STAR Hawthorn midfielder Jaeger O'Meara might be in outstanding form, but Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson cautions it's too early to declare the trade for him a success.
O'Meara came to the Hawks from Gold Coast at the end of 2016, with Hawthorn giving up pick No.10 in that year's NAB AFL Draft, as well as its second-round selection 12 months later.
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The 25-year-old arrived at Hawthorn after struggling with persistent and serious issues with both knees, going under the knife to fix his tendinitis at the end of the 2014 campaign, and he ruptured the patella tendon on his right side the following April.
Some speculated he would never hit the potential he displayed in his early days at the Suns, but O'Meara is thriving, averaging 31 disposals, seven clearances and a goal this season while leading an onball division missing its Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell, who broke his left leg during the pre-season.
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Clarkson told reporters on Friday the move to bring O'Meara into the club was inherently risky.
"It's a punt, (recruiting) guys who have had significant injuries," Clarkson said.
"He's going OK for us, but the true test of time is a little bit like Shaun Burgoyne. The true test of the success of it is whether he can be five, six or seven years. Jaeger's into his third year.
"He missed most of his first year here while we rebuilt him, strength-wise, and he got going a little bit last year, and even this year he's had to miss some games.
"He's not going to be incident-free for the rest of his career, but if we can get to the sixth or seventh year and he's then played 100 games for our footy club, then we reckon he'll have made a contribution and been a real worthwhile exercise."
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O'Meara is carrying a heavy burden in a team that sits 3-3. It's a record that could look a lot different, as the coach explained, as they vie for ladder position in what is shaping as a remarkably even competition.
"I don't think there's any side in the competition that's shown us they're invincible. We're one of the sides that are sitting in the middle of the pack," Clarkson said.
"We've played some good footy at times but we've also been vulnerable at times. I think there are a lot of sides in the competition that are like that. You've just got to hang in there.
"Four games that we've played this year, out of the six, that we've either been four or five goals in front and we've lost, or we've been four or five goals behind and we've won. It's a very funny season."
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Mid-game injuries to onballers Shaun Burgoyne and Liam Shiels in the round two loss to the Western Bulldogs, then to defensive pair Ben Stratton and James Frawley when defeated by St Kilda a fortnight later, have proved costly.
"Is it an excuse? I don't know, but it's just too coincidental that in both those games, we get rolled over when we get some injuries," Clarkson said.
"By and large, we've been in games and competitive, but we'd like to be more consistent."
Helping the Hawks' cause against Melbourne on Saturday afternoon at the MCG will be Burgoyne's from a hamstring strain.
"We probably pulled him back an extra week, mainly because of his age (36), and he's got a little bit of history with hamstring stuff," Clarkson said.
"He had a soft-tissue injury last year, so we pulled him back an extra week."
