ALTHOUGH Gold Coast is still reluctant to commit to an exact return game, Jaeger O'Meara could be back on the playing field in the next fortnight.

O'Meara has not played a senior game since round 23, 2014, or any football since rupturing his patella tendon in a NEAFL practice match in round one last season.

The 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star winner is back in full training and as close to playing again as he's been since surgery.

"He's trained well," Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade said on Thursday.

"He's trained last week, he'll train this week and he'll train again next week and then we'll make a decision; he'll make the decision whether he's right to go.

"Medically he looks like he's fine, there's a couple of things he's got to check off, but we'd expect him to be able to check that off in the next week or two."

Eade said there were "a few boxes to be ticked" and that the Suns wouldn't rush O'Meara.

He said players returning from an ACL injury were anxious, so it was understandable that after two major surgeries, O'Meara and the club would take a more cautious route.

"He's got to take it steadily and work his way through it," Eade said.

"Even if he gets back in the next couple of weeks, we don't expect a big impact from him this year. It's just a matter of getting his head right to play each week."

While O'Meara nears a return, the Suns have hit a couple more hurdles, with Jesse Lonergan coming down with glandular fever and Kade Kolodjashnij still suffering from a concussion he received against Richmond two weeks ago.

Neither will play in their hometown of Launceston on Sunday when Gold Coast plays Hawthorn.

Eade said Lonergan's illness was on the minor end, with the club expecting him to miss two or three weeks, while Kolodjashnij still felt "woozy" during last weekend's bye and would continue to be assessed.

With Adam Saad returning from a hamstring injury and Aaron Hall recalled after a week in the NEAFL, Eade said he would expect more of his team for the remainder of the season.

"We were heavily undermanned for four, five, six weeks and it was the same as the last eight or nine games last year," he said.

"I was pleased with the effort in the bulk of the games, but I think we have to get past just effort. It has to be a benchmark we bring every week.

"We had our chances last game (against Richmond), 15 points up twice during the last quarter, should have been able to win the game. We have to learn from that."