Life is almost perfect at Fremantle for new recruit Jaeger O’Meara.
Over the summer he’s slotted seamlessly into both the midfield and leadership group at his new Club, while enjoying a return to his home state by getting engaged to partner Tori, who is also from WA.
The only minor issue is the expectation that comes with being seen as the mature body that replaces David Mundy in the engine room.
In recent seasons, Mundy’s played both mentor and protector to Freo’s young midfielders, with the likes of Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong and Will Brodie all thriving alongside the veteran.
The big-bodied O’Meara, who at 28 and 143 games played, is Fremantle’s most experienced midfielder following Mundy’s retirement and Nat Fyfe’s switch to the forward line.
Similar to Mundy, O’Meara hopes his presence can bring the best out of Freo’s mids - as was the case in Thursday’s pre-season game with Brodie, Brayshaw and Serong all having 30+ disposal games.
But O’Meara doesn’t feel comfortable being spoken about in the same vein as the 376-game legend.
“I’ve watched David’s career and he’s been an unbelievable player at Fremantle and will go down as one of the best to play for the Club, so I’ve been a little bit embarrassed with that chat,” O’Meara said.
“I do see my role as helping those guys out, they’ve developed extremely quickly and there’s already those really good players (Brayshaw, Serong and Brodie) in the AFL system along with some other guys (Neil Erasmus and Matthew Johnson) that will come through the midfield.
“I’m ready to support them and do that as best as I can.”
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O’Meara eased into Freo’s pre-season hitout against Port Adelaide on Thursday - sitting on four disposals at half time, he racked up 18 in the second half as Freo pulled away in a 31-point win.
He said he’d been ‘really impressed’ watching his teammates in action through the summer across all lines – highlighting the group’s desire to succeed.
“The guys are super hard working…we haven’t won a cup yet at this footy club so I can sense a real hunger to try and bring that to the Freo Faithful,” O’Meara said.
“The guys are working extremely hard on their game, they had a good year last year and I think there’s a real sense of hunger to go better again this year.
“I couldn’t speak highly enough of the level of effort or the work ethic of the group.”
Now at his third AFL club, O’Meara said learning from his transition from Gold Coast to Hawthorn allowed him to settle in quicker at Fremantle – and earn enough respect from his teammates to be voted into the leadership group.
O’Meara is no stranger to leadership roles, standing in as captain in 2022 for a handful of games when Ben McEvoy was injured.
“I tried to spend as much time as possible with the guys away from the footy club,” O’Meara said.
“I’ve been playing a little bit of golf with some of the guys…trying to make the most of any opportunity that comes my way in terms of connecting with the guys. Having a meal or that kind of thing.
“Time spent is the biggest thing, that was one thing that I learnt from my trade from the Gold Coast to Hawthorn.
“The quicker you get to know your teammates the better you play with each other on the field, so I’ve tried to make those relationships as quickly as possible.”
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