THE BEST is yet to come from boom Hawthorn recruit Jaeger O'Meara, according to teammate Shaun Burgoyne.

The former Gold Coast midfielder arrived at Waverley in the off-season with a mountain of pressure, having not played a senior game since round 23, 2014.

The Hawks took a big gamble trading for the highly-prized midfielder, who has been plagued by a serious knee injury for the past two seasons.

It's still too early to say whether the risk has paid off, but certainly in his first two games in the brown and gold, he has impressed.

He had 23 disposals and eight clearances in his first official game for the Hawks in round one against the Bombers.

Then, against Adelaide on Saturday, he rose to new heights.

The 23-year-old had a career-high 36 possessions (19 contested), surpassing his previous best tally of 32, a feat he achieved at the Suns back in round 14, 2013.

Hawthorn veteran Burgoyne told AFL.com.au the best is still to come from O'Meara.

"He's coming back from a serious knee injury and it's super positive for the group to have him up and about," Burgoyne said.

"He's only going to get better, and he's confidence in his body is only going to grow as well. He's working really hard and we're probably just leaving it up to too few to carry the workload. To see where he's come from in the last couple of years, he's only going to get stronger.”

While many may have been surprised at how quickly O'Meara has found his feet at senior level after missing nearly two years of football, Burgoyne isn't.

"His attention to detail, since he arrived at the club, in terms of his rehab has been first class," Burgoyne said.

"He's worked really hard on his strength, his rehab with the fitness staff and the doctors and physios. He's done everything they've said and now he's reaping the rewards and playing good footy. There is a lot of pressure on the young fellow but he's a mature kid and I'm sure he'll deal with that really well."