News 2023 St Kilda Media Thread

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Go vote for Mitchitoku Owensaru in the mark of the year


 
George said:
Go vote for Mitchitoku Owensaru in the mark of the year


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Mitchito’s mark is the best, although it doesn’t help that the cameraman seems to have been standing in the next suburb


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Dr Spaceman said:
Mitchito’s mark is the best, although it doesn’t help that the cameraman seems to have been standing in the next suburb


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Can see Parker winning it for arse factor, agree on camerman, probably too busy chtting up random woman in crowd at Geelong waterpark.
 

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Inside Jack Hayes’ ACL recovery, with nearly 500 days between injury and St Kilda AFL return​

Jack Hayes tore his ACL early last season and returned to the AFL only three days ago. DANIEL CHERNY caught up with the Saints forward throughout his turbulent journey to find out what the process is really like.

Jack Hayes has worked hard to return to the AFL after undergoing a knee reconstruction in 2022.
After Jack Hayes ruptured the ACL in his left knee in round six, 2022, he agreed to meet with CODE Sports periodically through his rehabilitation to document his road back.

On Saturday night, almost 500 days after suffering the injury in a game against Greater Western Sydney in Canberra, the St Kilda big man returned to the AFL in his side’s clash with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

Here is the inside story of Hayes’ bumpy and trying return journey.

Friday, August 5, 2022, 11:00am​

The first meeting with Jack Hayes happens where all the others will too: in the foyer at St Kilda’s Linton Street base.
It is more than three months since the injury, which derailed Hayes’ whirlwind entrance into the elite level.

That Hayes was playing that Friday night at Manuka was itself extraordinary. By the time he signed with the Saints, the part-time concreter was just days shy of his 25th birthday. He’d been a star in the SANFL with Woodville-West Torrens, yet his chance could so easily have passed him by. But given the opportunity to train with St Kilda in early 2022, he joined the club via the supplemental selection period and impressed enough to earn a round one debut against Collingwood.

While the Saints fell to the Magpies that night, Hayes burst onto the scene in his forward/ruck role, kicking three goals and taking 10 marks in the absence of Paddy Ryder.

He was squeezed out of the side in round four but a suspension to Ryder gave Hayes another shot. By the night of the game against GWS, St Kilda was riding a four-match winning streak under Brett Ratten and in Hayes they looked to have found a sustainable AFL player, especially given Ryder was 34 and potentially playing his final season.

Hayes had started well on the night in question, kicking a goal just after time on of the first quarter to extend St Kilda’s lead to 14 points.
Then it happened.

Grappling with Giant Nick Haynes in a marking contest, Hayes’ left knee gave way. He didn’t immediately depart the field, seeking to stand the mark moments later, by which point he suspected something was badly amiss.

Here's a look at Jack Hayes' suspected ACL injury 😥

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“(At first) I thought it was just a little bit of a corky,” Hayes says.

“I got up sort of started running off. And then they kicked out to some bloke on the wing. I went to stand the mark. It was a pretty horrible feeling in my knee.”

He’d never done a serious injury like this before, so still wasn’t certain. But taken into the rooms with medicos, Hayes underwent the Lachman test, used to assess the integrity of the ACL. The two club doctors looked at each other and shook their heads.

An ACL is cruel for any player, but especially so for a man who had waited so long for his taste and feared it may have all evaporated in a moment. Hayes didn’t have a contract for 2023.

The emotions began to spill as he called his parents.

“Knowing that I didn’t have a contract, I was thinking they’re not going to give a guy who’s done a knee another go.”

Hayes watched on as St Kilda secured a gutsy 17-point win, with Josh Battle needing to carry the ruck load late in the game after Rowan Marshall was hindered by a cork, the South Australian’s fears were soon allayed by coach Brett Ratten.

“He came up to me in the rooms after, just consoling me but sort of said, ‘Mate, we’re going to look after you here’. Which is obviously unreal to hear,” Hayes says.

To say so privately was one thing, to do so publicly was another. That night at his post-match press conference, Ratten insisted Hayes had nothing to worry about it when it came to job security.

“Jack’s a great introduction to our footy club with the way he’s gone about it. He’ll have the ACL treatment and recovery and be at our footy club for a long time,” Ratten said.

“For us to look after him now and make sure he gets through this stage and gets ready for next year. We’ll be there with him and with our arm around him.”
By the end of May, Hayes had signed a two-year contract extension.

