BRAD GREENSHIELDS: Footy clubs being footy clubs, in the last few days how much have the boys given it to Adam Goodes for being named Australian of the Year?
DAN HANNEBERY: Not a lot to be honest. I think it’s a sensational achievement and everyone’s been quite the opposite, just congratulating him and saying how good an effort it is for him.
He does quite a lot of work away from footy for the indigenous community and the community in general so it’s a tremendous effort and everyone’s just had nothing but applause for him.
He’s done well to do what he does on the field but off the field is equally impressive.
BG: When you first came to the club, what sort of example did guys like Adam Goodes, Brett Kirk, Barry Hall and Jude Bolton make?
DH: First and foremost, the way they train and the way they conduct themselves from a training point of view. When they’re around the footy club, the way they hold themselves, the relationships they have with people, both staff and players.
And it’s how they conduct themselves away from the footy club. What their views and values are on things.
It was quite clear that Adam was a sensational leader from day one, and for me, and a lot of other young players, he just sets a good example on and off the field.
BG: The training example. Wednesday was a tough session and we were supposed to catch up after it but didn’t because you ran yourself into the ground. Obviously, that’s part of the example set for you, to simply push your body as hard as it can go.
DH: Yeah, I was pretty spent. Wednesday was a pretty big hitout. We had a 60-minute game and then 30 minutes of skills, and some tough drills after that.
It was probably one of our toughest hitouts of the pre-season. Obviously the conditions were bit more trying. It was a bit more humid than Sydney, so it was a really good quality session in tough conditions.
Not many numbers towards the end so the boys got a lot of confidence out of that. As you said, by the end of it all, the guys were pretty spent.
BG: Do you consider yourself one of the senior players now? Are you who the new guys coming in look to as an example?
DH: I think so. Certainly over the next couple of years I want to try to improve my leadership, seek out the leaders and work out how I can become a better leader and push my way into the leadership group.
I’m not there yet. I’ve got a bit of stuff to work on, and certainly helping the young guys out is one of those things.
I’ll be trying to use my knowledge and wisdom now – after playing a hundred or so games – to try to help them develop.
Obviously, I’ll be just setting an example myself, trying to uphold my standard of performance and training at a certain level, for them to try to follow and reach themselves.
BG: Each year since your debut in 2009 you’ve shown improvement. What areas of your game do you want to improve on this year or have been pointed out to you that need to go up another step?
DH: Obviously I’ll continue playing as a wingman and an outside but I want to develop that inside role as well so I’ve got two strings to my bow – not just an outsider or insider but trying to playing that hybrid role as a midfielder both inside and outside.
If I do get somebody to sit on me at some stage of the year, it might be working out ways of trying to help the team or trying to break the tag. Often it might just be being selfless for the team; sometimes it might be setting up in different positions so working on that.
And then just trying to improve every year. You try to improve your kicking; you try to improve your speed, your fitness and your general all-round play.
There are a few specifics there that I want to work on.
BG: Breaking a tag, how hard is that?
DH: It’s difficult when you’ve got someone whose sole purpose is just to play on you and stop you. They’ve been studying up and trying to make sure their purpose is to stop you.
I think you’ve just got to work on helping other players, getting blocks, sitting in positions that are good for your team so if somebody’s tagging you, you can set up in a position that’s good for the footy team. Some of it’s selfless as it means you won’t be getting the footy but it helps your team out.
Then there’s working different angles you can run, different patterns you can run – you know, going deep forward and then working back.
There are different things you can do. It’s obviously pretty hard but sometimes you just need to do selfless acts for the team.
BG: You mentioned before improving your fitness. How much does it need to improve with reduced rotations being brought in this year?
DH: I think every player, every year, wants to try to improve that aspect.
I’m generally one of the fitter blokes at the footy club. It’s something that I’ve held my hat on but with limited rotations everyone needs to lift their bar again.
I think we’ve had harder running sessions this year and we’re having longer games now. This time of the year last year we were playing 40-minute games. This year it’s up to 60 and we’re trying to up the amount of games we’re playing leading into the NAB Challenge but we were only ever 123 or 124 rotations any way and I think it’s limited to 120 so it won’t affect us too much.
