Lenny Hayes (born 14 January 1980) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) from 1999 to 2014. He is currently an assistant coach at the St Kilda Football Club. Growing up in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Hayes played

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

football for the

NSW/ACT Rams NSW/ACT (also known as NSW-ACT and nicknamed the 'Rams'), is an underage Australian rules football representative team managed by AFL NSW/ACT. The team represents New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and its moniker, partly derive ...

. He was recruited by St Kilda with the 11th pick in the 1998 National Draft and made his senior debut in round five of the 1999 season. He was nominated for the

AFL Rising Star Award The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 AFL Rising Star, 1993 season, and ...

later in the year as well. Hayes was a first-choice player for St Kilda for virtually his whole career, other than in two seasons (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

) where he would require knee reconstructions. After playing 297 games and kicking 95 goals, he retired at the end of the 2014 season. Hayes would establish himself as one of the best midfielders in the league. He was named in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2009) and placed third in the

2009 Brownlow Medal The 2009 Brownlow Medal was the 82nd year the award was presented to the player adjudged the fairest and best player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. Gary Ablett Jr of the Geelong Football Club won the medal by ...

(behind Gary Ablett and

Chris Judd Christopher Dylan Judd (born 8 September 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and captain of both the West Coast Eagles and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is regarded as one of the grea ...

). Hayes was a three-time winner of the Trevor Barker Award as St Kilda's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player (in 2003, 2010 and 2012). He also spent two seasons as St Kilda's captain – in 2004 as sole captain and in 2007 as co-captain, alongside both

Luke Ball Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the and football clubs in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played 142 games for the St Kilda Football Club where ...

and

Nick Riewoldt Nicholas Fredrick Riewoldt ( ; born 17 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first draft selection in the 2000 AFL draft. He was the ...

. Hayes played in three Grand Finals without tasting premiership success, but won the

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990, the competition was known as the Victorian Footbal ...

for his performance in the drawn

2010 AFL Grand Final The 2010 AFL Grand Final was a series of two Australian rules football matches between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. They are considered the 114th and 115th AFL Grand Final, grand finals of the Australian Football ...

. He was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

in 2020.

Early life

Hayes was born in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to mother Elizabeth and father Chris one of two boys (and two girls). Chris was an Australian rules player from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

whose grandfather Vin Maguire, Lenny's great-grandfather, played for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

.Lenny through the years
By Tom Morris for saints.com.au on 15 July 2014 Hayes grew up in suburban

and, with the encouragement of Chris, began playing junior football with Pennant Hills in the Sydney AFL. In 1998, Hayes was a standout player for NSW/ACT in the representative

, taking out the

Morrish Medal The Morrish Medal is an award presented to the best and fairest player in the premier Victorian underage Australian rules football competition during the home-and-away season. Boasting an uninterrupted lineage from 1947 onwards, the medal is cu ...

as the best player in the competition. St Kilda picked Hayes at No. 11 in the 1998 National Draft. He was educated at Redfield College.

Playing career

1990s

Hayes debuted in the AFL the following year. He started well and improved throughout the year, earning an

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Bu ...

nomination in the final round of the season (R22).

2000s

With St Kilda's current policy being that of one to rotate the captaincy to a different player each season, Hayes would be named captain ahead of 2004. After he was sworn into the role, Hayes captained St Kilda's 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup winning side, in what was the club's second pre-season cup win. After a strong start to the 2006 season, Hayes ruptured his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

against the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...

in Round 9, requiring a minor knee reconstruction which sidelined him until the 2007 season. In just his fifth game back in the 2007 season he suffered a broken collarbone, sidelining him for three weeks, although he managed to come back and play 19 games for the year. Hayes was a co-captain and part of the Saints' 2007 leadership group – dubbed the "Young Saints", which also included

Justin Koschitzke Justin Gregory Koschitzke (born 20 September 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League. He played 200 games and kicked 247 goals for the club between 2001 and 2013. ...

(co-captain) and

(co-captain). Additionally, others included in the leadership group were

Aaron Hamill Aaron Hamill (born 20 August 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who is best known for his time at the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) when he briefly captained the club. He also played fiv ...

, Fraser Gehrig,

Nick Dal Santo Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition and a retired Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda Football Club, St Kilda and North Melbourne Football Club, ...

and Robert Harvey. Hayes played in St Kilda's 2008 NAB Cup winning side, the club's third pre-season cup win. In 2009, Hayes played his 200th AFL game in Round 9 against the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the suburb of Docklands, Victoria, Docklands in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 199 ...

. During the match he gained 31 possessions in the Saints' 16-point victory. He finished third in the

. Hayes played in 19 of the 22 matches in the 2009 home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals series, winning the club's third minor premiership. Hayes was recognised for his excellent season with selection in the 2009 All-Australian team as a midfield player. It was his third career selection in the All-Australian team. St Kilda made the

2009 AFL Grand Final The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009. It was the 113th annual AFL Grand Final, grand final ...

after qualifying and preliminary final wins. Hayes played in the Grand Final in which St Kilda were defeated by 12 points.

