Lenny Hayes

The correlation between the form of Lenny Hayes and the performances of the St Kilda Football team is unbelievably strong. Hayes' emergence as an elite midfielder during the 2003 season coincided with St Kilda improving from a bottom two team to a finals contender. From 2003 onwards Hayes brilliance has been matched by his consistency and he has remained an elite midfielder throughout this time. From 2004 onwards St Kilda have failed to make the Preliminary Final only twice, 2006 when Hayes seriously injured his knee in Round 9 and missed the rest of the season and 2007, when returning from his knee injury, understandably Hayes could not quite recapture his best form in the first half of the season. Almost without fail, whenever Hayes is at his best so are St Kilda and whenever Hayes is out injured or is down on form the performance of the St Kilda Football team falls away dramatically. In 2012, Hayes stunned the football community by returning from a knee reconstruction with tremendous form, virtually re-writing the rule book on rebounding from horrific injury. So prolific was his return from injury that he averaged 24.45 disposals a game, and played every match for the season, drawing high acclaim from the football community for such an impressive comeback.

Draft and Arrival at St Kilda (1999)
Lenny Hayes was selected at Number 11 in the 1998 National Draft. He was recruited from the NSW/ACT Rams after winning the 1998 Morrish Medal as the best and fairest player in the TAC Cup. Hayes grew up in Pennant Hills in Sydney and played one reserves game for the Sydney Swans in 1998.

A sign of the high regard in which Hayes was held in at St Kilda was that he was given the number 7 jumper in his very first season, a number that had previously been worn by greats including most recently, St Kilda Team of the Century wingman Nicky Winmar.

Hayes made his debut aged 19 in Round 5 1999 against the Kangaroos in Sydney, his old home town and got knocked down by a legitimate Glen Archer shirtfront that Lenny still cops a ribbing about to this day from his mates. Hayes only missed two more games for the rest of the year, giving him a total of 16 games in his first year.

Hayes received a Rising Star nomination for his Round 22 game against the West Coast Eagles. The top four players in the 1999 Rising Star award were Adam Goodes, Brett Burton, Simon Black and Dean Rioli.

The only other current day Saint that made his debut with St Kilda in 1999 was hard nut Steven Baker. Whilst Baker played only two games during the 1999 season these games were in Rounds 2 and 3, thus making him the longest serving Saint, not Hayes even though Lenny has played more games for the Saints than any other current player with 220.

Season 2000
Hayes improved during the 2000 season and managed to play every game, mainly in a role on a half forward flank. It was always expected that Hayes would be moved to the midfield a little bit later in his career due to his hardness at the ball and his ability to accumulate possessions.



Season 2001
During the 2001 season Hayes regularly played as a midfielder and at 21 years of age he played his 50th game in a 10 point victory over Fremantle in Round 12 at Colonial Stadium. Reinforcing the old adage that a week is a long time in football, the very next week Hayes injured his shoulder against Richmond in a 39 point loss at Colonial Stadium. The shoulder injury kept Hayes on the sidelines for the remainder of the season and the Saints did not win another game until the very last match of the 2001 season when a Barry Hall goal after the siren gave St Kilda a two point victory against Hawthorn at the MCG.



Season 2002
In 2002 Hayes went from being a solid contributor to star midfielder and arguably would have won the St Kilda best and fairest if he didn’t suffer a broken hand in the Round 11 game against Brisbane at the Gabba which kept him out for two weeks. Hayes was runner-up in the best and fairest with 125 votes only 7 votes behind winner Nick Riewoldt who also won the Rising Star award in 2002 making it back to back Saints victories after Justin Koschitzke won the award in 2001. Hayes was able to increase his average disposals per game from 15.8 in 2000 and 2001 to 20.2, and also recorded team highs in tackles (100) and hard ball gets (64). Hayes signed a long term contract late in the 2002 season and started to be touted as a future St Kilda captain.



