St Kilda coach Alan Richardson admits Dan Hannebery is struggling with his body.
The midfielder joined the Saints from Sydney in the trade period but is not yet ready to play for his new club.
Recent reports have suggested that prized recruit Hannebery would not be right to go until at least Round 4 but Richardson says the state of the 28-year-old’s body will push that St Kilda debut back even further.
“It’s all of the above,” Richardson said on SEN Breakfast when asked of the specific nature of Hannebery’s issues.
“He’s been getting sore anywhere to do with his legs.
“Particularly his calves and hamstrings, but as we’ve upped the load in terms of intensity, his body has just struggled.
“He’s had two years where he just hasn’t been able to put in the work.
“He’s gone out and played without great preparation because he’s been able to do that for a fair while, he’s a real warrior, he’s obviously been a champion player.
“I reckon it has caught up with him.”
Richardson added that the combative midfielder, who amassed 208 AFL games with the Swans, requires a reset.
“To some extent he needs to be rebuilt,” he added.
“I don’t think I did say Round 4, (but) I wouldn’t be surprised if it is longer than Round 4.
“It will take a while. I’m hoping it will be sooner and it will depend a little bit on how he responds but right now the response has been slow, the response has been consistent, and that is when we get him up to 31-32 clicks an hour, he’s starting to get wonky.
“That’s going to take time.”
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The Saints coach was pressed further on the due diligence the club undertook before landing Hannebery on a five-year deal.
“We knew that he had stints where he hadn’t played,” he said further.
“We knew about his training history, or lack thereof, that he’d really struggled to get the time in.
“Did we think it was going to be as significant as this? No, we didn’t.
“But we did know that we were getting in a bloke that we needed, to some extent, to rebuild. Probably not to this extent, but that’s ok.
“He’s here for a long time, he’s not here for a short time.
“If it means he’s not with us for a month longer than we thought, that’s fine.
“We think overall he is going to be enormous for our group.”
As for what’s ahead, Richardson insisted that the St Kilda fitness staff are now well aware of how to get the three-time All-Australian up to scratch.
He said: “They’re confident now that they’ve got a handle on what needs to be done.”
Listen to the chat with Richo on SEN Breakfast below:
