2010 AFL Rising Star Dan Hannebery has well and truly earned his Christmas dinner after running a huge personal best in the last 3km time trial before the break.
Hannebery came from behind to pass rookie Nathan Gordon in the final part of the race and finish well under 10 minutes on a warm Sydney day.
Hannebery’s time was 20 seconds faster than his previous best - a great result given he had shoulder surgery in late September and had to take it slowly in the early part of the pre-season.
The fitness staff don’t release exact times as the course is not a proper track, but fitness coach Rob Spurrs said it was a great result and Hannebery was “flying’’.
Gordon, who has been a form runner all pre-season, finished second, closely followed by Jarrad McVeigh, Ben McGlynn and a surprise packet in the recently drafted youngster, Alex Johnson.
McVeigh and McGlynn were also happy to finish off strongly ahead of the Christmas break.
The players did a 3km time trial and then skills to complete their pre-Christmas training. They are now on leave for just over two weeks.
Coach John Longmire said Hannebery’s run was an outstanding performance. “It’s typical of him. He sets his mind to something and achieves what he wants,’’ Longmire said.
“He has had a limited pre-season in some areas because of his shoulder injury but it has allowed him to concentrate on his running.’’
Hannebery has not rested on his laurels after winning the AFL Rising Star Award, which excites Longmire.
“Dan is determined to keep improving and learning, and that’s what we want all our players to do,’’ Longmire said.
“But the test for all of them will be when we play. There are no four points for winning the 3k time trial.’’
Longmire, who took over as senior coach from Paul Roos in September, has been pleased with the pre-season efforts ahead of Christmas but points out that a number of players have been doing limited work because of surgery.
“There’s a core group that has done every session and is in good nick. But 10 players have had operations since the season ended which is quite different to last year when there were no operations,’’ Longmire said.
“We’re hoping most of those boys will be right over the next few weeks, if they aren’t already, and to get most of them training together by early January.’’
The players who have had surgery since the season ended are Hannebery (shoulder), Jesse White (shoulder), Ryan O’Keefe (groin), Tadhg Kennelly (knee), Sam Reid (shoulder), Ted Richards (ankle), Lewis Roberts-Thomson (glute), Alex Johnson (ankle), Nick Smith (thigh), Shane Mumford (knee).
The players resume training in early January and play their first official pre-season game on February 19 at Blacktown Olympic Park against the GWS Giants and the Gold Coast Suns.
