Swans star Dan Hannebery finally feels at home in Sydney
IT HAS taken a while but Dan Hannebery is finally ready to call himself a Sydneysider. And it’s showing on the field.
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WHEN you come from a Melbourne sporting family as strong as Dan Hannebery’s, the pull from your old home town is always going to be strong.
But as the All-Australian midfielder prepares to take on GWS in a historic final at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, at last he’s declared himself a true Sydneysider.
“I’ve been here for eight years now so I should be calling Sydney home by now,” Hannebery told the Daily Telegraph.
“We’re a big family, on mum and dad’s side and we are really close. I probably don’t go back to Melbourne anywhere near as much as I used to in the first few years in Sydney.”
It’s not surprising Hannebery took so long to break the umbilical cord with bleak city. Both sides of his family are well embedded in the sporting establishment. His father Matt Hannebery played with Footscray and his uncle Mark played for Collingwood and Essendon. His mother Geraldine is an O’Sullivan — Luke O’Sullivan played with Carlton, where his cousin Shane O’Sullivan has been a long-time administrator and twin brothers Brendan and Michael O’Sullivan were prominent cricketers and coaches.
“I’ve steadily become more attached to Sydney,” Hannebery said.
“We only play in Melbourne about four or five times a year and I usually stay with my folks then. When you get older you become more comfortable in your environment. I’ve been living in Bondi for a long time now and have a partner who is a Sydney girl. I love Sydney and have had the chance to enjoy it a lot more off the field in the last three or four years.
“Having a balanced life at home and being comfortable and enjoying were you are living is critical to not only being happy, but playing good footy.”
Hannebery could hardly have played any better footy than he has since arriving in Sydney initially part time as he finished Year 12 at Xavier College in Melbourne.
He won the Rising Star award in 2010, starred in the Swans’ 2012 premiership team, won the Coaches Association best player award last year and claimed his third All-Australian selection this year.
The 25-year-old will play a critical role in Saturday’s qualifying final against GWS, in which the midfield battle will be pivotal.
While the Giants will be light on in finals experience, with 16 making their September debut, the Swans will have six finals debutants of their own.
Hannebery believes the regeneration of Sydney’s list and the age profile of GWS adds up to a long-standing rivalry in the harbour city.
“It’s a great thing for NSW footy and hopefully we’ll be competitive for a while yet,” Hannebery said.
“The Giants are quite young as a club, they have a number of young players on their list, they’re in outstanding form and deserve their top-four finish.
“They are going to be around for a long, long time. From our perspective we’ve got a lot of young players and we’ve regenerated our list. The way John Longmire has gone about coaching these guys and embedding them into the club ... you never take anything for granted but hopefully as the years go on we will continue to be competitive as well.”
Originally published as Swans star Dan Hannebery finally feels at home in Sydney
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