Season 2003
If he wasn’t already an elite midfielder during the 2002 season there was no doubt that during the 2003 season Lenny became one, averaging 15.5 kicks and 10.3 handballs per game, in the process winning the St Kilda best and fairest and making his first All Australian team, being named on a wing. The only other Saint in the side was stalwart Robert Harvey who was selected for the eighth time which turned out to be his final All-Australian selection. Hayes was fifth in the AFL for disposals and was rewarded with a spot in the Australian International Rules Team that toured Ireland.

Whilst still playing as an inside midfielder Hayes proportion of contested possessions had steadily decreased from 42.9% in 2001 to 36.7% in 2003 however this was more due to having more endurance and being able to read the play better which led to Lenny having a greater number of uncontested possessions. Although the proportion of contested possessions had dropped Lenny’s contested possessions per game had actually increased from 6.8 per game to 9.5. In the same time Hayes uncontested possessions rose from 9.0 per game to 16.3, one of the biggest increases in the AFL during this two year period.

From 2000 to 2002 the Saints had finished 16th, 15th and 15th and had changed the coach twice with Tim Watson resigning during his second year in 2000. During these three seasons the Saints only won a total of 11 games and also had one draw. Malcolm Blight was the coach for 2001 but only lasted 15 games before he was replaced by caretaker coach Grant Thomas. Thomas went on to be appointed as St Kilda’s senior coach for the 2002 season and finally the Saints were starting to get some long overdue stability.

St Kilda finished the 2003 season very strongly winning four of their final five games of the season, with each winning margin being more than 10 goals. St Kilda suffered a surprise 19 point loss to Geelong at a very blustery Skilled Stadium in Round 22. St Kilda split the season, winning 11 matches and losing 11 matches to finish 11th. Even with this record St Kilda still finished two wins behind West Coast and Essendon who finished 7th and 8th respectively. Elite midfielders Hayes and Harvey were the standouts at St Kilda and their outstanding performances together with the improvement of the younger players were the driving forces behind St Kilda’s rise up the ladder.

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Season 2004
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Expectations were high at St Kilda for the 2004 season and beyond. The nucleus of a very good side had been built. Hayes was now the 10th most experienced Saint with 93 games and was one of the most respected players at the St Kilda Football Club due to his hardness, skills, leadership and ability to consistently perform at a high standard no matter what the circumstances were. Only five other players on St Kilda’s list had represented St Kilda in more senior games than Hayes being Harvey (277), Justin Peckett (204), Aussie Jones (179), Andrew Thompson (148), and Max Hudghton (137). Four other Saints with more AFL experience than Hayes had been recruited from other clubs being 2003 Captain Aaron Hamill (151), Fraser Gehrig (168), Craig Callaghan (124) and Heath Black (103).

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Due to Lenny’s experience and afore mentioned qualities he was appointed St Kilda Captain for the 2004 season under Grant Thomas’ rotational policy. Hayes at only 24 years of age was one of the youngest captains in the AFL. Hayes year as captain got off to a brilliant start with the Saints winning the Wizard cup after defeating Geelong in the Grand Final.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda played Geelong again in Round 1 of the 2004 home and away season in which the Saints recorded the first win of a 10 match winning streak. St Kilda prospered during the 2004 season with new captain Lenny Hayes leading by example and setting the benchmark for his teammates to follow. Hayes led the AFL in tackles and was ranked number 1 at St Kilda for handballs and third for hardball gets. Hayes played 23 of a possible 25 games during 2004 and finished third in St Kilda’s best and fairest behind Nick Riewoldt and Luke Ball. Hayes polled 10 votes in the Brownlow Medal to finish equal 22nd and be the fourth best Saint.

