Open and honest appraisals from teammates has seen Dan Hannebery lift to another level in 2016.
A number of key metrics says the 25-year-old is travelling better than last season in which the hard-nosed midfielder earned All Australian honours (for the second time) and the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year Award.
He also finished runner-up in last year’s Bob Skilton Medal and fifth in the Brownlow Medal count.
Hannebery has improved, albeit marginally, in average disposals (30.0 in 2015 to 31.0 in 2016), contested disposals (11.3/15.5), tackles (5.1/5.2) and clearances (4.5/5.5) – and it’s all thanks to feedback delivered by other members of the midfield group.
“As midfielders we review each other’s games most weeks,” he revealed on AFL 360.
“One of our things is we try and really work for each other and work hard as a unit.
“We’ve seen Tom Mitchell’s game evolve, Luke Parker’s start to the year was among the top three in the competition…I don’t know how but Josh Kennedy’s season has gone underrated.
“To see those guys play well has been great and shows it’s important we keep working hard as a group.”
Hannebery says he’s also been feeding off the “energy and enthusiasm” brought in by the Swans’ younger players, from first-years Callum Mills and Tom Papley to third-years George Hewett and Zak Jones.
That energy has helped lift the entire playing group and has been a contributing factor to the team’s output this season.
“We’ve definitely maintained a level of intensity around the ball, which is our strength, (and) we’ve also changed some avenues to goal,” he said.
“We look at ways we can improve in pre-season and we identified our ball movement and transition from defence to attack lacked a bit. So far this year, we’ve worked hard on improving that.
"What’s helped that is the youth we’ve added to the side."
Hannebery is the highest ranked Swan in this year’s AFLCA Champion Player of the Year voting, sitting fifth, while he’s racked up the third most disposals of any player in the competition behind only Fremantle’s Lachie Neale and Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield going into Round 15.
