Yesterday I came across the AFL Exchange Podcast with SEN regular Mitch Cleary and his AFL.com.au colleagues Cal Twomey and Riley Beveridge.
One of the topics for conversation was titled “players that you were wrong about”.
It got me thinking, perhaps it’s time to admit I was wrong about a particular player.
Towards the end of Jaeger O’Meara’s first year at Hawthorn, the former number one draft pick had played only four games at his new club. At this time I went on radio and said the O’Meara trade to Hawthorn “could turn out as the worst trade ever”.
Considering the multiple prized draft picks and swaps the Hawks gave up to make the deal happen, the salary AND terms of his contract, and the fact O’Meara had only played four games in three years, it WASN’T that outrageous a comment.
It’s one and a half years since I made that call, O’Meara has played a further 29 games, finished fifth in Hawthorn’s 2018 Best and Fairest count and this year extended his contract by four years. He’s moving freely and appears to have completely overcome the career-threatening knee injury.
In the absence of his Brownlow Medal-winning teammate Tom Mitchell, he’s averaging an impressive 28.7 disposals, 6.8 clearances and six tackles per game in 2019. It feels like he’s been in the system forever but he’s still only 25 years of age and has at least another 100 games left in him.
So here goes… I got it wrong!
Jaeger O’Meara will NOT be the worst trade in the history of the AFL and thank you to the hundreds of Hawks fans who tweet me like clockwork whenever O’Meara has more than 20 disposals, reminding me of my prediction.
I was wrong, there I said it.
On the podcast yesterday, Mitch ‘the Masai Warrior’ Cleary said he was wrong about Geelong’s Rhys Stanley. I don’t think he’s alone there.
It’s confession Friday on The Captain’s Run, which player were you wrong about?
Mine was O’Meara, who is yours?
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