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2005 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda continued with the rotational captaincy policy for the next two seasons with Nick Riewoldt being the captain in 2005 and Luke Ball captaining the Saints in 2006.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes averaged 12.7 kicks and 10.9 handballs to lead the Saints in disposals and be one of three St Kilda midfielders named in the 2005 All Australian team. Nick Dal Santo and Hayes were each named on a wing and Luke Ball was selected as Ruck Rover. Hayes yet again had a very consistent season including a stretch from Round 14 to Round 22 where he was named in St Kilda’s best players in eight of nine games. Lenny’s career best form was a major factor in the Saints jumping from 9th after 13 rounds to finish the home and away season in the top 4 for the second straight year.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes was again named in the best during the Saints eight point Qualifying Final win over Adelaide at AAMI stadium. Champion Saints midfielder Robert Harvey kicked 3 goals and had more than 30 possessions to play arguably his greatest ever game in an extremely illustrious career. The Saints had the week off before playing a Preliminary Final against the Sydney Swans at the MCG. After leading by 7 points at three quarter the Saints were overrun by the Swans in the last quarter to lose by 31 points.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">To underline the consistency of Hayes during the 2005 season he had 20 or more disposals in 20 of his 24 games and Champion Data ranked him as the sixth most consistent player in the competition behind, Shane Tuck, Daniel Cross, Ben Cousins, Dean Cox and Kane Cornes. Hayes finished the best and fairest on 144 votes, only two votes behind join winners, tagger Steven Baker and midfielder Luke Ball.

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2006 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the three seasons leading up to 2006 Hayes had been an elite midfielder and had hardly missed a game and St Kilda had gone from promising young team to one of the strongest contenders for the premiership, however the fortunes of Hayes and St Kilda both changed during 2006. Hayes continued his outstanding form until Round 9 when he seriously injured his knee against the Kangaroos at the Telstra Dome. After 9 Rounds Hayes was one of the form players of the competition, having already racked up 8 Brownlow Medal votes and St Kilda were fifth on the ladder. Hayes averaged 24.9 disposals, a career high 5.3 marks and an equal career high (to this point) 5.6 tackles.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda were fourth after 19 rounds and despite winning two of the last three games they slipped to 6th. In one of the tightest final ladders in AFL history only one win and percentage separated fourth and eighth. The Saints lost their Elimination Final to Melbourne by 18 points despite appearing to be in control at half time leading by 20 points. With so little separating the top eight sides the loss of Hayes hardness, experience, skills and leadership had been very telling.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">After promising so much at the start of the 2006 season the St Kilda Football Club reacted swiftly to a season that failed to live up to internal expectations and sacked coach Grant Thomas in the week after the finals loss to Melbourne. Thomas was replaced by Ross Lyon who had been an Assistant coach for the Sydney Swans for the previous three seasons, during which time the Swans made two Grand Finals and won one premiership.

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2007 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Under Ross Lyon, the rotational captaincy policy ended and Hayes was named joint St Kilda captain along with Riewoldt and Ball for the 2007 season. Hayes returned to the St Kilda team in the Round 1 victory against previous season’s finals nemesis Melbourne. Despite missing three games with an injured cheekbone from Round 6 to Round 8 Hayes finished 5th in St Kilda’s best and fairest and led the Saints in hard-ball gets, tackles and handballs. Hayes numbers were slightly down on the previous couple of seasons with 22.7 disposals and 4.4 marks per game.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda, struggeling to adapt to a far more defensive game style under Ross Lyon were languishing in 13th position with only 4 wins after 10 rounds. In the first 10 rounds Hayes was unable to recapture the elite form that he had displayed during the previous four seasons and was only named in St Kilda’s best twice. It took Hayes close to half a season after his knee injury to regain his confidence and for his match fitness to return to his best but over the final 12 rounds Hayes was named in the Saints best 10 times to again be a driving force behind a charge up the ladder during the second half of a season by St Kilda. The Saints performed significantly better in the second half of the season with Hayes back to his best, however they had lost too much ground in the first half of the season and could only manage to finish ninth with 11 wins, 10 losses and 1 draw, half a win and percentage behind Adelaide.