He’d undergone surgery just days after the injury, and by August, Hayes has just started running in straight lines. He has sought to use the setback to build his upper body strength. Never waste a crisis, they say.

Defender Nick Coffield, who suffered an ACL tear of his own in February, is a couple of months ahead of Hayes and has served as counsel and company in the rehab group. Hayes also received a message out of the blue from Bulldogs tall Josh Bruce, who had suffered an ACL tear in late 2021. It was a pure goodwill gesture from someone Hayes didn’t know.

St Kilda is grimly hanging onto a spot in the eight. The Saints’ destiny remains in their own hands with three rounds remaining, but it is going to be difficult with matches against Geelong, Brisbane and Sydney to come.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 8:30am​

By the time we convene again, there had been upheaval at Moorabbin.
The Saints lost their last three, missing the finals despite an 8-3 start to the season. Jordan De Goey rejected their overtures to remain with Collingwood, trade period coming and going with the lone addition of Zaine Cordy.

It was all seeming pretty uneventful, until it wasn’t.
That same degree of loyalty afforded by Ratten to Hayes was not given to the coach himself, sacked just a few months after signing his own two-year extension.

“It was a very big surprise to see him go,” Hayes says.
“But that’s what the club’s decided, and we’ve got Ross (Lyon) in now who seems absolutely fantastic.”

Hayes texted Ratten to thank him for giving him a go. Ratten responded, wishing Hayes all the best for the future.

But football clubs move on quickly.

Within weeks Hayes had a new coach.

“He seems very professional, knows what he wants and he’s gonna be very hard on the players,” Hayes says.

Hayes had a couple of connections with Lyon, knowing ex-Fremantle player Cameron Sutcliffe, while Hayes’ brother Nick plays under ex-Docker Michael Barlow at Werribee.

The macro picture of what St Kilda will look like under Lyon consumes the broader football public. However for a player on the path back from such a major injury, focus must remain on the micro steps needed to reach full fitness once more.

Hayes is making steady progress. He’s started participating in non-contact drills at the beginning of training sessions.

“I normally get the first three drills in and then when they start doing really competitive stuff I jump out and go do my own thing on the sideline. Which involves like, a bit of agility stuff, a little bit of sort of low level contact, bit of tackling and then obviously the conditioning part of it as well.”

He has caught up to Coffield, but unfortunately it is not because Hayes is on world record pace. Alas, the backman has suffered a hamstring setback.

After the Saints’ season finished in late August, he returned to Adelaide for a couple of weeks. But while many of his teammates were holidaying overseas,

Hayes was back spending several days a week at the club in what was his official leave period.

Round one, 2023 remains Hayes’ target.

“That’s what I want to do,” Hayes says.

“So I gave myself every chance to be ready for that. If that meant getting back here early and getting another two or three weeks in before the team comes back, I was more than happy to do.”

And St Kilda needs him. Ryder has retired, and Max King has gone down with a shoulder injury that looks likely to sidelined him for the early stages of 2023.
“It gives blokes like me, Cooper Sharman, those sort of guys a real opportunity to put their best foot forward and hopefully cement their spot in a team for where Max does come back.”

Max King’s setback was a fresh off-season blow for the Saints. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Thursday, April 27, 2023 9:00am​

Things have gone better than expected for the Saints.
Riding the crest of Lyon’s wave, they are 5-1 and mounting an unlikely finals push.

However it has not been smooth sailing for Hayes. On the cusp of returning to full training in January, Hayes felt discomfort in his left foot. He thought nothing of it initially, but then heard a pop as he changed direction in a tackling drills.

Hayes heard a “pop” and could hardly put any weight on his foot.

Scans showed a crack of his fifth metatarsal. It meant surgery, a screw and 10 weeks of no running. Come late April, Hayes, who had been eyeing a round one spot, has still not returned to light skill work with St Kilda’s main group.

“Obviously (I was) pretty distraught,” Hayes said.

“I mean, all you want to do is you want to play and you have been stuck on the sidelines. Not a great feeling and being so close, yet so far away, is probably the thing that hurt the most. I was settled almost back into full training.

“You always look at someone to blame when you get injured, and I was looking for someone to blame. This isn’t fair. Why me? All that sort of stuff.
“Looking back now I probably should have done a bit less work and all that sort of stuff, but it’s easy to look at that now.”

