Geoff Burns
2 min read April 5, 2025 - 5:53PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
www.heraldsun/hannebery.retirement.com.au
Hannebery announces retirement.
Hannebery was drafted with pick 30 pick in the 2008 AFL and made his debut in round 16 of the 2009 season. The Oakleigh Chargers product via Xavier College quickly established himself as a durable force in the Swans midfield averaging 23 games per season between 2010 – 2017.
One of the competitions finest runners and ball users, Hannebery was voted by his peers as the AFLPA player of the year in 2015 which was arguably his finest season. Hannebery also collected 3 All Australian selections & 3 best and fairest along the way and was an integral part of the Swans 2012 premiership when narrowly missing being awarded the Norm Smith medal.
At the end of a frustrating 2018 season, Hannebery announced he would return to Melbourne and nominated the then struggling St Kilda Saints as his club of choice. Saint’s head of football Simon Lethlean was prominent in securing Hannebery, the big fish the Saints had been promising to land.
Hannebery initially signed a 5 year $800,000 per season deal which Lethlean described as a bargain for a player of Hannebery’s ability, experience & durability.
![Image](https://media.apnarm.net.au/media/images/2019/02/27/imagev1f8dc5b4f02f9c7c31c2fc21522ebfb4e-n1n9yt74atrqcmmhvr2_t1880.jpg)
A young Dan Hannebery in his days as a gun Swan midfielder
Many neutral observers doubted Hannebery’s contract extension at the end of 2021 after he failed to play a game in that season, but Lethean was bullish on his star recruit. “What Dan brings to the club cannot be measured in on-field output alone” said Lethean. Dan is a leader, he sets the training standards and has been instrumental in the Saints attracting other big-name recruits such as Paddy Ryder, Zac Jones, Bradley Hill and Buddy Franklin who joined the Saints at the end of the 2023 season to reunite with mate Hannebery after a 9-year stint at the Swans.
The Saints have struck a one off retro guernsey for Hanneberys 222nd & final game which will close the curtain on a 17-year career when the Huawei Saints do battle with the Hobart Kangaroos on Saturday 12th April 2025 at Bellerive Oval. The match marks not only Hanneberys last AFL match but his first since the Saints elimination final against Richmond at Metricon stadium during the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020.
![Image](https://nnimg-a.akamaihd.net/silverstone-feed-data/0e601304-5c44-442d-9932-a5d02f520cf4.jpg)
Hannebery is presented with his retro style Saints Guernsey as he prepares for his final AFL match.
The shock announcement leaves the bottom of the table Saints with a space to fill on the 50 man list with the mid-season draft looming. The Saints have been linked with former Melbourne Captain Nathan Jones who could come out of retirement to join brother Zac at Moorabbin or former Hawthorn gun Shaun Burgoyne with the 40 year old considering relinquishing the assistant coach role at the Brisbane Suns to again pull on the boots.