BG: The question that probably everyone has been asking every Swans player is how is Lance "Buddy" Franklin settling in at the club?
DH: Really well. Certainly this camp is going to help him build his relationships with all of the players, especially some of the young boys.
He’s certainly well liked around the footy club and setting a pretty good standard with his training. He’s now out there training, which is good to see, and I think with any new player or new recruit, once the games start and he gets a feel for the structures and stuff he’ll feel a lot more at home.
He’s fitting in really well.
BG: Have you hit him up for a loan? Surely he’s good for it.
DH: I’ve certainly let him pay for a few more breakfasts than I have the other players, that’s for sure.
BG: Last year the Swans went from the high of the 2012 premiership to the low of losing the preliminary final last year against Fremantle. What extra steps are being taken over summer to get the team back to that high again?
DH: We’ve worked out a few little areas that we need to fine tune in training. Certain things that we spoke about last year in our game plan we’re probably going above and beyond this year to try and hone in on.
We know what wins us footy games; we know what we’ve got to do so we’re just trying to train that really heavily in pre-season. I’m not going to tell you exactly what that is but it’s just about trying to increase the quality of your training, know what it is that wins you games of footy and just training that and doing it week in, week out.
It’s cliché but that’s what we pride ourselves on and then just trying to make sure we have as many guys as fit as possible, which is a big thing.
BG: Do you think last year’s long injury list caught up with you in the end?
DH: You can say that to a certain extent but at the end of the day we thought we had a good enough team to win in Fremantle but they played better, and for probably a quarter and a half they really smashed us.
We showed the second half we were capable; we just didn’t do that for the full game. If you have a poor quarter and a half, you’re never going to win a game of footy.
BG: This year, when you get the ball midfield and you look towards the goals, you’ll see not only Adam Goodes and Sam Reid but Kurt Tippett and Lance Franklin as well to kick to.
DH: And Gary Rohan. A fit Gary Rohan is going to be a star.
BG: You’re spoilt for choice, aren’t you?
DH: You are spoilt for choice when you add Rohan, Franklin and Tippett and we’ve got a few young guys coming through that will push those guys along.
I think we’re spoilt for choice but at the same time we’re under no illusions that you can just look at the side and think we’re going to win games of footy. Those guys need to be training well, playing well as a unit. If two or three of those players from the 2012 premiership team don’t pull their weight, the whole thing crumbles.
It’s great if we’ve got a full healthy list but we need everyone to be operating at a full capacity to be able to use that.
BG: You spoke of the 2012 premiership. A tight grand final all day and then Nick Malceski kicks the sealer with about 30 seconds to go. Are you able to put into words the emotion of that moment?
DH: Not really. There were so many emotions going off at once.
All of the hard work that you put in throughout the year becomes worth it so it’s joy, relief, just pure happiness really.
In that moment, knowing you’ve pretty much got it with 30 seconds to go, is just an amazing feeling, an amazing day. It’s tough to put into words and it’s something that certainly drives the players in pre-season to know that’s the reward at the end of the road, and that’s why everyone tries to get better every year to try to achieve that.
BG: Grand Final day. Is it true you’re playing under communication breakdown almost from the first bounce?
DH: It’s a nightmare. You can’t really hear anyone from 5
.metres away. It’s just incredibly difficult to hear because of the crowd noise. It’s tough.
When you play in front of 70,000 or 80,000 it’s hard, but if you play in front of 100,000 it’s near impossible.
BG: To get back to that impossible situation, what can we expect from Dan Hannebery in 2014?
DH: Just trying to play consistent team footy, play my role and play consistently week in and week out and do whatever I can to try to help the team achieve success this year.
Obviously the goal for every single player on the Swans list is to try to do everything they can to get the Swans to that ultimate glory.
That’s what everyone wants. Everyone wants that success.
Brad Greenshields
| Digital Producer
The Coffs Coast Advocate
Last Modified on 04/02/2014 08:19