In a macabre way, it has brought Hayes and Coffield closer, both having suffered injuries while already on the way back from a knee reconstruction. Coffield has since had another calf setback.

Even the progress on Hayes’ foot hasn’t been linear. He had been feeling symptom-free only for a follow-up scan to show the injury hadn’t fully healed, pushing back his return timeline by another fortnight.

All too used to an upper-body heavy program, Hayes has continued to work on his increasingly impressive chest and shoulders, while swimming for cardio.

He’s up to 105kg on the bench press, aiming for 110kg by the time he resumes playing.

“Those first couple of weeks where you’re off legs, you’re not doing much. You’re not at the club much, you feel pretty secluded,” Hayes says.

“Trying to beat targets in the gym, it keeps you pretty sane.”

Forced to defer his comeback game, Hayes is now striving to play in the VFL in late May, just before St Kilda’s AFL bye.
Lyon has taken a hands-off approach with Hayes, for now.

“He‘s obviously very busy at the moment with the AFL team, and they’re doing pretty well. So he sort of likes to leave the rehab blokes almost to themselves. He’s still very supportive and communicates when he can.”

While there have been frustrations, there is at least a strong lure to get back. St Kilda’s start to the campaign has made September action a legitimate possibility.

“You always want to play finals as an AFL footballer. And the team is doing pretty well so far, looking like we’re going to hopefully make it so. Obviously being back in there for a finals campaign would be absolutely unreal. And that’s what I’ll be striving to do. So fingers crossed I can get injury free.”
Elsewhere, Hayes has started doing a carpentry apprenticeship with a handful of teammates, and has moved in with brother Nick and his partner in Murrumbeena.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023, 4pm​

Just after our last meeting, things took another nasty turn for Hayes. St Kilda’s rehab group curse struck one more, with Hayes tearing his left hamstring, pushing things back another eight weeks. He eventually returned via the VFL in July, playing one match for Sandringham.

The following week, Hayes played a 14-a-side reserves scratch match against Melbourne, a hit-out where Brodie Grundy’s demotion at the Demons took the headlines. That Hayes could not take a trick was underscored when he nicked his right hamstring in that informal game, meaning another week out.

Only in late July and August has Hayes finally strung together a few VFL matches. His timing might work out though. On the weekend just gone, Hayes kicked six goals for Sandy in the VFL against Williamstown. And the Saints, via a win over Geelong and other results, secured just their second finals appearance in more than a decade.
Jack Hayes has been a handful today, he's got his 5th ðŸ–ï¸

Catch all the Smithy’s VFL action live and free on the AFL website and AFL Live Official App: https://t.co/3V9lTkTeJkpic.twitter.com/cQNRvWIFN9
— VFL / VFLW (@VFL) August 20, 2023
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“I probably thought this year was almost a write-off midway through the year. So to finally get some games under my belt. Yeah, unbelievable,” Hayes says.
He modestly plays down his half a dozen snags in the VFL.

“It all seemed to click on the weekend and was pretty lucky to get a get a hold of a couple,” Hayes says, praising the work done by teammates.
Gradually, confidence in his body has been restored.

“The first game you’re always thinking about my knee, is it going hold up? You can’t really simulate a game here on the track. So the first contest I had I was sort of like ‘shit is it gonna go again?’ But luckily it was all good. So every game you play you sort forget, you think about it less and less going into contests and whatnot.”

It took time, but eventually Jack Hayes restored his confidence. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It’s been particularly meaningful to return alongside Coffield, who finally made it back in the same scratch match where Hayes did his other hammy.

Hayes has mounted a reasonable case for AFL selection, but is unsure whether he’ll be given the nod for the final round clash against the Lions.

“Hopefully there‘s no injuries. I would like to make my way in there without any injuries,” Hayes says.

“You never know what will happen. I haven’t been told anything yet. I mean, it’s still early in the week.”
When he looks back at a 16-month process in which setbacks were all too regular, Hayes is proud of how he has persevered, having worked with club psychologist Ben Robbins.

“Ideally, you don’t want to do another injury. I mean, it’s pretty hard in that respect. I felt like I was doing everything I could in rehab and doing everything I
could to get myself right,” Hayes says.

“To put myself through those uncomfortable situations and be able to see the other side and get through them, it‘s been good.

“I’m super resilient.”

