Lenny Hayes Biography

St Kilda great Lenny Hayes is set to return to the club he played 297 games for as an assistant coach ahead of the 2023 season.

The 42-year-old has been living on a farm with his family in New South Wales since departing Greater Western Sydney at the end of 2020.

Lenny Hayes is inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

"When I did get the call there was a bit of shock to be honest. It's a little bit of a finale. As it's been able to sink in it's a tremendous honour for me and my family," he said.

"The more I've been out of the game, you do have more time to reflect on your playing career and what it was like. I look back and am really proud and thankful for the career I've had."

Lenny Hayes says he used to play with a chip on his shoulder when he represented New South Wales as a teenager.

"I reckon for a long time there was a school of thought that the game wasn't that big in NSW, and I felt that if they (recruiters or All Australian selectors) had to choose between a Victorian or NSW kid, even if they were equally as talented, they'd overlook the NSW kid," he said.

"I almost played with a bit of a chip on my shoulder because of that. I always wore it as a badge of honour in terms of wanting to take it right up to those states like Victoria and Western Australia and South Australia."

After dealing with illness at the start of the 2019 season, Jackson Hately will play his first AFL match for the Giants this week against Fremantle in Canberra.

Hately says GWS midfield coach and St Kilda Hall of Famer Lenny Hayes has been a massive influence on his first few months in the League.

"Lenny has been unbelievable since I got here. He's been really special for my development, and I don't think I could ever learn enough off him," Hately said.

"He's given me a lot of confidence going into this week, so I'm just going to keep learning as much as I can."

Blake Acres says comparisons between himself and Lenny Hayes, while humbling, are a little farfetched.

"I don't think I'm anywhere near his level. I'm humbled to be compared with him but I'm nowhere near him," Acres said.

"He taught me a lot in my first year. I suppose I just try to play my own way but if people think it looks a bit like Lenny then that's their opinion."

Lenny Hayes will join Greater Western Sydney as an assistant coach in 2016.

"I've been really impressed with the Giants this season and I'm looking forward to working with this driven young playing group," Hayes said.

"Leon Cameron has the team playing an exciting brand of football and the club is clearly heading in the right direction.

"The Giants have had a really positive year both on and off field and to be able to help grow the game in the region I'm originally from is something I'm really passionate about."

Lenny Hayes has ruled out coaching in 2015 and is yet to decide if he will pursue it as a career path at all after retiring from St Kilda this season.

"I've decided I probably won't go to a club to coach [next year]," Hayes said.

"I'm not even sure if it will be a career path for me. At this time, I'm not too sure whether I'm cut out for it at this point.

"I know how intense it is and I'm just going to go down a different path at this point in time. That's not to say I'll never go back to coaching but not for the next 12 months."

Nick Riewoldt has further enhanced his reputation as one of the game's greats by claiming his sixth St Kilda best and fairest award.

Riewoldt polled 137 votes to win the Trevor Barker Award ahead of retiring midfielder Lenny Hayes, who came in second with 126.

Defender Sean Dempster placed third with 101.

"It's a huge honour," Riewoldt said.

"I feel a little guilty spoiling the party with Lenny tonight but it's a huge honour and it's a highly respected award named after a highly respected person in the club's history.

"It's a privilege to be able to win that award."

Lenny Hayes has become the AFL's most prolific tackler, breaking former Sydney Swan Jude Bolton's record in his 297th and final game.

Hayes needed eight tackles ahead of the Saints' clash against Adelaide on Sunday to break Bolton's record of 1490 tackles.

The three-time All Australian and three-time St Kilda best and fairest overtook Bolton early in the third quarter.

He finished with 13 tackles for the match, taking his career tally to 1496.

"I've always valued that and the position I play gives me an opportunity to make those sorts of tackles," Hayes said.

"I've always placed a pretty high emphasis on it, being an inside mid. It's something I might look back on and tell my son one day that I used to go all right."

The 34-year-old said he hadn't finalised any plans for the next stage in his life but that he was keen to stay in football.

"I said all along that I wouldn't mind getting to the end of the season and then over probably the next two or three weeks I'll make a decision," Hayes said.

"I'd love to stay involved in the game in some capacity - we'll wait and see."

Lenny Hayes says he has not made any decision on a potential move into coaching next season and he will weigh up his options after his send-off game against Adelaide.

