Life in the rehab group at any footy club is tough.

Isolated from the majority of your teammates with a long, hard slog to return to full fitness is an intense mental battle that faces a lot of AFL footballers at some point in their careers.

For Jaeger O’Meara, who has been in the Gold Coast SUNS rehab group for over 13 months, having teammate David Swallow alongside him has been a major motivation with the West Australian pair keeping each other focused.

Swallow has played just two games in the past 12 months, sidelined with a persistent knee injury that dogged him for most of 2015.

WATCH: Jaeger joins the main training group

“He’s been massive for me, obviously a really good mate of mine,” O’Meara told SUNS TV on Thursday.

“I’d love to have him out there playing on the ground with the boys but to bounce off each other and obviously we get flat at times being in rehab, it’s a pretty lonely place.

“But to have one of my best mates in there has been a big motivation for me and I’m really looking forward to him getting back into the main group as well.”