AFTER 16 pre-seasons and countless gruelling fitness sessions, Lenny Hayes can’t wait for the games to begin.
Turning 34 today, Hayes is the only player on St Kilda’s list to have played senior footy in the 1990s and remains a vital cog in the Saints engine room.
With just over a month until St Kilda’s first NAB Challenge game (Feb 19 vs Western Bulldogs), Hayes is itching to get in amongst the action.
“It’s definitely a good thing [that the games are starting soon],” he said. “After you do a few pre-seasons, you just want the games to start as quickly as possible.”
Hayes has been on early morning duty lately with the recent arrival of his first child, a predicament which allows him to get up and watch his beloved San Fransisco 49ers in the NFL on television.
“It probably wasn’t until I went over there a couple of years ago that I first became interested,” he told SEN on Sunday.
“I missed out on seeing any games but it was always something that I wanted to do. So the next year when I went back for Rooey’s wedding, I went over a little bit earlier and didn’t tell the wife at the time but I’d booked a week in San Fransisco... I guess seeing it live is what really did it for me. I’ve been really passionate about it since.”
Hayes’ love for the NFL was strengthened further when St Kilda was granted exclusive access to the Denver Broncos facilities on its 2012 pre-season trip to the US.
“They were really nice and the guys gave us a bit of their time and spoke to us a bit about obviously AFL and had a bit of a kick of our footy. Then we got to go along pre-game down on the sidelines and got to watch them warm-up. That was something pretty special and not many people get to do that.”
While he didn’t travel with the team to Boulder, Colorado, the 277-game veteran was impressed with the physical shape of his teammates when they arrived back from the USA in December.
“The guys had a really tough camp over there in Colorado and were battling against minus 20 snow storms at some point. They came back and were really fit.”
“There is a new energy around the place and we have a lot of young guys coming through. I expect us to have a much better year than we did last year.”
You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32
