Hawthorn has made a late change to its side ahead of its Round 7 clash with Melbourne.
Jaeger O’Meara comes out of the side with knee soreness, and will be replaced by Will Langford.
GM- Football Operations Jason Burt said O’Meara was still not feeling 100% following the Hawks’ loss to St Kilda last week.
“Jaeger was feeling great going into 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,” said Burt.
“Fortunately, the irritation is still in relation to the knock he received in Round 2 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.
“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.
“Both Jaeger and the club want to ensure that he is feeling 100% 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.”
