An unwanted break has Sydney midfield maestro Dan Hannebery feeling a lot fresher than he did heading into last year’s AFL finals.

One of the prime movers in Sydney’s deep midfield, Hannebery missed six matches with an ankle injury.

He was in red-hot form before the injury and tallied 26 touches in his second game back against St Kilda last weekend.

“I certainly feel fresh mentally and physically,” Hannebery said on Wednesday.

“I felt great on the weekend, a lot fresher than I did feel last year.

“I felt full of run. Towards the back end of last year, I was feeling a little bit tired, so that’s probably a small positive in the injury that was a frustrating one.”

Considered by many pundits to be Sydney’s most influential midfielder, Hannebery was stung by criticism he got for a quiet first month of the season.

“It was pretty frustrating copping that, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions,” Hannebery said.

“The game is heavily scrutinised these days that players cop criticism for all sorts of things so it’s something you look at.

“It’s something that motivates you to turn that around and let your footy do the talking.

“Whether it was fitness or form, not too sure what it was, it probably just took a bit longer to get out of the box than usual. I feel like I’m starting to build up now.”

Hannebery, who anticipates a brutal finish to the season with plenty of teams proving they can match it with the top teams, developed an appreciation of just how good reigning premiers Hawthorn are after watching them defeat Sydney at the MCG.

“How good their ball movement is and how super some of their player are, that’s something I picked up on,” Hannebery said.