for Jaeger O’Meara, it was seen as a huge risk, if not crazy.

The Hawks handed over two firstround picks and a second-round selection for a bloke who could have never played again. But over the past month, the tide may have turned against this luckless footballer.

On Sunday, O’Meara played his best game in four years in Hawthorn’s 67point win over Melbourne at the MCG.

Crucially, the club is confident fitness guru Andrew Russell solved the curious case of O’Meara’s problematic knee mid last-year, touch wood. His pre-season campaign was flawless, and he is again running at full tilt, pain-free.

And while we have lauded the form of his onball sidekick and Brownlow Medal fancy Tom Mitchell, the slow build of the former Rising Star winner over the first four rounds might yet be equally significant.

Hawthorn great and former Brisbane list manager Peter Schwab said the deal was beginning to look good. “It was a calculated gamble but at this stage it looks like it will pay off because he is just getting better and better every time he plays,” Schwab said. “You’ve got to be brave as a footy club.

“The doubt was never on his ability, it was purely around the medical side of things. And that’s still an issue because if it doesn’t work it’s costly for them.”