Dan Hannebery will be handed a fifth season at St Kilda if he can meet games quota

DAN Hannebery is set to join St Kilda on a lucrative, multi-year deal during the upcoming AFL trade period. And Jon Ralph reports the veteran Swan must meet a trigger to fully cash in.

Sydney's Dan Hannebery kicks during AFL Elimination Final between the Sydney Swans and GWS Giants at the SCG. Picture. Phil Hillyard

DAN Hannebery will be handed a fifth season at St Kilda on an $800,000 salary if he can play 70 games in the next four seasons.

The Herald Sun understands St Kilda’s offer for the triple All-Australian includes four guaranteed years at $3.2 million then the games-based trigger to allow him to earn the fifth season.

The Sydney premiership player is certain to get to the Saints - possibly for a future second-round pick - with the Swans happy to clear cap space for the injury-plagued midfielder.

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Setting him an incentive to play an average of 17.5 games a year from 2019-2022 is a realistic goal for Hannebery, who has played at least 19 games in eight of his last nine seasons.

Dan Hannebery has endured his share of injuries in recent seasons. Picture: Tim Carrafa

They will be more concerned about the quality of those games, with Sydney clearly harbouring doubts about whether he could rediscover that hard-running game after two years of groin issues.

The Saints also look set to secure Demons goalkicking midfielder Dean Kent for almost nothing using the threat of the pre-season draft.

Melbourne half forward Kent has been offered a three-year deal on improved money, with St Kilda prepared to offer up pick 75 for a player hit by injury the past two seasons.

With St Kilda holding the third pick in the pre-season draft and confident he would get psat Carlton and Gold Coast, the Demons have little leverage in that trade.

Incentive-based deals are regular in the AFL but few have as much salary attached to them as Hannebery’s deal.

Carlton secured Dale Thomas as a hard-running star and then endured several seasons of poor form, leading to him voiding a similar games-based contract clause in his final non-guaranteed year.

Dean Kent should make his way to the Saints. Pic: Michael Klein

Without him voiding that deal the Blues might not have played him in the seniors, sidestepping their obligation to pay him $750,000 in the final year of an incentive-based deal.

It was a winning move given a liberated Thomas played strong football to win a new deal, and has just been contracted for the 2019 season.

Hannebery is adamant his best football is still in front of him, hopeful a full pre-season will set him up for a strong 2019.

”I think the time was right for me to come down, see family and friends, have a fresh start,” he said.

“Both parties probably think it’s the right call. My body is feeling great … but you never know what’s going to happen two or three years down the track, it’s a combat sport.

“The carrot of an extra two years played a major factor.”

The move to secure Hannebery for so long was labelled “trade incompetency” by former senior coach Terry Wallace.

But the Saints have consistently failed to lure big targets to Moorabbin so will feel they at least have a marketable midfield presence to add to this year’s under-performing list.