Criticism of Saints a key factor in Hayes’ return

ST Kilda legend Lenny Hayes has taken the criticism of his club personally, admitting his return to the Saints was motivated by a desire to improve their image.

Hayes is in his first pre-season as an assistant coach under Ross Lyon in a new-look football department that has seen the Saints go back to the future.

Fellow club legends Robert Harvey and Brendon Goddard have also returned, with the Saints undergoing a rebranding of sorts after Brett Ratten’s tenure ended unceremoniously when with his brutal axing late last year.

Hayes takes charge of the midfield for 2023. Since 2011, St Kilda has played finals just once, but Hayes – who played 297 games for the club – sees enough talent in his side.

“I think so,” Hayes responded when asked if St Kilda’s best will be good enough in 2023.

“It’s pretty easy for me to say that without having played any games at the moment but I just think there’s an enormous amount of upside and potential on the list.

“At times the list has probably been wrongly criticized, I think when you actually dive into it pretty deeply there’s some pretty good talent there.

“I think injuries played a big part, guys like [Jade] Gresham and [Rowan] Marshall and some of your key players miss, you put any side and take out three or four of their best players, they’re probably going to come back to the pack a bit.

“So I think we can jump pretty quick.”

Hayes also said external expectations of making the top eight was a fair reflection of the club in 2023.

The club legend arrives at Moorabbin after more than five years as an assistant at Greater Western Sydney and said he was compelled to return the club to its former glory when Lyon had the Saints humming.

“There’s still a lot of people involved back when I first started playing, it’s just got that nice feel to it. That’s all we ever want is the club to be successful long term, whether I’m here or not, that’s the goal,” he said.

“There are times where you take it [criticism of the club] personally and I guess that was part of my motivation to get back involved in footy.

“When there was an opportunity at the club it’s pretty hard not to be motivated by that. You want to build something that’s going to be sustainable for a long period of time, you look at the clubs that have done it… that’s where we want to get this club to.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work but there’s a lot of people here who are motivated to get us to that point which is exciting to be a part of.”

– BY SEB MOTTRAM/ SEN