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2008 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On 24th March 2008 Hayes signed a contract to remain a Saint until the end of the 2011 season. Nick Riewoldt was appointed the sole St Kilda captain for 2008 with Hayes being named as vice-captain.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes had another outstanding season in 2008 averaging 24.1 disposals, 4.4 marks and a career high 6 tackles per game to finish third in St Kilda’s best and fairest behind first time winner Sam Fisher with key forward Nick Riewoldt finishing second. Hayes was back to his elite level best for the entire season and the Saints were able to recapture their form from 2004 and 2005, albeit with a much different game style and returned again to finishing in the top 4. Hayes led St Kilda for disposals and tackles, and won the Robert Harvey best clubman award. The Saints made their third Preliminary Final in five years, however were comprehensively beaten by eventual premiers Hawthorn.

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2009 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2009 Hayes averaged 28 disposals per game despite only averaging 90 minutes per game. Hayes was at his best during the finals series averaging 30 disposals, 14 contested possessions and five inside 50s to be named one of the best three St Kilda players in each of the three finals.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes made his third All-Australian Team, being named in the centre, and finished third in the Brownlow Medal on 20 votes, behind winner Gary Ablett on 30 votes, and runner-up Chris Judd on 22 votes. Hayes finished fifth in an extremely close St Kilda best and fairest. Hayes has maintained his level of outstanding performance for an extended period of time as indicated by seven top five finishes in the Saints best and fairest in the past eight years. The only time in these eight years where Hayes didn’t finish in the top 5 was due to seriously injuring his knee in Round 9, 2006.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda were dominant during the 2009 home and away season, winning their first 19 games on their way to the minor premiership and a Grand Final birth. St Kilda still delivered Saints Footy in the Grand Final, however lost by 12 points to a very experienced Geelong outfit who’s experience of playing in the previous two Grand Finals was extremely telling and resulted in the Cats being slightly more composed than the Saints throughout the Grand Final.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the first quarter of the Grand Final Lenny Hayes was clearly best on ground with 7 kicks and 4 handballs. After quarter time, 2007 Brownlow Medalist Jimmy Bartel who had 9 possessions himself to quarter time was given the tagging job on Hayes for the remainder of the match. Hayes and Bartel had a great duel with Hayes having 13 possessions in the final three quarters compared to Bartels 10. After quarter time with Bartel and Hayes breaking even the other Geelong midfielders had slightly more impact on the match than their St Kilda counterparts.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In his three seasons under Ross Lyon, Hayes game time has consistently been just over 90 minutes, which is 20 minutes down on his 2005 and 2006 seasons. Despite the reduced time on the ground Hayes actually averaged slightly more disposals per game for the period from 2007 to 2009 than he did for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Hayes plays predominantly as an inside midfielder and with the increased rotations in the modern game it would be impossible for him to sustain his immense pressure, workrate and intensity for 110 minutes each game now.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Since the end of the 2006 season, with the further development of players such as Leigh Montagna and Brendon Goddard together with the recruitment of Clinton Jones the St Kilda midfield has not been as reliant on Hayes as it used to be and can now operate effectively when Hayes is recuperating on the bench for 25% of the game. This time on the bench together with the extra midfield support allows Hayes to actually have a greater impact on the game in only 90 minutes on the ground than he previously made in 110 minutes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Although Hayes kicked only five goals during the 2009 season he kicked two during the finals, including a critical snap against the Western Bulldogs. Hayes places a far greater emphasis on setting up his teammates to kick goals than on kicking goals himself.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Records have been kept for goal assists and score assists since Hayes became an elite midfielder in 2003. During this time Hayes has had 150 score assists including 92 goal assists. This is a very high strike rate for goal assists to score assists and indicates that Hayes effectively passes to teammates who are in the most damaging positions.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the 2009 season Hayes “had the equal-highest disposal efficiency of any of the top-10 ballwinners in the competition and he ranked fifth in the competition for disposals per minute.”

