HAWTHORN midfielder Jaeger O'Meara appears an unlikely starter in Friday night's season return against Geelong after sitting out main training on Wednesday.
Nursing a fracture above his eye, O'Meara completed running and boxing at Waverley Park as his teammates underwent a physical match simulation two days out from their trip to GMHBA Stadium.
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The 26-year-old sustained the injury in the first contact session back on May 25 and hasn't completed a full session since.
The Hawks were last week exploring the prospect of O'Meara playing with a guard or padding, but he trained without any assistance as he ran alongside Jarman Impey (knee).
In positive news, defender Blake Hardwick trained fully and looks on track to face the Cats after a ruptured pectoral muscle kept him out of round one.
Irishman Conor Nash, who didn't play in the season-opener, suffered a nasty hip injury early in the session and limped from the track.
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O'Meara's likely exclusion is a blow for the Hawks' midfield depth that excelled in the round one win over Brisbane.
Chad Wingard, who kicked three goals against the Lions, is expected to spend more time in the midfield against the Cats and worked closely with fellow onballers practicing stoppage structures on Wednesday.
Swingman Jack Gunston completed most of the two-hour session but was spotted doing run-throughs in front of fitness staff while teammates completed a late ball movement drill. The triple premiership star has been managed during training in recent weeks but featured in the intraclub last Friday.
Key forward Mitch Lewis trained in the 'B' side during match simulation as the Hawks went with talls Gunston, Jon Patton and Tim O'Brien in the 'A' side.
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Hardwick also played in the 'A' side's defence alongside Ben McEvoy as Jon Ceglar took the ruck duties.
Small forward Ollie Hanrahan played in the 'A' side, while round one teammate Paul Puopolo was on the opposing side, however both sides were playing with 19-20 players, meaning at least two players from the 'B' side would be needed to play the Cats.
