HIGH-PRICED Hawthorn recruit Jaeger O'Meara says he is still adapting to life as a Hawk despite amassing a career-high 36 disposals – 30 of them handballs – in Saturday's loss to Adelaide.

O'Meara joined the brown and gold courtesy of a much-scrutinised deal involving his former club Gold Coast and Carlton, after not being sighted at AFL level in the past two years because of knee problems.

"It's been good to play with new teammates at Hawthorn; getting to know how everyone plays and trying to create that synergy," O'Meara told the Hawks' website.

"Obviously, I haven't played for two years, so the speed of the game has changed a bit – it's a bit more free-flowing than what I previously played in.

"So (I'm) slowly getting used to that and the speed of the game again." 

O'Meara's comments follow coach Alastair Clarkson's suggestion that Hawthorn's newcomers – including Tom Mitchell, Ty Vickery and Ricky Henderson – would "take a little bit of time" to get used to their new club. 

"But by and large, that's the whole idea of a summer, really," Clarkson said.

"You indoctrinate new players with the culture of your footy club and the way that we play. All four of those boys have fitted in really well." 

O'Meara, 23, returns to Metricon Stadium on Sunday for the first time since his departure to face the Suns. 

"It's come around quite quickly," he said. 

"I think it's the first time Hawthorn has played the Gold Coast twice in the same year, so it's interesting that when I come here that it happens. 

"But it'd be nice to play against the (old) teammates and hopefully get the first one up on them and get the win."