Hawthorn players prepared to take pay cuts to secure Suns midfielder Jaeger O’Meara during trade period
HAWTHORN’S premiership heroes say they are prepared to sacrifice again to add Gold Coast midfielder Jaeger O’Meara to their star-studded outfit.
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HAWTHORN’S premiership heroes say they are prepared to sacrifice again to add Gold Coast midfielder Jaeger O’Meara to their star-studded outfit.
The Hawks will again make a mockery of the AFL’s equalisation attempts when they add O’Meara to their midfield, with Sydney’s Tom Mitchell and Richmond’s Tyrone Vickery soon to follow.
Superfooty revealed on Tuesday O’Meara had chosen Hawthorn as his preferred destination, 12 months after it reported he would depart the Suns for a Melbourne team.
The Hawks will have to clear over $1.5 million of salary cap space for that trio, with O’Meara offered $800,000 a year by North Melbourne late in the season.
But Hawks small forward Paul Puopolo said that sacrifice had been worth it time and again, with coach Alastair Clarkson driving the push to win premierships at the expense of fat contracts.
The pay cuts of the club’s four veterans and a trade for Brad Hill will secure salary cap room and a draft pick, with this year’s first-round pick and future picks all likely to come into the trade equation.
“He is a good player and we would love to have him at the club,’’ Puopolo told the Herald Sun.
“It’s good that players want to come to the club. The decision is up to him and how it works out has got nothing to do with me but obviously you love playing alongside good players.
“For us it’s a good culture to have everyone know it’s an even spread. Definitely that’s something that came from Clarko, he has driven it from since I first arrived at the club.
O’MEARA: MAKE ME A HAWK
“People talk about (sacrifice) but what is $100,000 or $200,000 more when you are a part of history.
“And you are going to come back in 20 years time and celebrate with your mates. So I don’t think money can pay for something like that. Success is pretty important for us.”
Gold Coast said on Tuesday it would only do the deal with a club prepared to hand it a fair trade, but he is in no doubt of getting to the triple premiers.
The Suns had offered him a two-year deal at $900,000 a season and then in the days before he left offered him a five year deal he still rejected.
Sydney has offered Mitchell a deal of only $380,000 a season — a pay cut on his current wage — which is likely to force him out of the club.
Vickery also wants to leave Richmond after many years of being the club’s whipping boy, with the Hawks offering him a three-year deal.
Hawthorn confirmed O’Meara’s decision on Tuesday and said it would do what it could to broker a fair trade.
Gold Coast will want established players rather than late first-round picks and are sure to set a high price on a player set to be one of the league’s elite until patella tendon injuries.
Hawks list manager Graham Wright said the Hawks believed they could strike a deal.
“Jaeger has indicated he wants to be at Hawthorn in 2017 and we are keen to make this happen,’’ he said.
“We fully respect that Jaeger is a Gold Coast player and we will work closely with the Suns in the lead up to the trade period to ensure we can get an appropriate deal done.”
Essendon will now turn its attention to other draft prospects including Port Adelaide’s Hamish Hartlett, still open to a deal including its first-round selection.
Gold Coast football manager Marcus Ashcroft made it clear the Suns still had all trade options available.
“Today we were advised from the Hawthorn Football Club and Jaeger’s management that the Hawks is Jaeger’s club of choice,” football manager Ashcroft said.
“As has been previously stated, Jaeger is on the market to a club that can provide us compensation we are prepared to accept.”
Originally published as Hawthorn players prepared to take pay cuts to secure Suns midfielder Jaeger O’Meara during trade period
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