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Sometimes, you can believe the hype.
Gold Coast teenager Jaeger O’Meara went into the 2013 AFL season as possibly the most anticipated of the expansion club’s young brigade.
Freed from the tagging role that he’d performed admirably in the opening seven matches of his career, the 19-year-old had his most influential display to date in the Sun’s 32-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
O’Meara picked up 26 disposals, second only to Suns skipper Gary Ablett’s 31 for the home team, and provided the showreel moment in the third quarter with his only goal of the match.
His chance for a major appeared gone as he was dragged to the ground in a tackle just to the left of the goal square.
But the quick-thinking West Australian product threw the ball in the air, swung his left boot at it and sneaked the ball past a despairing Bulldogs defender for an inspirational goal.
No surprise then Suns coach Guy McKenna had to restrain himself when asked for his thoughts on just how well O’Meara has settled into AFL football.
After pondering his response McKenna said he “shouldn’t say” what his initial thoughts were as they were only going to create instant headlines.
“He makes decisions like a 100-game player already,” the former West Coast Eagle eventually said.
“He’s composed … he came to us as pretty much the complete package.
“He trains with AFL intensity and he plays with AFL intensity, he’s certainly livened up the joint.”
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