Sydney turn its attention to securing Tom Langdon after trading Dan Hannebery to St Kilda
WITH Dan Hannebery’s move to St Kilda now complete, Sydney will now turn its attention to landing Collingwood defender Tom Langdon. But when will the Magpie make a decision? He is currently in Africa.
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SYDNEY will turn their attention to landing Collingwood Grand Final defender Tom Langdon after Swans premiership star Dan Hannebery on Friday secured a move to St Kilda.
However, the Swans aren’t expecting an immediate answer with Langdon currently in Africa and spending this weekend climbing Mt Kilimanjaro with his father and brother.
The Saints locked up Hannebery and pick No.28 in next month’s draft in exchange for pick No.39 and their second-round selection next year.
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Sydney still has another four picks to use (26, 33, 38 and 39) to secure their academy star Nick Blakey and Langdon.
Hannebery, a three-time All Australian, will reportedly earn $800,000 for his first four years but will have an incentive-based deal for the final year, by which time he will be 32.
Hannebery’s departure frees up valuable salary cap space for the Swans, where the star was contracted until 2021 on approximately $800,000 a season.
He has struggled over the last two seasons with injury and form but St Kilda’s head of football Simon Lethlean said the club were sure Hannebery would stand up over the coming seasons.
“Our medical staff were very confident that any issues Dan has had this year wouldn’t be a problem going forward,” Lethlean said.
“He hasn’t had a pre-season for the last couple of years and he’s got some improvement that our guys think they can make through his groins and his posture and other areas he’s started working on based on their advice.
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“They’re really confident he’s got a lot of footy ahead of him otherwise we wouldn’t have offered the deal we have.”
St Kilda effectively turned fringe ruckman Tom Hickey into Sydney premiership star Hannebery as the club landed two of its key trade targets.
The Saints used pick No.39, which they received from West Coast for Hickey, and their second-round pick next year to secure Hannebery and pick No.28. It means the two second-round selections swapped effectively cancel each other out.
“Hannebery is a respected leader and someone with a lot of finals experience, which will be invaluable for our young groupon and off the field,” Saints football manager Simon Lethlean said.
“He will help the likes of Jack Steven, Seb Ross and Jack Steele enormously, but we’re also excited about what he can teachJade Gresham and Hunter Clark.”
The Saints also traded pick No.65 for Melbourne speedster Dean Kent.
Hannebery turns 28 before next season and has appeared banged-up since the 2016 Grand Final.
But the three-time All-Australian said last month he was “feeling great” and the Saints have signed him on a five-year contract,
Hickey’s departure hurts St Kilda’s ruck stocks although the club can still re-sign Billy Longer and Lewis Pierce.