GOLD Coast midfielder Jaeger O'Meara has requested a trade to Hawthorn.
AFL.com.au can confirm O'Meara has informed the Suns the Hawks are his preferred destination after signalling his desire for a trade last month.
O'Meara, the 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star, has not played a senior game for the past two seasons after rupturing his patella tendon in a 2015 NEAFL practice match.
The 22-year-old is not a free agent so the Hawks will have to broker a trade that satisfies the Suns, who are likely to drive a hard bargain.
Hawthorn recruiting and list manager Graham Wright said, "Jaeger has indicated he wants to be at Hawthorn in 2017 and we are keen to make this happen.
"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."
Wright said Hawthorn would make no further comment.
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The Suns, however, maintain their stance that any move for O'Meara must deliver the right outcome for his current club, leaving open the possibility that the midfielder could be traded elsewhere.
"Today we were advised from the Hawthorn Football Club and Jaeger’s management that the Hawks are Jaeger’s club of choice," said Suns football manager Marcus Ashcroft.
"As has been previously stated, Jaeger is on the market to a club that can provide us compensation we are prepared to accept."
Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane said last month if the expansion club was not offered "an appropriate exchange" for O'Meara the midfielder had "the option to enter the draft".
"It's the right time for the club to make a stance," Cochrane said.
Gold Coast was believed to have offered O'Meara a two-year contract extension worth about $700,000 a season before he walked out on the club.
He attracted keen interest from other Victorian clubs including Essendon, Carlton and St Kilda and could have attracted offers of similar value.
However, the midfielder might accept less to cross to the three-time reigning premier, whose medical team has successfully managed the knee problems of Shaun Burgoyne since he crossed from Port Adelaide.
Industry sources last month valued O'Meara's trade worth at a top-five draft pick or two first-round picks.
Hawthorn still holds its first-round picks for this year and 2017, but the Suns, who already have five picks inside the first 25 in November's NAB AFL Draft, are believed to want ready-made midfield replacements for O'Meara.
Gold Coast could target experienced Hawthorn players as part of the O'Meara trade, or seek to bring other clubs into the deal.
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O'Meara came to the Suns via the Greater Western Sydney 17-year-old mini draft at the end of 2011.
The midfielder did not miss a game in his first two seasons, but did not play a game at any level last year. He returned to play parts of three NEAFL matches in July before calling time on his season to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his knee.
Speaking to AFL.com.au, Hawks ruckman Ben McEvoy backed the club's medical team to get the "extraordinarily talented" O'Meara back on the park.
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"I'd hope so. The medical guys here – the doctors and physios and the fitness staff – they're first-class and they do an amazing job," he said.
"No disrespect to any other medical teams, but if he can be made right I imagine it could happen here.
"It's fantastic that people want to come and play for this footy club. I've been lucky enough to come from another club (St Kilda) to come play at Hawthorn and it's certainly a fantastic place to play footy."