There was one failure though. He could only manage 105kg on the bench press.

Saturday, August 26, 2023, 6:31pm​

The stars aligned. St Kilda rested Max King for the trip to Brisbane, with the Saints opting to recall Hayes for a taste of the big time on the eve of the finals.

Late in the third quarter, he steers through a set shot from 20 metres out to bridge the margin to six points. Descended upon by his teammates, Jack is back.

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Munga said:
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I think he's pushed up a level this year. Not many can do what he does, he's a rebounder that can win contested ball, can mark well, collects loose ball at pace, evasive, elite kick, run and carry, good vision etc. If he's not elite he's not far off elite now. Wish we had 3 of him.
 
sunny3193 said:
Would someone translate this for me?
#1 based on expectation.
Expectation of what?
That he can chew and walk at the same time?
This Hoyne character is in danger of disappearing up his own orifice.
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Plus he is stuck in a Twitter/X thread.
Which is very last July.
 
The other player who came out very good was Mason Wood, who was slightly ahead of Josh Daicos.
Almost the same, Daicos' kicking is a bit better, but Mase takes more contested marks.

The thing that tipped the balance to Wood, is Wood's defensive work.
 
sunny3193 said:
Would someone translate this for me?
#1 based on expectation.
Expectation of what?
That he can chew and walk at the same time?
This Hoyne character is in danger of disappearing up his own orifice.
Click to expand...


A lot of the Champion Data stuff is designed to get hits on the site and get publicity. It has its place but this stuff is more for entertainment than serious analytics.

Jack Sinclair is close enough to elite though and probably the best player we've had since the golden generation this year. He's got the impact of the best players but has more consistency than a lot of them. His game against the Cats was as good as what guys like Danger and Bont put up to drag their sides over the line. He'd be in contention for a Brownlow if he'd played full time midfield.
 
sunny3193 said:
Would someone translate this for me?
#1 based on expectation.
Expectation of what?
That he can chew and walk at the same time?
This Hoyne character is in danger of disappearing up his own orifice.
Click to expand...
It means expectation for performance at his position. It takes into account the players age, experience etc and looks at what an average performance for an AFL player in that position would be and judges you based on that. It’s essentially saying Sinclair is best player at his position in the AFL relative to average performance in that position. In other words his performance exceeds the average for that position by the most in the comp. It’s a way of trying to bring other positions into the discussion for best players that aren’t midfielders.
 

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No surprise with Sinclair considering he is basically our whole offense which I’m not sure you can say about many other players in the league. Nas has been very good and could get there one day but Sinclair is on another level.
 
BucketsandBanger said:
It means expectation for performance at his position. It takes into account the players age, experience etc and looks at what an average performance for an AFL player in that position would be and judges you based on that. It’s essentially saying Sinclair is best player at his position in the AFL relative to average performance in that position. In other words his performance exceeds the average for that position by the most in the comp. It’s a way of trying to bring other positions into the discussion for best players that aren’t midfielders.
Click to expand...

They changed it so its not just a player in that position.
Under their new model, if you spend some time in the backline, then attend some centre bounces, then rest forward, it takes it all into account.
 
Ads734 said:
So your telling me even though he’s the best user of the football o the league and the best half back he’s still underated
Click to expand...
He is underrated.

Doesn't get any of the hype or flagellation that most other elite players get.

We won enough games this year for him to go top five in the Brownlow. But you won't hear that much.
 
SaintsSeptember said:
They changed it so its not just a player in that position.
Under their new model, if you spend some time in the backline, then attend some centre bounces, then rest forward, it takes it all into account.
Click to expand...
Yeah but it’s judging the performance in each of those those positions based on relative expectation in that position. So Sinclair will be judged on performance 70% half back and 30% midfield or whatever it is. It’s still trying to get around midfield being the only thing that matters.
 
According to Hoyne in the last six weeks Collingwood have been the best team at scoring from the back half but we’re #1 for generating inside 50’s from the back half. That’s why I think Sinclair is basically our whole offense because when he went into the middle the back half work completely disappeared. Not sure if GWS have a tagger but if they do I think we know where he’ll be going.
 
hayes said:
According to Hoyne in the last six weeks Collingwood have been the best team at scoring from the back half but we’re #1 for generating inside 50’s from the back half. That’s why I think Sinclair is basically our whole offense because when he went into the middle the back half work completely disappeared. Not sure if GWS have a tagger but if they do I think we know where he’ll be going.
Click to expand...