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">During the 2009 season Hayes had 16 goal assists, easily ahead of the following midfielders, Cooney 10, O’Keefe 12, Deledio 11 and Didak 13. Ablett and Pendlebury were level with Hayes on 16. Although Hayes is universally praised for his tenacity, consistency, leadership and courage, for some reason he doesn’t seem to get as much credit as most of the players mentioned above for how effective and damaging his disposals are.

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2010 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Lenny had an outstanding 2010 season. With Captain Nick Riewoldt injured for the bulk of the season, the Vice Captain stepped up and led the club under intimidating circumstances, off and on the field. His accolades at the end of the 2010 sum up his year: a Trevor Barker Award, a Norm Smith Medal and a top 10 finish in the Brownlow Medal. Coach Ross Lyon in The Saint praised his efforts over the 2010 season; "In my time I would say this is the best I have seen (Hayes) play. Some of his performances, to lead the team when the momentum was shifting the other way, were just herculean. He's a really special St Kilda player, he won the Norm Smith Medal, won our Best and Fairest and he's universally admired. There are not many people that Leigh Matthews admires, but he's an unabashed fan of Lenny Hayes, and I think when you've got Leigh Matthews in your corner, no one else needs to say anything."

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda started the 2010 season well winning their first three games, however they hit a massive hurdle during the Round 3 victory against Collingwood with captain Nick Riewoldt injuring his hamstring just before half-time and missing half the home and away season. In his period as acting captain from Round 4 to Round 14 Hayes provided great leadership and was an inspiration for his club.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In Round 6 the Western Bulldogs were in control for most of the match and led by 23 points late in the third quarter, however the inspirational Lenny Hayes played yet another brilliant, skilful and courageous game when the Saints most needed it. Hayes was instrumental in St Kilda’s hard fought comeback three point victory having 13 kicks, 22 handballs, seven clearances, laying seven tackles and used the ball magnificently to have a disposal efficiency of 89%.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The West Coast Eagles led St Kilda by 17 points early in the third quarter of their Round 9 match at Subiaco Oval, the Saints had lost three of their last four matches and slipped to seventh on the ladder so another loss would have placed them in a precarious position.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A prodigious 10 possession third quarter from Hayes including a brilliant goal along the ground from the left forward pocket was the catalyst for a massive improvement from St Kilda. The hard running and work ethic of Hayes was contagious amongst his St Kilda teammates during a quarter that ended up being the turning point of St Kilda’s 2010 season. Led by Hayes the entire St Kilda team lifted in the second half to play superb football for the remainder of the match and ran out 35 point winners. Hayes finished the match with 19 kicks, 16 handballs, six marks, seven tackles, two goal assists and 10 contested possessions. The victory against West Coast was the start of a seven match winning sequence for the Saints that got their season back on track and propelled them to yet another top four finish.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">During the 2010 home and away season Hayes played 21 matches averaging 77% game time, 13.6 kicks, 14.2 handballs and 4.0 marks per game with a disposal efficiency of 70.7%. Hayes was ranked sixth in the AFL for clearances, equal fourth for tackles and 10th for handballs. Hayes polled 19 Brownlow Medal votes, to be the highest ranked St Kilda player and finish eighth overall. Hayes polled votes in seven games including five best on grounds, with two of these being the aforementioned Round 6 and Round 9 matches against the Western Bulldogs and the West Coast Eagles respectively. Hayes also received three votes for a 26 possession, 14 tackle performance against Geelong in Round 13 at the MCG and made it back to back best on grounds in the Round 19 and Round 20 comprehensive victories against Port Adelaide and North Melbourne.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The profile for Hayes in the 2011 AFL Prospectus said “During the 2010 H & A season he was ranked second in the competition for disposals per minute, third in tackles, sixth in clearances, and eighth in centre clearances.”

