Star Hawthorn recruit Jaeger O’Meara could be out of AFL action for several weeks as he deals with more knee trouble.
O’Meara was a late withdrawal from Sunday’s match against Melbourne at the MCG.
Hawks football manager Jason Burt says O’Meara would go through a training block before he returns to their senior team.
There is no timeframe on how long O’Meara will be out of action.
O’Meara returned from two matches on the sidelines because of knee soreness for last weekend’s big loss to St Kilda.
But he did not pull up well and Will Langford took his place for the clash against the Demons.
The Hawks have said repeatedly that O’Meara’s current knee injury is separate to the problem that sidelined him for the last two seasons at Gold Coast.
“Jaeger was feeling great going in to last week’s clash but unfortunately, despite us giving him every opportunity to get up for today’s match, he still has some soreness around his knee,” Burt told the club’s website.
“Fortunately, the irritation is still in relation to the knock he received in round two and separate from the problems Jaeger has faced in the past.
“We have said all along, given his history, we will take a cautious approach.”
That means they will take their time before O’Meara returns to the senior team.
“We are hopeful the soreness will settle relatively quickly and then it will be about ensuring that Jaeger has a solid block of conditioning before he comes back into the side,” Burt said.
“Both Jaeger and the club want to ensure that he is feeling 100 per cent for a period of time before he returns to senior football.
“We have absolute confidence that Jaeger will play consistent, sustained football for the Hawks.
“We want to ensure that he steps onto the field with that same confidence, and that means giving him the time to get a solid block of training and conditioning under his belt before he returns again.”
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