Dan Hannebery has revealed his new strategy for success in 2017: he has quit alcohol.
By his own admission Hannebery use to let himself go in the off season, not eating the right food and "having too many beers."
After the Swans disappointing 2016 Grand Final loss he could be forgiven for doing the same.
But after the 25-year-old had surgery on his medial ligament in the post-season, he decided quitting alcohol would give him the best chance for recovery.
"I made the call to get off (alcohol) and it's probably been five months now," he told AFL.com.au.
"Purely because I wanted to give the body a chance to recover, and then when I realised how good I felt after eight or nine weeks, I thought why not keep it going?
"I went to the States with my partner Katie, just relaxed and recovered well, and was really conscious about looking after the body because of the knee.
"When I was a bit younger I'd go on a break and have too many beers with my mates, probably not eat the right foods, and go out a bit more than you should, and as a young player that’s a trap you can fall into.
"You don't think about it too much, you don't think about being out of shape and the training sessions you might miss, but when you get older you get smarter.
"You have to go away and make sure you switch off, but in the back of your mind you know you have to come back in a condition that will allow you to have a good pre-season."
Since his return from the States, the All-Australian has hit the ground running at training, smashing the rest of the field in the club's 3km time trial.
He will be looking to build on his stellar year in 2016. As a part of the stacked Sydney midfield he averaged 30.8 disposals per game, ranking him 5th in the competition.
Hannebery told AFL.com.au the Swans midfield coaches are key to their success..
"Stewy Dew and Josh Francou encourage the guys to play it as they see it," he said.
"It's about seeing what is working on the day and working with the other midfielders to get the right mix, so if the insiders are working really well or the wings are doing the same, you see that and stick with it.
"We don't want Josh (Kennedy), 'Parksy' (Luke Parker), Kieren (Jack) or myself to be in there 100 per cent of the time, we want to have regular changes and make sure we get a fresh group of midfielders going in.
"Gone are the days when you'll have one or two guys in there bullocking for the whole game, the way the game is played these days you need a constant rotation at the contest."