"I don't think I've ever said that I wanted to go and coach next year," Hayes told 3AW radio.

"But [it's assumed] because I've ticked off a few of those courses and it's been mentioned in a few of those conversations.

"The Saints have said they'd be keen for me to stay on in some capacity, and I think I will stay involved in football.

"I think I just need to get through this week and then sit down over the next two weeks and just have that clear path about where I'm going to be heading."

Retiring Saint Lenny Hayes nominates Luke Gunston to wear his No.7 jumper.

"He's certainly a guy I've worked really closely with and I love the way he goes about it," Hayes said about Gunston.

"So I could see him fitting very nicely into it. But yet to make a decision on that."

Lenny Hayes announces to teammates that he will retire at season's end.

Lenny Hayes found it hard to tell his teammates he would be retiring at the end of this season, but the St Kilda great says he was more upset when former teammate Robert Harvey retired in 2008.

One of the greatest players to have emerged from New South Wales, Hayes announced his impending retirement at a press conference at the Saints' Seaford headquarters on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old said he had been weighing up his future for some time and was content he had made the right call.

"I just feel that I'm on the edge of the cliff in terms of my body and I just feel that the time's right," Hayes said.

"As a player, it's always hard to say those words, but I feel really comfortable with [the decision]."

Lenny Hayes sayd he could have played out his magnificent career with the Sydney Swans if discussions at the end of his debut season had led to a trade.

Former St Kilda coach Tim Watson, who was in charge at the end of 1999, said the idea of trading Hayes for Bolton had been floated by the clubs, with Bolton hailing from Victoria.

"At the end of the first year there were discussions [with] Sydney, with the potential to swap Lenny for Jude Bolton," Watson told radio station SEN.

"One was a Melbourne boy and one was a Sydney boy, but they were both great players, so nobody would have lost."

St Kilda coach Richardson won't try to talk St Kilda veteran Lenny Hayes into playing on despite wanting the 289-game midfielder to consider a 17th season.

"If it can't be done mentally any more because of his body or whatever reason, you shouldn't play," Richardson said.

"With that in mind, it's really up to Lenny.

"I wouldn't talk any player into going on. If they think they're done and they've been into battle enough … I think that's it."

Luke Dunstan becomes the Saints' first Rising Star nominee since mid-2012 after collecting 21 disposals as one of St Kilda's best players in a 17-point win against Melbourne.

Dunstan says he has benefited from a 'buddy system' at the Saints which has seen him paired up with Lenny Hayes.

"He's been massive for me so far. We've worked together closely for the last three months," Dunstan said.

"We go through vision together, we normally do all our extras before and after training together, and during the meetings we talk and have one-on-one chats. We've also been out for dinner a couple of times.

"He's an absolute ripper and I couldn't have asked for anything more."

Lenny Hayes and Maverick Weller will miss the Saints' opening round clash with Melbourne after accepting one-match bans from the Match Review Panel.

Hayes' initial penalty for a level three striking offence – in an incident involving Greater Western Sydney midfielder Stephen Coniglio – was downgraded to a one-match sanction with an early guilty plea.

Weller, who looked set to make his Saints debut early in the season, also accepted his ban for striking the Giants' Tomas Bugg in the same game

Nick Riewoldt chalks up record-equalling ninth year as Saints captain after being named as skipper of the club on Friday.

The Saints' leadership group will also comprise Leigh Montagna, David Armitage, Sean Dempster, Jarryn Geary and Lenny Hayes.

"I think we've felt a little bit disappointed the last couple of seasons about our ability to do that so we need to continue to display strong behaviours, especially around the ones we hold important," Riewoldt said.

"That's what the group was voted in on, to continue to do that and defend the Saints' trademark that we've come up with, and on-field performance comes into that, and to really drive and accelerate the growth from underneath and within the footy club.

"We've got a pretty clear mandate, we've spoken about that as a group and I think the rest of the players are aware of what we want to get out of being in this role."

St Kilda players release a video, apologising to club members for Clint Jones' Mad Monday prank earlier this week when he set fire to a dwarf.

Captain Nick Riewoldt, vice-captain Lenny Hayes and young star Jack Steven spoke on the short video, which was shot outside the Saints' Seaford headquarters.

