Despite having more than 250 games under his belt and a celebrated comeback from a knee injury, it is not getting any easier for Lenny Hayes to watch his team-mates from the stands.

The veteran midfielder is doing it tough as he awaits his chance to get back on the field with his teammates, saying the hardest part about rehabilitation is not being able to train with the entire group.

“It’s always hard to miss games, especially with something so minor,” he said.

“It’s not easy to watch and I’ve been on the sidelines throughout the whole of my career.”

“I’ve been spending some time with Schneids (Adam Schneider) out on the park … you feel a bit isolated that you’re not with the group and it’s probably the most frustrating thing about being in rehab.”

Hayes admits he made the right decision to pull out of the round six clash against Collingwood despite wanting to play out the game.

His late withdrawal from the side allowed youngster Jack Newnes to clock up his 11th AFL game.

“You always want to play but I knew that if I did play it would probably turn into a five or six week injury so I think in the end I made the smart decision and allow one of the other boys to play.

“At the time I probably thought I was 50/50 but I could have done something worse in the game if I had played.”

Hayes missed the Saints’ 11-point victory against the Blues in Round 7 and is keen for the team to put another win on the board. He says consistency is the key to stringing wins together.

“It’s been exciting to see younger guys in the team, I reckon a lot of our older guys are playing good footy as well.  With any team, any good team, they’ll be consistent and that’s something we haven’t been so it’s something we’ve been working hard at and what we want to improve.”

“We’ve been really good against Carlton and a bit disappointing about the weekend but we can always improve.

Hayes remains one to two weeks away from making a comeback.