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the 2010 Qualifying Final four point victory against Geelong Hayes had a significant impact on the game with his ball-use, unrelenting work-rate and his physical presence, laying a fierce legitimate bump on Paul Chapman on the wing in the first quarter. Straight after the bump Hayes kept on going and within seconds had won a free kick for a high tackle. Hayes was superb in close to have 12 contested possessions, nine clearances and nine tackles to lead St Kilda in all three categories. For much of the game Hayes played on Joel Selwood who had only four first half possessions and whilst Selwood improved in the second half to finish with 19 possessions he was soundly beaten by Hayes who’s influence on the match went beyond his 25 possessions.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the Preliminary Final against the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda started slowly to trail by six points at half-time. Lenny Hayes was St Kilda’s best player in the first half having 18 possessions and as usual was great around the stoppages to finish the game with six clearances. Hayes had 16 kicks and 10 handpasses for the match and led St Kilda in tackles and inside 50s with seven and six respectively. St Kilda gained the ascendancy in the second half to win by 22 points and progress to their second consecutive Grand Final.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Collingwood controlled the first half of the Grand Final to lead by 24 points. In the opening minute of the second half Lenny Hayes set the standard for the rest of the match, laying a fierce tackle on Dane Swan who was penalised for holding the ball. Hayes had 18 kicks, 14 handballs, took five marks, had five inside 50s and the equal most score involvements.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">When his side needed it the most Lenny Hayes found a way to kick a crucial set shot goal from 53 metres out 13 minutes into the last quarter to reduce Collingwood’s lead to seven points. The first time in his AFL career that Hayes had kicked a set-shot goal from beyond 50 metres, it was truly a phenomenal effort to do something he hadn’t done before on the biggest stage of all. Hayes was superb around the stoppages, consistently reading the hitouts well and propelling St Kilda forward, he had five clearances, 11 contested possessions and laid 12 tackles.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes was involved in another couple of critical plays in the last quarter, kicking the ball deep into St Kilda’s forward line, Brendon Goddard came in from the side, launched himself and produced magnificent elevation to have his knees land on Harry O’Brien’s shoulders, Goddard grabbed the ball cleanly to take a spectacular mark, he then kicked the goal from 20 metres out to put St Kilda six points in front with just under seven minutes to play.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Collingwood were able to regain the lead, and with just under two minutes remaining Hayes gathered the ball and kicked from 60 metres out towards Stephen Milne and Ben Johnson. The ball landed a couple of metres away from them 15 metres out from goal and went slightly left to be on track for the goals, when it bounced a second time five metres out from goal Milne had got away from his opponent however the second bounce went at right angles a bit too quickly for Milne to gather and the ball crossed the line for a behind to level the scores with a minute and a half remaining.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The Lenny Hayes behind to tie the match was remarkably similar to the behind kicked by Barry Breen in the 1966 Grand Final which led to a St Kilda one point victory. Hayes kicked from about 15 metres further out in a similar area of the ground and both kicks changed direction on the bounce to go strongly to the right and through for a behind.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Neither side was able to get a score in the final minute and a half, resulting in the first drawn Grand Final since 1977.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">St Kilda vice-captain Lenny Hayes and utility Brendon Goddard were clearly the best two players during the Grand Final, and without the heroics of Hayes and Goddard along with resilience shown by the St Kilda defense led by Sam Fisher the St Kilda Football Club would not have been able to get back in the match and finish with a draw to earn themselves an opportunity to win a premiership a week later. Hayes won the Norm Smith Medal with 13 votes, finishing ahead of teammate Goddard on seven votes with Collingwood’s Dale Thomas third on six votes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The first half of the Grand Final replay played out in a similar fashion to the game a week earlier with Collingwood leading by 27 points at half-time. In the Replay however, St Kilda were unable to fight back, Collingwood extended the lead in the second half to record a comprehensive 56 point victory.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Lenny Hayes was controversially left out of the 2010 All-Australian team and the Norm Smith medal winning performance demonstrated exactly why Hayes should have been selected in the All-Australian side. Sure some of his rival midfielders may have had slightly better stats, however several times throughout 2010 Hayes almost single handedly changed the course of matches by performing at an exceptional level when St Kilda were struggling, he inspired his teammates to lift, run over their opposition in the second half and record a victory. Put simply when the stakes are at their highest few players in the AFL go close to matching the performances of champion midfielder Lenny Hayes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes was a run-away winner of the Trevor Barker Award as St Kilda’s 2010 best and fairest, finishing with 528 votes. Midfielder Leigh Montagna finished second with 451 votes closely followed in equal third by utility Goddard and defender Sam Gilbert on 435 votes. In 2010 Hayes played 25 matches, averaging 94 minutes, 13.6 kicks, 13.8 handballs and 3.7 marks per game with a disposal efficiency of 71.1%. Hayes led St Kilda in tackles, was ranked second in handballs, handballs received and loose-ball gets, third for hard-ball gets, fourth for inside 50s and fifth for kicks.

