[3] The Demons' football manager, Richard Griffiths, said the club was "very pleased with ... the experience of O'Brien"[3] and Rohan Connolly wrote that he was "rated highly by good judges" and "possibly ready-made [for AFL]".
[8] At the beginning of the home and away season, O'Brien was named in Melbourne's best 21 players and described as their "rookie to watch" by Ashley Browne in The Age.
O'Brien remained in the side for the next three matches, all of which Melbourne lost, and he was dropped back to the reserves after a 10 disposal game against Sydney.
O'Brien subsequently established himself as a regular in the side, missing only one game for the rest of the season, round 20, due to a hamstring injury.
[15] After playing in Melbourne's first pre-season match of 1997,[16] O'Brien was unable to hold his place in the senior side and was dropped back to the reserves.