He's the best of them but Nas, Hill, Byrnes, Wood etc all wave run from the backline. Our rebound and transition game looks sharp lately with lots of high risk attacking through the corridor happening recently. We have gone from playing safe to pulling the trigger on riskier longer corridor kicks.
 
BrutThough said:

Inside Jack Hayes’ ACL recovery, with nearly 500 days between injury and St Kilda AFL return​

Jack Hayes tore his ACL early last season and returned to the AFL only three days ago. DANIEL CHERNY caught up with the Saints forward throughout his turbulent journey to find out what the process is really like.

Jack Hayes has worked hard to return to the AFL after undergoing a knee reconstruction in 2022.
After Jack Hayes ruptured the ACL in his left knee in round six, 2022, he agreed to meet with CODE Sports periodically through his rehabilitation to document his road back.

On Saturday night, almost 500 days after suffering the injury in a game against Greater Western Sydney in Canberra, the St Kilda big man returned to the AFL in his side’s clash with the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba.

Here is the inside story of Hayes’ bumpy and trying return journey.

Friday, August 5, 2022, 11:00am​

The first meeting with Jack Hayes happens where all the others will too: in the foyer at St Kilda’s Linton Street base.
It is more than three months since the injury, which derailed Hayes’ whirlwind entrance into the elite level.

That Hayes was playing that Friday night at Manuka was itself extraordinary. By the time he signed with the Saints, the part-time concreter was just days shy of his 25th birthday. He’d been a star in the SANFL with Woodville-West Torrens, yet his chance could so easily have passed him by. But given the opportunity to train with St Kilda in early 2022, he joined the club via the supplemental selection period and impressed enough to earn a round one debut against Collingwood.

While the Saints fell to the Magpies that night, Hayes burst onto the scene in his forward/ruck role, kicking three goals and taking 10 marks in the absence of Paddy Ryder.

He was squeezed out of the side in round four but a suspension to Ryder gave Hayes another shot. By the night of the game against GWS, St Kilda was riding a four-match winning streak under Brett Ratten and in Hayes they looked to have found a sustainable AFL player, especially given Ryder was 34 and potentially playing his final season.

Hayes had started well on the night in question, kicking a goal just after time on of the first quarter to extend St Kilda’s lead to 14 points.
Then it happened.

Grappling with Giant Nick Haynes in a marking contest, Hayes’ left knee gave way. He didn’t immediately depart the field, seeking to stand the mark moments later, by which point he suspected something was badly amiss.


“(At first) I thought it was just a little bit of a corky,” Hayes says.

“I got up sort of started running off. And then they kicked out to some bloke on the wing. I went to stand the mark. It was a pretty horrible feeling in my knee.”

He’d never done a serious injury like this before, so still wasn’t certain. But taken into the rooms with medicos, Hayes underwent the Lachman test, used to assess the integrity of the ACL. The two club doctors looked at each other and shook their heads.

An ACL is cruel for any player, but especially so for a man who had waited so long for his taste and feared it may have all evaporated in a moment. Hayes didn’t have a contract for 2023.

The emotions began to spill as he called his parents.

“Knowing that I didn’t have a contract, I was thinking they’re not going to give a guy who’s done a knee another go.”

Hayes watched on as St Kilda secured a gutsy 17-point win, with Josh Battle needing to carry the ruck load late in the game after Rowan Marshall was hindered by a cork, the South Australian’s fears were soon allayed by coach Brett Ratten.

“He came up to me in the rooms after, just consoling me but sort of said, ‘Mate, we’re going to look after you here’. Which is obviously unreal to hear,” Hayes says.

To say so privately was one thing, to do so publicly was another. That night at his post-match press conference, Ratten insisted Hayes had nothing to worry about it when it came to job security.

“Jack’s a great introduction to our footy club with the way he’s gone about it. He’ll have the ACL treatment and recovery and be at our footy club for a long time,” Ratten said.

“For us to look after him now and make sure he gets through this stage and gets ready for next year. We’ll be there with him and with our arm around him.”
By the end of May, Hayes had signed a two-year contract extension.

He’d undergone surgery just days after the injury, and by August, Hayes has just started running in straight lines. He has sought to use the setback to build his upper body strength. Never waste a crisis, they say.

