Lenny Hayes

Lenny Hayes (born 14 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1999 to 2014.

He is currently an assistant coach at the St Kilda Football Club.

Growing up in Sydney, Hayes played TAC Cup football for the NSW/ACT Rams.

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 later in the year as well.

In 1998, Hayes was a standout player for NSW/ACT in the representative TAC Cup, taking out the Morrish Medal 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.

Hayes debuted in the AFL the following year.

He started well and improved throughout the year, earning an AFL Rising Star nomination in the final round of the season (R22).

He was named in the All-Australian team three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2009) and placed third in the 2009 Brownlow Medal (behind Gary Ablett and Chris Judd).

Hayes was a three-time winner of the Trevor Barker Award as St Kilda's best and fairest 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 and Nick Riewoldt.

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.

Hayes was a first-choice player for St Kilda for virtually his whole career, other than in two seasons (2006 and 2011) where he would require knee reconstructions.

After a strong start to the 2006 season, Hayes ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against the Kangaroos 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, Luke Ball (co-captain) and Nick Riewoldt (co-captain).

Additionally, others included in the leadership group were Aaron Hamill, Fraser Gehrig, Nick Dal Santo 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 at Docklands Stadium.

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

He finished third in the 2009 Brownlow Medal.

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 after qualifying and preliminary final wins.

Hayes played in the Grand Final in which St Kilda were defeated by 12 points.

Hayes played in three Grand Finals without tasting premiership success, but won the Norm Smith Medal for his performance in the drawn 2010 AFL Grand Final.

Hayes played 25 games in 2010 (including 4 finals) and received a number of accolades for his performances during the season:

Hayes injured his left ACL early in the 2011 season and did not play for the rest of the year.

He had a fantastic season and made a brilliant recovery from the ACL injury from 2011.

Hayes played all games in 2012 and won his third Trevor Barker Medal as St Kilda's best & fairest player for the season.

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 inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

Hayes was born in Sydney, New South Wales to mother Elizabeth and father Chris one of two boys (and two girls).

Chris was an Australian rules player from Melbourne whose grandfather Vin Maguire, Lenny's great-grandfather, played for the Geelong Football Club.

Hayes grew up in suburban Sydney and, with the encouragement of Chris, began playing junior football with Pennant Hills in the Sydney AFL.