SYDNEY Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery faced some stern question marks over his off-field behaviour earlier this year and he puts it all down to one simple thing – poor form.
An All Australian last year at the age of 22, Hannebery undeniably had a disappointing start to 2014.
Having averaged 25.3 possessions per game last season, that dipped to just 18.5 over the first four rounds this year, including a 12-touch effort in the round one loss to GWS, his lowest return in almost two years.
Hannebery goals and seeks out Buddy
It coincided with reports the Swans had expressed concerns about his lifestyle away from football.
There has been plenty made of a meeting club officials had with Hannebery in June last year, when he also briefly endured a dip in form.
Combine that with his growing friendship with Lance Franklin, another footballer with queries hanging over some of his off-field choices, and a concerning picture was being painted.
One particular article included a line that Hannebery's car accident earlier this year hadn't been fuelled by drugs or alcohol and that he had no concerns regarding the AFL's illicit drug testing program.
While the story denied there was an issue, just mentioning those topics can be an inflammatory reference and lend people to make assumptions.
Hannebery admits it made for difficult reading, but believes recapturing his top form is his best way to silence the critics.
"It's not ideal having that written about you, but at the end of the day when you're playing bad footy and your form is down, you leave yourself open to those sort of things," he said.
"Whether you agree with it or not, all that matters is that you focus on your own form and try to get that better.
"You don't like to read that stuff ever being written about yourself. It's frustrating for you and your family.
"Basically the Swans had a chat with me last year, in June not December (as had been reported), just to focus on my training and my footy.
"It wasn't any specifics at all. It was just to have a general chat really; how are you going, making sure that training and footy was at the forefront of my mind, which it was.
"I ended up having a good back half of the year and finished strongly and that's basically all it was.
"To read those things is a little bit disappointing, but everyone's entitled to their opinions."
Hannebery's car accident actually occurred while driving Franklin's car and the young Swan was bemused by the reporting of it.
"A couple of days later I drove down Syd Einfeld Drive in Bondi and there was a three-car pile-up and you don't see that reported," he mused.
But Hannebery categorically denies Franklin has been leading him astray, instead saying the two-time premiership winner has added an enormous amount to the Swans' team.
"Buddy isn't a bad influence, I think (the criticism) was to do with my form and the team's form," he said, when the Swans opened the year as flag fancies only to drop three of their first four games.
"The way the AFL is, you cop criticism for that, which was probably fair enough, our form wasn't good enough as a team, individually I was pretty down on my form from last year.
"The Buddy thing, he's not a bad influence at all. He's one of my good mates.
"A lot of the guys get along pretty well together up here because we're away from our natural home environments.
"I'm not his only good mate, he's got a lot of good mates at the footy club.
"He's just a good guy. That's about it.
"He's been a superstar of the game and gives his thoughts on the best way to attack opposition defences and his different ideas on the game and what he thinks we can change up in different meetings.
"He's just been a good inclusion to the footy team."
Over the past two weeks, Hannebery has roared back into top form.
His 29 disposals and 10 tackles were critical in the club's upset victory over Fremantle and he followed that up with 34 touches and 13 clearances in a best-on-ground performance against Melbourne.
Hannebery's ascension to All Australian status last year set a benchmark he is keen to maintain.
And he says the 2012 premiership winners still retain a steely inner belief.
"We know if we play the footy that we know we're capable of playing, we can match it with any side," he said ahead of Saturday's clash with the Brisbane Lions.
"We've only shown consistent footy for two weeks, that's not going to get you into finals footy, let alone deep into September.
"But we do know, if we stick to our processes, we can play good footy."