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2011 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Lenny Hayes commenced the 2011 season in the same sublime form he displayed throughout 2010, having 17 kicks, 12 handballs and laying five tackles against Geelong in Round 1. Hayes displayed great composure, operating at a disposal efficiency of 79% and kicking a brilliant goal at the 22 minute mark of the last quarter to put St Kilda five points in front. Hayes had a team-high 14 contested possessions, five clearances and also laid five tackles.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The following week Hayes was playing well in a tight contest against Richmond at the MCG when he suffered a knee injury in the second minute of the third quarter during a clearance contest in the middle of the ground. It was immediately apparent that Hayes was in serious trouble and although he bravely got back to his feet two trainers were required to carry him off the ground.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The day after the Round 2 match against Richmond the worst fears of the St Kilda Football Club were realised with the news that Hayes had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and partially torn his medial ligament, Lenny would require a reconstruction of his left knee, prematurely ending his 2011 season. When it was confirmed that Hayes would require a knee reconstruction Lenny said “obviously it’s really disappointing but I have been through this before and I know what to expect.” Hayes went on to say “This is just another challenge that I will tackle head on. This is not career ending, I still feel like I have a lot of footy left in me.”11

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Lenny’s experience of coming back and the knowledge he had acquired during the rehabilitation process from his right knee reconstruction in 2006 made the recovery from his left knee reconstruction in 2011 easier to manage. Whilst Hayes was able to return from his first knee reconstruction in Round 1 2007 this was only 44 weeks after injuring his knee in Round 9 2006 and it took him a couple of months to build his form and match conditioning.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A major advantage Lenny had second time around is that due to sustaining the injury in Round 2 2011 Hayes had almost a full year before the start of the 2012 season, giving him the opportunity to do most of the pre-season training with St Kilda and regain his confidence and build up his match conditioning before the 2012 season commenced.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Whilst he was injured in 2011 Hayes did some media work and some more coaching with the Oakleigh Chargers under 18s. Hayes was one of several St Kilda players to get married in the off-season and had team-mate Stephen Milne as his MC.

2012 Season
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Hayes' had a fantastic 2012 season, re-writing the rule book when it comes to recovering from a knee-injury. Having not played since round 2 the previous year, Hayes had an electric year. In just his second match for the season and his second back from injury, Hayes amassed 27 disposals against the Suns, before picking up 30 disposals over then next fortnight in clashes against the Bulldogs and Fremantle. Hayes only slipped under 20 disposals a game twice for the rest of the year, managing 18 against ladder-leaders Sydney in round 17 and was subbed-out at half time against the Giants in round 22 in order to preserve Hayes' body for another season as well as give debutante Sebastian Ross much-needed AFL experience. Hayes' 2012 season drew much acclaim from the football community and has now set the standard for those recovering from similar injuries. =Statistics=