PRIZED St Kilda recruit Dan Hannebery is out of the club's leadership group.
Hannebery, 28, was traded from Sydney at the end of last season but has been dealing with soreness in his hamstrings and calves that have plagued him when hitting top speed at training.
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The Saints are attempting to 'rebuild' his body so the triple All Australian can endure the rigours of elite football.
His past two years have been plagued by injury and he's struggled to replicate the form that saw him as one of the most admired players in the competition.
He told reporters it was a mutual decision, but will offer his assistance when needed.
"I'm still going to help the guys out wherever I can, when I'm not doing my rehab," Hannebery said.
The 2015 AFL Coaches' Association player of the year ran on Tuesday and plans on stepping up his training on Thursday, and indicated when he would like to be back.
"I'm not going to put an exact date on it but I'm hoping to play some level of football in the next four-to-six weeks," Hannebery said.
"Depending on how everything's going, hopefully sometime in the not-too-distant future, but everything would have to go right.
"I'm confident from here on in that we'll have no hiccups, but I've said that before."
His eventual return will likely be through the VFL.
Coach Alan Richardson said the move would allow Hannebery to concentrate on his rehab.
"Dan needs to focus solely on getting himself into a position where he can deliver on his potential to help our team be better," Richardson said in a statement.
"The club wants Dan 100 per cent focused on getting back to his best and let his performances do the talking."
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Experienced key defender Nathan Brown has been sitting in on leadership group meetings in Hannebery's place.
That's not the only change that's happened since the five-man group was announced in February, with Jack Billings replacing Dylan Roberton after the defender was ruled out for the year with a heart issue.
Jarryn Geary (captain), Seb Ross (vice-captain) and Tim Membrey are the other members.
Despite conceding it's been an "incredibly frustrating" period, Hannebery is maintaining perspective, pointing to the health battles facing Roberton, Paddy McCartin (concussion) and draftee Jack Bytel (back).
"It's been a really challenging few months but I guess everyone goes through it," Hannebery said.
"There's a lot of players out there, especially at our club, that are going through worse times than what I'm going through."
Hannebery said he doesn't know whether he will return to the leadership group once he's back playing footy.