2010s

Hayes played 25 games in 2010 (including 4 finals) and received a number of accolades for his performances during the season: * Trevor Barker Award as St Kilda's best & fairest player. * 2010 Norm Smith Medallist (1st Grand Final). * St Kilda's player of the finals series (jointly with Zac Dawson). Hayes injured his left ACL early in the 2011 season and did not play for the rest of the year. Hayes played all games in 2012 and won his third Trevor Barker Medal as St Kilda's best & fairest player for the season. He had a fantastic season and made a brilliant recovery from the ACL injury from 2011. He played his 250th game in Round 9 against eventual premiers , gaining 25 disposals in a 28-point win for the Saints. On 15 July 2014, Hayes announced his retirement in front of all his teammates and family. Out of respect, his teammates wore t-shirts with the hashtag #ilovelenny. At the time of his retirement, Hayes held the all-time VFL/AFL record for most tackles in a career, having laid 1,496 tackles at an average of 5.04 per game. He held the record until 23 April 2017, when he was overtaken by Matt Priddis.

Coaching career

After working in the media for twelve months, Hayes returned home to Sydney in 2015 and joined as an assistant coach. In 2022, St Kilda announced Hayes would return to St Kilda as an assistant coach.

Honours and achievements

Team * Pre Season Cup ( St Kilda) 2004, 2008 *

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

( St Kilda)

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Individual *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* St Kilda Captain: 2004, 2007 * 3× Trevor Barker Award: 2003, 2010, 2012 * 3×

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

: 2003, 2005, 2009 *

nominee: 1999 * Peter Badcoe VC Medal: 2009 * Madden Medal: 2014 *

: 2020

Statistics

:Lenny Hayes' player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 16 , , 5 , , 5 , , 96 , , 82 , , 178 , , 30 , , 13 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 6.0 , , 5.1 , , 11.1 , , 1.9 , , 0.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 10 , , 5 , , 200 , , 148 , , 348 , , 49 , , 46 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 9.1 , , 6.7 , , 15.8 , , 2.2 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 13 , , 5 , , 1 , , 93 , , 112 , , 205 , , 37 , , 38 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 7.2 , , 8.6 , , 15.8 , , 2.8 , , 2.9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 20 , , 7 , , 5 , , 200 , , 203 , , 403 , , 66 , , 100 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 10.0 , , 10.2 , , 20.2 , , 3.3 , , 5.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 13 , , 6 , , 342 , , 226 , , 568 , , 93 , , 101 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 15.5 , , 10.3 , , 25.8 , , 4.2 , , 4.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 23 , , 4 , , 6 , , 266 , , 245 , , 511 , , 93 , , 129 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 11.6 , , 10.7 , , 22.2 , , 4.0 , , 5.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 10 , , 15 , , 305 , , 262 , , 567 , , 111 , , 116 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 12.7 , , 10.9 , , 23.6 , , 4.6 , , 4.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 9 , , 4 , , 3 , , 133 , , 91 , , 224 , , 48 , , 50 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 14.8 , , 10.1 , , 24.9 , , 5.3 , , 5.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 19 , , 4 , , 8 , , 228 , , 204 , , 432 , , 84 , , 108 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 12.0 , , 10.7 , , 22.7 , , 4.4 , , 5.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 24 , , 5 , , 12 , , 256 , , 322 , , 578 , , 105 , , 144 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 10.7 , , 13.4 , , 24.1 , , 4.4 , , 6.0 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 5 , , 6 , , 310 , , 306 , , 616 , , 95 , , 139 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 14.1 , , 13.9 , , 28.0 , , 4.3 , , 6.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 25 , , 9 , , 10 , , 341 , , 344 , , 685 , , 93 , , 177 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 13.6 , , 13.8 , , 27.4 , , 3.7 , , 7.1 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 2 , , 1 , , 0 , , 25 , , 20 , , 45 , , 4 , , 10 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 12.5 , , 10.0 , , 22.5 , , 2.0 , , 5.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 22 , , 7 , , 8 , , 255 , , 283 , , 538 , , 71 , , 130 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 11.6 , , 12.9 , , 24.5 , , 3.2 , , 5.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 14 , , 2 , , 5 , , 157 , , 167 , , 324 , , 50 , , 64 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 11.2 , , 11.9 , , 23.1 , , 3.6 , , 4.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 7 , , 19 , , 4 , , 6 , , 198 , , 247 , , 445 , , 71 , , 118 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 10.4 , , 13.0 , , 23.4 , , 3.7 , , 6.2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 296 ! 95 ! 101 ! 3405 ! 3262 ! 6667 ! 1100 ! 1483 ! 0.3 ! 0.3 ! 11.5 ! 11.0 ! 22.5 ! 3.7 ! 5.0

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Lenny 1980 births Living people All-Australians (AFL) St Kilda Football Club players Trevor Barker Award winners Australian rules footballers from Sydney NSW/ACT Rams players Norm Smith Medal winners Pennant Hills Australian Football Club players Sandringham Football Club players Australia international rules football team players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from New South Wales