St Kilda midfielder Dan Hannebery moves closer to club debut after battling injury

The Dan Hannebery rebuild is nearing completion, with the star St Kilda recruit finally back to full AFL training. RE-CAP TODAY'S FOOTY NEWS. 

The Dan Hannebery rebuild is nearing completion, with the star St Kilda recruit finally back to full AFL training.

In a long-overdue milestone for Hannebery, he took part in Thursday’s session at Moorabbin.

The Sydney premiership midfielder and three-time All Australian joined the Saints late last year on a massive five-year deal, but is yet to play at all. The Saints posted a smiling photo of Hannebery at Thursday training on social media, with the comment “the boots are back on”.

Teammate Josh Bruce, who joined the Saints from the Giants and will reach 100 games in Saturday’s match against Collingwood, said he felt for Hannebery. “I know from experience, the first thing you want to do (after switching clubs) is train every session and play every game,” Bruce said.

“To not be able to do that is obviously very frustrating for Dan,” Bruce said. “He’s settled in really well with the playing group and we’re all really excited to have him out there.

“We’ve just got to tell him to slow down a bit and make sure he gets a good training block in and we’ll get him out on the field hopefully in a few weeks’ time.” Hannebery’s injury woes have proved a major issue this year for St Kilda, who initially had the Sydney premiership midfielder in their leadership group. That only lasted a few weeks and around the same time in late March, coach Alan Richardson publicly acknowledged that Hannebery needed to start from scratch and regain fitness.

St Kilda recruit Dan Hannebery is moving closer to his club debut.

Every time Hannebery tried to ramp up his training, he was coming down with calf and hamstring problems.

“To some extent, he needs to be rebuilt,” Richardson said.

The goal is for Hannebery is to resume through the VFL over the next month. Key defender Jake Carlisle also has not played this season because of a back injury and he could resume through the VFL around their round-10 bye. While there is some encouraging news for the injury-plagued Saints, defender Jimmy Webster ran laps away from main training on Thursday and looks in doubt for the Collingwood match.

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Originally published as St Kilda midfielder Dan Hannebery moves closer to club debut after battling injury

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