The Sydney Swans midfielder, who played seven games as a year 12 student in 2009, was kept away from contact drills for several weeks after breaking his cheekbone in a fall during a night out with friends in January.
Hannebery, 19, played just one pre-season match after his interrupted preparation and was left out of the Swans’ round one side that suffered a narrow loss to St Kilda.
He also hit the headlines briefly in November last year when he was suspended by his school, Xavier College, for a minor role in a muck-up day incident.
However, the youngster has emerged stronger from his off-season travails, earning a recall for the Swans’ round two clash against Adelaide in which he gathered 23 touches and won the Rising Star nod for round two.
Hannebery said the off-season incidents had offered plenty of valuable lessons about his new lifestyle.
“It’s just really highlighted how careful you need to be and how aware you need to be of your actions the whole time, not just when you’re on the training track,” he said.
“You need to be really careful when you’re away from the club and you’re at home with your mates, because they’re living a different life to what we are.
“I’m out to prove to the leadership group, and the club, and the coaches who gave me the opportunity that I’ve learned my lesson and I’m now a full-time footballer.”
Swans coach Paul Roos said Hannebery had responded well to the challenges presented to him during the off-season.
“He had a couple of hiccups early and it probably did him the world of good, to be honest,” Roos said.
“Those couple of hiccups, and the fact that he thought, ‘Geez, I’m not going to get a game in the pre-season cup’, that really knocked him round because he loves his footy.”
Hannebery said the experience of playing seven senior games in the second half of 2009 proved invaluable against the Crows.
“I was a lot more comfortable playing around some of the guys and I know the game plan a lot better,” he said.
“There are still a few things from the game that I wasn’t really happy with - little game plan things and stuff like that - that I need to try and fix up and improve at training but overall, I was happy with the way it went.”
With the hype surrounding new Swans Lewis Jetta and Gary Rohan, Hannebery has slipped under the radar in the lead-up to 2010.
But Roos said the young midfielder was more than capable of matching it with the League’s best players.
“He didn’t look out of place at all on the weekend against a team that’s very experienced and has got some big bodies and plays a hard style of footy,” he said.
“But he’s that style of body and he plays football that way - he’s in and under, he’s hard and he’s tough and he’s fearless.”
