By Michael Whiting

He has the rock star name, and if you listen to those in the know, Jaeger O'Meara has the rock star game.

Hailed as the most talented 17-year-old in Australia last year, the AFL public will get its first glimpse of O'Meara when he runs out for Gold Coast SUNS on Metricon Stadium in Saturday night's NAB Cup opening round against Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions.

Former Fremantle and Western Bulldogs player – and his WA under-18 coach – Brad Wira, describes O'Meara as the ultimate modern day player, with a rare combination of athleticism, leadership and football smarts.

National talent manager Kevin Sheehan said he had "freakish natural talent" that only came along in a player once every few years.

Scouts were salivating over O'Meara last year, but the GC SUNS gave up the No. 4 pick in the NAB AFL Draft to secure the rights to select him from GWS in October's mini-draft for players born between January and April, 1994.

They got a young man who had starred at both under-16 and under-18 national championships, and who kicked four goals on his WAFL debut for Perth as a 17-year-old.

"They've stolen him. They've stolen a number one draft pick," Wira said.

"There's no way known, in my opinion, that he'd be four in the (2012) draft."

Wira has seen O'Meara play the past two years and could not be more impressed, saying his "country boy" physique was a standout feature when they first met.

O'Meara – who turned 18 on Thursday – has put on 3kg since moving to the Gold Coast in November, and his 78kg frame is already made to play against men.

"He is the ultimate utility," Wira said.

"He can play inside and outside and in the modern day game he is going to be the ultimate player.

"He can play half-back, go on-ball, play half-forward, and if you want he can play full forward; he can play one-out in the goal square with his physical attributes.

"If you had the luxury he's a half-back controlling the show, running it from there, where the modern day game is played.

"He can play multiple positions, follow instructions, was a quasi leader of the group last year with (GWS recruit Stephen) Coniglio and is as tough as nails."

O'Meara's four-goal, 15-disposal debut for Perth in the WAFL last year turned any footy heads that hadn't already been turned by his underage exploits.

In last weekend's Gold Coast intra-club trial, the quietly spoken boy from Dongara – three hours north of Perth – was in the best six players on the field.

Sheehan has seen him excel at the under-16 and under-18 national championships and with the Australian under-17 team.

"He's got freakish natural talent, all around athletic ability, as well as ball winning ability, and evasiveness to get through traffic," Sheehan said.

"Acceleration, a brilliant level of natural speed and endurance, at the elite category in both, and he'll be a fine leader, so there's no much more to talent ID than that.

"Even off the ground he's an outstanding young fellow, so to use the old cliché, he ticks every box.

"It's very rare. There might be only one every few years as good as that."

One scout who has seen his talent from close range is West Coast national recruiting manager Rohan O'Brien.

After watching him the past two years, O'Brien said the wraps on O'Meara's were fully justified.

"He's just a really classy player who works hard, makes great decisions and generally impacts most games he plays in," O'Brien said.

"He was a little bit rare in some respects because of the consistent level he played at. There's a whole lot of talented boys around he country, but Jaeger set himself a little bit apart because of his work-rate and that he didn't have too many down days."

Despite never realistically being in the hunt to secure his services, O'Brien said Eagles fans and the rest of Western Australian would be keeping a close eye on his progress.

"You do quietly dream about getting a guy you rate that highly but given the system that was in place last year we knew we were never really in the race," he said.

Although he has been compared to the likes of Chris Judd and his Gold Coast SUNS captain Gary Ablett, neither Wira or Sheehan were keen to make such comparisons.

O'Meara himself said he took no notice of the media hype that intensified last year.

"To be honest I didn't feel that pressure at all," O'Meara said.

"I was still doing year 12 so I was focusing on that a lot. I was living with a host family (in Perth) and they were very helpful with my stuff outside of football so I didn't have to do washing or cook for myself. They were very helpful and I'm very grateful to them."

Although the AFL has granted him special permission to play in the NAB Cup, O'Meara is too young to play in premiership fixtures and will have to wait another 12 months.

This year he will play in the NEAFL with the Gold Coast SUNS reserves team.

"The year in the reserves competition will be invaluable for his physical development," Gold Coast SUNS general manager of football operations Marcus Ashcroft said.

"To be able to give him a rest when we need to and be able to play him at a lower level is going to help him and his development to be ready for round one, 2013.

"He might play a month of footy and then give him a rest but we need to see how he goes and how his body can handle the load."