Dan Hannebery recruitment takes new context with changing of goalposts by Andrew Bassat
Dan Hannebery remains in injury purgatory and with expectations changing, he might cost the Saints during their proposed premiership window.
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The most frustrating thing about Dan Hannebery’s brief glimpses of action in a St Kilda jumper is he is exactly the midfielder they needed him to be.
As St Kilda begins its latest round of navel-gazing about why it continues to excel at mediocrity, Hannebery remains in injury purgatory.
His latest calf complaint has him in a familiar position – 2-3 weeks away and making progress but aware the latest setback is likely only around the corner.
Hannebery has played just 13 of a possible 50 games at St Kilda, and yet his best football has been excellent.
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In his five games in 2019 he averaged 25 possessions, 5.2 clearances, 4.2 tackles and the kind of 23-touch, two-goal games against Fremantle that showed why he was a star at Sydney.
So you can rip St Kilda all you want about the decision to sign him up on a four-season deal – with a fifth-year trigger – but you can understand why they took a calculated risk.
It is just that by any applicable measure, it has proved so far to be a $2 million waste.
St Kilda chief operating officer Simon Lethlean is sick of defending the Hannebery decision, but the recruitment takes on new context when the club’s new president Andrew Bassat changed the goalposts on Monday night.
In his open letter to fans he made clear the Saints always believed the club’s window would truly open next year.
“We knew that with our list profile we would need to be patient to be competitive every week against the better sides and that our genuine window would more likely start in 2022 than 2021,” he said.
If that is the case, why didn’t St Kilda save its pennies for the upcoming free agency period?
And has a club that spent in excess of $1.5 million a season on Brad Hill and Hannebery cost itself a crack at Josh Kelly?
The acting GWS captain might well stay at GWS anyway, but St Kilda has long courted the bayside junior and had a genuine crack at him back in 2017.
Alan Richardson said after his two-year extension in 2017 “if he was going to leave, we were really keen to pitch our case”.
Then in 2019 he signed a unique deal with a get-out clause for this year despite strong interest from St Kilda, North Melbourne and Carlton.
One of the biggest rules of list management is not to burn your cap space before you actually reach your premiership window.
Kelly is contracted on $1 million a season so won’t come cheap to any contender, but with Max King just handed a hefty pay rise and Jack Billings keen for fair compensation, St Kilda’s once-ample cap space must be shrinking by the day.
St Kilda’s two burst midfielders with a hard edge in Jade Gresham and Zak Jones are both out long-term, which is having a huge impact on the club’s onball unit.
But former captain Nick Riewoldt spoke on Fox Footy about players having full bellies – as in, taking the big pay cheque then being happy to roll along.
“There are some players there on a big whack [of money] that have got full bellies, that have come from other clubs that have had success,” he said.
“I just think at the moment the opportunity and security part of the motivation is far heavier than the hunger for real success.”
Hannebery is still owed his 2022 contract and wouldn’t be the last AFL player to reconfigure his contract to help create space.
Mark Mercuri is the most famous example, but Dale Thomas voided a game-based trigger that actually gave him a greater chance of playing on in the following season.
Mercuri had signed a five-year deal after the 2000 flag but after 10 and seven-goal seasons took what his manager described as a “fairly substantial cut” for 2003 onwards.
If Hannebery cannot get back on the park this year, would he consider spreading his 2022 contract across the 2022-23 seasons to gain another season but help out the club’s list management?
St Kilda won a final with Hannebery’s involvement last year but now they are on their way to rock bottom instead of the top four, surely all bets are off.
Saints declare premiership window closed until 2022
—Jay Clark
St Kilda president Andrew Bassat has written to club members to express his frustration at the Saints’ woeful start to the season, saying the wild swings in form were “disappointing” and “unacceptable”.
In a surprise step half way through the season, Bassat lashed the non-competitive manner of the Saints’ performances this year, labelling the team’s position “worse than our most pessimistic expectations”.
Saturday night’s 111-point belting from Western Bulldogs was the Saints’ fourth loss by more than 50 points in 2021, striking a major blow to the club’s hopes of a “deeper finals campaign” this season.
“Disappointingly and embarrassingly, we have failed to meet those expectations so far, with the results speaking for themselves,” Bassat wrote.
“It is not just the win-loss margin that is of concern, but the manner in which some of these losses have occurred.
“At the end of 2020, we seemed much closer to that elusive second flag than we do right now, and I completely understand your disappointment as a loyal member.
“To be 14th on the ladder with the second-lowest percentage is a stark reminder that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“No matter the role, be it coach, player or staff member, I know we have built an organisation of people who are committed to ensuring these issues are addressed, solutions are implemented and most importantly, our competitive edge returns.”
Bassat said he had endured sleepless nights “reflecting on my own contribution” to the club as president as Ratten considers major changes to the team to face North Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
He said every staff member, player and coach must deliver a more consistent effort to try to find “a new level” of performance in a bid to break the club’s premiership drought.
“We don’t get to pick and choose when we will bring everything required of our role to the table if we are to win the respect of the competition and, ultimately, our second flag,” he said.
“Rather, every time we turn up, it must be understood that not only do we put our own reputations on the line, but also that of our club. And that responsibility must be expected, embraced and delivered upon.”
Bassat said injuries had to be included in any assessment of the team’s fortunes including co-captain Jarryn Geary, Rowan Marshall, Paddy Ryder, Zak Jones and Daniel Hannebery.
He said the Saints got a favourable run with injuries and hub life last year as the team went on to shock the Bulldogs in the elimination final.
Bassat said there was “always a gap we needed to fill to compete for a top-four place” this year and aimed to enter a “genuine window” in 2022.
“Reflecting now, we can appreciate that the circumstances of the previous season impacted us favourably,” he said.
“We had a good run with injury until later in the year and adapted to hub life better than some others.
“We knew that with our list profile we would need to be patient to be competitive every week against the better sides and that our genuine window would more likely start in 2022 than 2021.”
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