"On behalf of the players, I want to say sorry for the disappointment and embarrassment our end-of-season actions have caused all St Kilda people," Riewoldt said in the short video message.

Hayes added: "It's not the St Kilda you want, it's not the St Kilda we want.

"Our commitment is it's going to look different."

Then Steven finished with: "Stay with us - we going to make you proud to be a member of the Saints."

Lenny Hayes signs a one-year contract extension with the Saints.

"I love the hard work, I love being around the place and I can see so many exciting signs in some of these young guys," he said.

"It just reminds me of when I started. In my second or third year we were in a similar position.

"To be part of that and just give them a chop out and try and help out next year, I'm rapt to be onboard."

St Kilda coach Scott Watters says he would like veteran Lenny Hayes to continue playing next year.

"I think he's got a lot to offer, still purely from a playing point of view, certainly from a leadership and mentoring point of view," Watters said.

"We have ongoing discussions. We have sort of casually spoken about it seven, eight, nine times this year. We'll get to a landing point soon, and there will probably be an announcement this week."

Lenny Hayes says he is still undecided on whether to play on next year.

"It might have been different if I'd played the whole year. In that case I might have had a better indication of whether this would be my last year," Hayes said.

"But because I haven't really played it's been hard to get a handle on whether I could go round again.

"Once I've been back for five or six weeks I think that will give me a better indication of where I'm at, where my body's at and how the team is developing."

Veteran Saint Lenny Hayes says youngster Jack Newnes, along with a number of other St Kilda players, has the potential to one day captain the club.

"Without putting too much pressure on a guy like Jack Newnes, I see a lot of leadership qualities in him," Hayes said.

"Jarryn Geary has become a really important player for us and a good leader over the last couple of years. Ben McEvoy's in there as well.

"Even a guy like Leigh Montagna, if 'Roo' didn't want to do it next year, then I'm sure he could take over for a couple of years until one of those younger guys is ready."

St Kilda coach Scott Watters says he wants Lenny Hayes to continue playing next year after the veteran Saint gathered 25 possessions in just his second game since round five.

"We have ongoing discussions about next year," Watters said in the post-match press conference.

"I'll probably try to twist his arm. But to be fair to Lenny, he just wants to play out the rest of the year and that'll give him a good assessment on where he wants to go."

Lenny Hayes will miss the next two to three weeks with a calf injury.

"Lenny's probably a two to three week spell on the sidelines," St Kilda coach Scott Watters said.

"We've got to be very cautious now with Lenny coming back. We'll weigh that up but he won't be available this week."

St Kilda star Lenny Hayes has recovered well from heart surgery and is primed for a solid pre-season.

"We're just rapt that he's 100 per cent healthy and still on the mend but looking forward to another full season and full pre-season out of him," Saints coach Scott Watters said.

"It's a pretty good result for all concerned. He will be 100 per cent come round one, ready to play.

"At 32, Lenny would have been on a modified program right now regardless of whether he had an operation."

Lenny Hayes wins his third St Kilda best and fairest award, narrowly beating Leigh Montagna.

"Lenny's achievement in winning the 2012 best and fairest is an outstanding example of his professionalism. His return from injury this year has further illustrated the character and commitment that has defined his whole career," Saints coach Scott Watters said.

"His impact on his teammates as a role model is immeasurable and his will to perform at a consistently high level positions him as a standard bearer at our football club."

Lenny Hayes has agreed to a new one-year deal with the Saints while three other big names have also committed to the club including Leigh Montagna, Stephen Milne and Sam Gilbert.

"Without strong leadership this group wont progress," Saints coach Scott Watters said.

"Lenny, Stephen, Sammy and Joey are loyal one-club players who we value extremely highly. Their leadership is integral moving forward."

St Kilda veterans Lenny Hayes says he is excited after signing a new deal with the Saints.

"It's a good place to be around, with all of the young guys coming through," said Hayes.

"I'm glad to go through this year with my knee, and can't wait for next year.

"It will be my 15th season next year so I've been around a while, but it goes pretty quick as well so I'm definitely enjoying every moment."

A on-field clash with Lenny Hayes leaves Cat Taylor Hunt with a broken nose but Hayes says it was just an unfortunate incident.