Defender Nick Coffield, who suffered an ACL tear of his own in February, is a couple of months ahead of Hayes and has served as counsel and company in the rehab group. Hayes also received a message out of the blue from Bulldogs tall Josh Bruce, who had suffered an ACL tear in late 2021. It was a pure goodwill gesture from someone Hayes didn’t know.

St Kilda is grimly hanging onto a spot in the eight. The Saints’ destiny remains in their own hands with three rounds remaining, but it is going to be difficult with matches against Geelong, Brisbane and Sydney to come.

Wednesday, December 14, 2022, 8:30am​

By the time we convene again, there had been upheaval at Moorabbin.
The Saints lost their last three, missing the finals despite an 8-3 start to the season. Jordan De Goey rejected their overtures to remain with Collingwood, trade period coming and going with the lone addition of Zaine Cordy.

It was all seeming pretty uneventful, until it wasn’t.
That same degree of loyalty afforded by Ratten to Hayes was not given to the coach himself, sacked just a few months after signing his own two-year extension.

“It was a very big surprise to see him go,” Hayes says.
“But that’s what the club’s decided, and we’ve got Ross (Lyon) in now who seems absolutely fantastic.”

Hayes texted Ratten to thank him for giving him a go. Ratten responded, wishing Hayes all the best for the future.

But football clubs move on quickly.

Within weeks Hayes had a new coach.

“He seems very professional, knows what he wants and he’s gonna be very hard on the players,” Hayes says.

Hayes had a couple of connections with Lyon, knowing ex-Fremantle player Cameron Sutcliffe, while Hayes’ brother Nick plays under ex-Docker Michael Barlow at Werribee.

The macro picture of what St Kilda will look like under Lyon consumes the broader football public. However for a player on the path back from such a major injury, focus must remain on the micro steps needed to reach full fitness once more.

Hayes is making steady progress. He’s started participating in non-contact drills at the beginning of training sessions.

“I normally get the first three drills in and then when they start doing really competitive stuff I jump out and go do my own thing on the sideline. Which involves like, a bit of agility stuff, a little bit of sort of low level contact, bit of tackling and then obviously the conditioning part of it as well.”

He has caught up to Coffield, but unfortunately it is not because Hayes is on world record pace. Alas, the backman has suffered a hamstring setback.

After the Saints’ season finished in late August, he returned to Adelaide for a couple of weeks. But while many of his teammates were holidaying overseas,

Hayes was back spending several days a week at the club in what was his official leave period.

Round one, 2023 remains Hayes’ target.

“That’s what I want to do,” Hayes says.

“So I gave myself every chance to be ready for that. If that meant getting back here early and getting another two or three weeks in before the team comes back, I was more than happy to do.”

And St Kilda needs him. Ryder has retired, and Max King has gone down with a shoulder injury that looks likely to sidelined him for the early stages of 2023.
“It gives blokes like me, Cooper Sharman, those sort of guys a real opportunity to put their best foot forward and hopefully cement their spot in a team for where Max does come back.”

Max King’s setback was a fresh off-season blow for the Saints. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Thursday, April 27, 2023 9:00am​

Things have gone better than expected for the Saints.
Riding the crest of Lyon’s wave, they are 5-1 and mounting an unlikely finals push.

However it has not been smooth sailing for Hayes. On the cusp of returning to full training in January, Hayes felt discomfort in his left foot. He thought nothing of it initially, but then heard a pop as he changed direction in a tackling drills.

Hayes heard a “pop” and could hardly put any weight on his foot.

Scans showed a crack of his fifth metatarsal. It meant surgery, a screw and 10 weeks of no running. Come late April, Hayes, who had been eyeing a round one spot, has still not returned to light skill work with St Kilda’s main group.

“Obviously (I was) pretty distraught,” Hayes said.

“I mean, all you want to do is you want to play and you have been stuck on the sidelines. Not a great feeling and being so close, yet so far away, is probably the thing that hurt the most. I was settled almost back into full training.

“You always look at someone to blame when you get injured, and I was looking for someone to blame. This isn’t fair. Why me? All that sort of stuff.
“Looking back now I probably should have done a bit less work and all that sort of stuff, but it’s easy to look at that now.”

In a macabre way, it has brought Hayes and Coffield closer, both having suffered injuries while already on the way back from a knee reconstruction. Coffield has since had another calf setback.

