St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has warned that star recruit Dan Hannebery is a long way off playing as he deals with a body struggling to cope with the rigours of AFL football.
Hannebery was traded to the Saints after 208 games with the Swans, though concerns around his fitness have lingered for some time.
The midfielder's form had noticeably dipped in the past two seasons, as groin and calf injuries hampered his ability to train and play.
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That form didn't deter the Saints however, signing the 28-year-old to a five-year deal.
His time at the club started well, coming back early for pre-season, and leading the way with the club's youngsters, though he has since been sidelined, as repeated setbacks continue to plague him.
Speaking on SEN on Friday, Saints coach Alan Richardson gave a fairly grim assessment of where Hannebery was at physically.
"He’s been getting sore anywhere to do with his legs," Richardson said of the star's struggles
"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."
Hannebery played in the 2012 premiership and was named All Australian three times while in Sydney, but the hard-nosed left-footer struggled for consistency following the 2016 grand final.
Richardson said his body needed to be reset.
"To some extent he needs to be rebuilt," he said.
"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."
St Kilda have been criticised for their recruitment in recent times, with many questioning whether Hannebery was worth the gamble.
Richardson admitted that the club didn't anticipate Hannebery requiring this much work to get up to fitness.
"We knew that he had stints where he hadn’t played," he said.
"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."
St Kilda will kick off their season against on Sunday against Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium.
