Hawks star Jaeger O’Meara gunning for another strong season in 2020 while injury free
Injury cruelled him early in his career, but the last two seasons have been a welcome change for Jaeger O’Meara. He provides an update on his personal schedule as he strives to be injury free again in 2020.
Hawthorn
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Hawthorn star Jaeger O’Meara says he will ramp up his training load post-Christmas in a bid to explode into the 2020 season.
The Hawks are on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland on a training camp before the players go on leave for three weeks.
O’Meara has played 42 of a possible 46 games over the past two seasons, which has been a welcome return following years of knee issues.
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He said he was pleased with his pre-season so far.
“For me, I’m usually pretty controlled until Christmas and then I start ramping it up post-Christmas,” O’Meara said on Monday.
“So I’ll join in some skills here and get some running in the legs, but I’m pretty happy with where I’m at.
“It’s mainly just making sure I’m getting the runs in the body and making sure I’m fit and not getting injured.
“It’s just keeping on top of the little things.”
O’Meara said the Hawks would take some confidence from the way they finished last season into 2020.
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“We weren’t happy with our first 10 rounds of the year, but post-bye we played some really good footy,” he said.
“And it was really enjoyable footy too.
“I felt like we were connected really well as a group and we were celebrating the little things and we had a lot of milestones, so we had a fair bit to celebrate.
“If we can bottle that energy, which I think we’ve done well coming into the pre-season, and continue that post-Christmas and into the season then hopefully we’ll get a few more wins on the board early in the season.”
The retirement of four-time premiership forward Jarryd Roughead and the departure of Grant Birchall to Brisbane has given the Hawks a different look for next season.
O’Meara said he believed there was a good mix of youth and experience at the club.
“It’s weird seeing Roughy in a St Kilda top and Birch in a Brisbane Lions top,” he said.
“it’s weird not having them in the locker room, but it’s almost like a changing of the guard in a little sense and I’m really excited by what our new crop of players can do.
“We’ve got some exciting some talent as well as some guys that have played in premierships, so we’ve still got that success around the club along with a new crop of players coming through as well.”