"It was one of those ones in footy where in hindsight you can look at the replay and it looks like there might be another option," the Saint veteran said after the match.

"But I just saw the footy and accelerated at the footy and at the last second saw Hunt out of the corner of my eye.

"By then it was probably too late to do anything else. It was an unfortunate head clash I think and I'm just happy he was OK and right to play on."

St Kilda defeat the Swans to celebrate Lenny Hayes' 250th game but the popular Saint tried, without luck, to deflect the attention away from his achievement..

"It has been a big week, and a bit of that stuff doesn't sit comfortably with me, but I've had great support over my whole career and it was great to be able to play in front of a big Saints crowd and ultimately get the win," Hayes said about his milestone game.

"Milestones tend to creep up on you a little bit, but it's not about individuals, it's about the team and I'm just glad that I was drafted by this club and have been able to play for the club my whole career."

On the eve of his 250th game, St Kilda midfielder Lenny Hayes humbly acknowledges his popularity among football fans.

"I think it's because I'm a bit old and a bit slow; they probably feel a bit sorry for me maybe," Hayes said.

Lenny Hayes' remarkable recovery from knee surgery sees him fourth in AFLCA voting.

"He's a superstar on and off the field, and he's got the will and the drive to make something happen for the side when the side really needs it," St Kilda coach Scott Waters said.

"He's everything you want in a champion and he's a great role model for our club."

Lenny Hayes had a modest five-possession return in his comeback NAB Cup match after recovering from a knee injury, but simply being on the field again was a victory of sorts.

"It was probably a number of things you've got to tick off when you come back from an injury like that, and the first game when you play an opposition is probably one of those," Hayes said.

"I see it as a mini-milestone. I've certainly got a lot of areas to improve on as the team does, but it is just another step in the process."

Nick Riewoldt has been appointed St Kilda's captain again, leading an eight-man leadership group that will not include 2011 vice-captain Lenny Hayes.

St Kilda's Lenny Hayes is close to running at top speed but says he will take his time before returning to football.

"I've had one before and I played after nine and a half months but I think I was back a little too early," Hayes said.

"The stage I'm at in my career and with the team as well, you don't want to be taking someone's spot if you're not ready. I'm going to do everything I can and there is still a lot of time to go before round one. I'm not going to say I'll definitely be there."

Lenny Hayes' says he will only return to the field after a knee reconstruction when he is fully fit to do so.

"I'm not putting any time frame on it," Hayes said.

"With these things, and at my age as well, things can happen with hiccups here and there.

"I think I will have a tailored program going into pre-season. I would hope to be joining the main group before Christmas but again we will just see how we go."

Lenny Hayes will miss the rest of the season after scans revealed he requires a knee reconstruction following an injury while playing against Richmond.

"I think I've got a lot of good football ahead of me and, if anything, having this year off, the rest of the body gets some time off as well," Hayes said.

"I'm more than confident I'll be back to play some good footy for the Saints."

St Kilda midfielder Lenny Hayes has won the Trevor Barker Award as the club's best and fairest player for 2010.

"I think we've definitely got the best coach in the AFL," Hayes said upon accepting the award.

"I think for five or six weeks in a row there was one thing or another and Ross got the boys in and said, 'we've worked too long and too hard and this is what we're going to do this year. This is the direction we're going,' and it gave the boys a real lift."

Luke Ball says his subdued initial reaction to Collingwood's premiership was out of respect for his former St Kilda teammates, especially his close friend Lenny Hayes.

"I just said to Lenny, 'I love you, mate, I feel for you'. There's nothing I could say," Ball said about comforting Hayes after the game.

"I've got great respect for [St Kilda], from their coach down the whole playing list. [This year] was more about just trying to restart a career."

St Kilda's Lenny Hayes has won the Norm Smith Medal as the best player in the drawn grand final against Collingwood.

"It was clearly pretty good. Maybe the selectors got it right. I don't know," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said about Hayes' performance.

"Everyone's got a different view of Lenny, but he's certainly valued by us and a great leader. But you know what? He needs to do it again."

St Kilda midfielder is hopeful the surface at Etihad Stadium can be improved after finding it to be "a little too slippery" against Hawthorn.

"It was interesting. Personally I love playing there. I think it is a great stadium and as a team we've played really well there over the past few seasons. It was definitely slippery and I suppose as a player you just want to know that if something can be done about it that it is going to be done," Hayes said.

