Saints ace hungry to play next season

ST Kilda midfielder Dan Hannebery is keen to play on next year after self-funding a trip to Germany and taking a pay cut worth hundreds of thousands of dollars this season.

Hannebery returned last Saturday for the first time this year after a torrid battle with injury that included April calf surgery and a trip to renowned soft-tissue expert Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt.

The 31-year-old has played only 16 AFL games at St Kilda on a four-year deal – with a trigger for a fifth season – worth more than $700,000 a season.

But he took the massive pay cut before the season to help ease the cap squeeze as he entered the last year of his deal.

He also paid for the Germany trip and treatment, believed to have cost more than $10,000, as he searched for answers to remedy his injury issues.

St Kilda has not made a decision about keeping him, but he again showed his issue is staying fit rather than output after a polished 27-possession, one-goal performance against Hawthorn.

At worst, he might have to prove he can get through a summer of training and then push for a vacant summer rookie spot.

The next three weeks and any potential finals action will have a strong bearing on his future with St Kilda also keen to bring in ready-made midfielders.

The club is interested in Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey but says it has not met him or gained board approval, and could make a bid for one of the trio of GWS midfielders likely to head back to Melbourne.

Hannebery said after the win he knew how close he was to retirement given his continual soft-tissue problems.

“A few times this year I thought it was not far from being all over,” he said.

“I was super confident of a few things we needed to change up.”