FREMANTLE midfielder Jaeger O'Meara wasn't sure if his recent football would warrant selection for AAMI AFL Origin, but the strength of his pre-season was enough to convince Western Australia selectors that the tough ball-winner had a valuable role to play in the February 14 clash against Victoria. 

O'Meara has been one of the Dockers' standouts this summer in an uninterrupted block of training, with Dockers' coach and WA assistant Justin Longmuir pushing his case for selection after watching the 31-year-old put together one of his best pre-seasons.

The 200-gamer from Dongara in country WA was passionate about representing his state and said he would bring versatility and a willingness to play team-first roles to the Black Swans after training in wing, half-back and inside midfield roles this summer.

"I'm obviously in the latter part of my career, so to have the opportunity to pull on the WA guernsey is something that's not lost on me and I feel really grateful to be a part of the group," O'Meara told AFL.com.au.

"It all happened late last week and it's going to come around quickly, but I can't wait to play with the boys.

"I know that I haven't been in the best of form in the last couple of years, so I wasn't sure if I was going to be deserving of an opportunity or not.

"But I'm very grateful that I have been selected and it's certainly not lost on me the importance of the game and the honour that goes with it."

O'Meara was among the best performers when the Dockers assembled for match simulation last Friday ahead of a four-day break, with the former Gold Coast and Hawthorn star moving sharply through the midfield and kicking well inside 50.

While he has played predominantly as a winger at Fremantle who can rotate inside and play accountable midfield roles, O'Meara has trained often at half-back this summer to enhance his versatility.

"That's an option for us with the extra player on the interchange, to have someone to be flexible and play multiple roles," O'Meara said.

"You don't just want to get to round five or round 10 and you haven't explored that, so it's important to explore those things during the pre-season, and one of my strengths is my flexibility within the team.

"That's potentially an option for Origin as well. I think I do bring flexibility and I'm happy to play wherever they put me in such a star-studded group of players."

A key to O'Meara's strong pre-season has been his load management, with the veteran sitting out the Dockers' mid-week contest training sessions and instead utilising boxing and cross training.

He's hopeful the approach has set him up for a big year after hamstring and foot injuries interrupted his 2025 season, with the leadership group member driven to achieve success after last year's heartbreaking finals exit.

"It's the elusive premiership. I'm doing whatever I possibly can to try and get there," O'Meara said.

"I've had a little taste of finals again last year and then obviously missed out by a point, so that was really disappointing.

"But that's why I'm still playing. This could potentially be my final year, I'm not exactly sure. I'm out of contract this year and we'll see how we go, but I'm just all in on trying to give it everything I possibly can to get there."