"If there is any way they can improve it over the next couple of weeks, you'd like to think they are doing everything they can to do that."

St kilda midfielder Lenny Hayes denies rumours that he is suffering from a foot stress fracture.

"I've been running since Christmas and I haven't had any injury setbacks," Hayes said.

"I had some off-season surgery on the elbow but I've participated in pretty much everything up to this stage."

Geelong midfielder Joel Selwood has been recognised as the AFL's most courageous player by his peers after winning the Robert Rose most courageous player award at the AFLPA's awards dinner.

Selwood - fifth in the MVP voting - polled 248 votes ahead of Sydney's Brett Kirk (132) and St Kilda's Lenny Hayes (91).

Zac Dawson wins a re-match against his nemesis Anthony Rocca with the Saints condemning the Magpies to a sudden death semi-final after winning their qualifying final.

"Daws has really come on this year, and again we didn't ask for anything too special from him,'' teammate Lenny Hayes said.

''Just to stand his ground and he's done that all year, so it was no different today.''

Injuries have grounded Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Lenny Hayes, Brendon Goddard and Steven Baker for Saturday's clash with Hawthorn with the Saints taking a cautious approach in the lead up to the finals.

St Kilda vice-captain Lenny Hayes senses a senior recall for teammate and housemate Matt Maguire is looming.

Restricted to 14 games in the last two years by a foot injury, Maguire is yet to be selected by St Kilda this season despite some solid form for its VFL affiliate Sandringham.

"He knows that he has got to wait for an opportunity but I know from seeing it up close that he is doing everything right," Hayes said.

"He is not one of those blokes who will whinge and say, 'Poor old me'. He works really hard and he knows when he does get an opportunity he will do well.

"There is going to be a bit of frustration there but you wouldn't really know it. He goes out there, he trains really hard and he is a professional bloke."

Saint Michael Gardiner will this week play his 150th AFL match, a feat that many believed he would never reach after battles with injury and discipline over the last few years.

"It is a big milestone for him. He's been great for us and he is getting back to some of his best form. He has been a real plus for us," teammate Lenny Hayes said of the ruckman.

St Kilda onballer Lenny Hayes thinks Tiger Ben Cousins will have plenty to prove when he plays the club that decided he was too risky to draft.

"We expect nothing less from Cousins. We know he is a real professional, he is a real hard runner and he has been getting back to some of his best form. I'm sure he's looking forward to the game as well," Hayes said.

Hayes chalks up his 200th against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

"I had a couple of them down last week, but I missed the first game with a hamstring injury," Hayes said.

"They were a bit flat on me because they had booked their tickets around Christmas time with the cheap flights.

"There's a busload of family coming down from Sydney. I've had to hit up a few of the boys for extra tickets."

Farren Ray's move to St Kilda from the Dogs continues to pay dividends for the West Australian with the midfielder averaging 24 disposals per game.

Fellow Saints midfielder was full of praise for Ray.

"He's been a great addition to our club – he's worked really hard, he's earning respect off the club and the players, and he's doing his job which is all you can ask," Hayes said.

Former St Kilda captain Lenny Hayes has overcome a hamstring complaint and will play against Adelaide, replacing another hamstring victim, Raphael Clarke.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has told Nick Riewoldt, Luke Ball and Lenny Hayes to rise to Ben Cousins playing standards.

St Kilda re-sign Lenny Hayes and Leigh Montagna with contracts that will keep them at the club until 2011 and 2010 respectively.

"We've got a real chance to build something here," Hayes said.

"We're at a club that hasn't had a lot of success and I think that's a real driving force for the current playing group."

The Saints name Nick Riewoldt as St Kilda captain for 2008 with Lenny Hayes acting as vice-captain.

"I'm honoured to captain St Kilda and we're all aiming to build on our pre-season momentum for a successful year," said Riewoldt.

"Captaincy is just a small part of the puzzle to achieve what we all want to achieve; it takes 40 guys contributing, and I suppose I'm just a figurehead for the club."

Saints coach Ross Lyon said the side needed a change from the co-captaincy model used in the past.

"We really need a clear distinction on who's leading the group, in particular, really responsible at the pointy end and under extreme pressure during matches," Lyon said.