Even the progress on Hayes’ foot hasn’t been linear. He had been feeling symptom-free only for a follow-up scan to show the injury hadn’t fully healed, pushing back his return timeline by another fortnight.

All too used to an upper-body heavy program, Hayes has continued to work on his increasingly impressive chest and shoulders, while swimming for cardio.

He’s up to 105kg on the bench press, aiming for 110kg by the time he resumes playing.

“Those first couple of weeks where you’re off legs, you’re not doing much. You’re not at the club much, you feel pretty secluded,” Hayes says.

“Trying to beat targets in the gym, it keeps you pretty sane.”

Forced to defer his comeback game, Hayes is now striving to play in the VFL in late May, just before St Kilda’s AFL bye.
Lyon has taken a hands-off approach with Hayes, for now.

“He‘s obviously very busy at the moment with the AFL team, and they’re doing pretty well. So he sort of likes to leave the rehab blokes almost to themselves. He’s still very supportive and communicates when he can.”

While there have been frustrations, there is at least a strong lure to get back. St Kilda’s start to the campaign has made September action a legitimate possibility.

“You always want to play finals as an AFL footballer. And the team is doing pretty well so far, looking like we’re going to hopefully make it so. Obviously being back in there for a finals campaign would be absolutely unreal. And that’s what I’ll be striving to do. So fingers crossed I can get injury free.”
Elsewhere, Hayes has started doing a carpentry apprenticeship with a handful of teammates, and has moved in with brother Nick and his partner in Murrumbeena.

Tuesday, August 22, 2023, 4pm​

Just after our last meeting, things took another nasty turn for Hayes. St Kilda’s rehab group curse struck one more, with Hayes tearing his left hamstring, pushing things back another eight weeks. He eventually returned via the VFL in July, playing one match for Sandringham.

The following week, Hayes played a 14-a-side reserves scratch match against Melbourne, a hit-out where Brodie Grundy’s demotion at the Demons took the headlines. That Hayes could not take a trick was underscored when he nicked his right hamstring in that informal game, meaning another week out.

Only in late July and August has Hayes finally strung together a few VFL matches. His timing might work out though. On the weekend just gone, Hayes kicked six goals for Sandy in the VFL against Williamstown. And the Saints, via a win over Geelong and other results, secured just their second finals appearance in more than a decade.


“I probably thought this year was almost a write-off midway through the year. So to finally get some games under my belt. Yeah, unbelievable,” Hayes says.
He modestly plays down his half a dozen snags in the VFL.

“It all seemed to click on the weekend and was pretty lucky to get a get a hold of a couple,” Hayes says, praising the work done by teammates.
Gradually, confidence in his body has been restored.

“The first game you’re always thinking about my knee, is it going hold up? You can’t really simulate a game here on the track. So the first contest I had I was sort of like ‘s**t is it gonna go again?’ But luckily it was all good. So every game you play you sort forget, you think about it less and less going into contests and whatnot.”

It took time, but eventually Jack Hayes restored his confidence. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

It’s been particularly meaningful to return alongside Coffield, who finally made it back in the same scratch match where Hayes did his other hammy.

Hayes has mounted a reasonable case for AFL selection, but is unsure whether he’ll be given the nod for the final round clash against the Lions.

“Hopefully there‘s no injuries. I would like to make my way in there without any injuries,” Hayes says.

“You never know what will happen. I haven’t been told anything yet. I mean, it’s still early in the week.”
When he looks back at a 16-month process in which setbacks were all too regular, Hayes is proud of how he has persevered, having worked with club psychologist Ben Robbins.

“Ideally, you don’t want to do another injury. I mean, it’s pretty hard in that respect. I felt like I was doing everything I could in rehab and doing everything I
could to get myself right,” Hayes says.

“To put myself through those uncomfortable situations and be able to see the other side and get through them, it‘s been good.

“I’m super resilient.”

There was one failure though. He could only manage 105kg on the bench press.

Saturday, August 26, 2023, 6:31pm​

The stars aligned. St Kilda rested Max King for the trip to Brisbane, with the Saints opting to recall Hayes for a taste of the big time on the eve of the finals.

Late in the third quarter, he steers through a set shot from 20 metres out to bridge the margin to six points. Descended upon by his teammates, Jack is back.

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Click to expand...
A good read, thanks for posting. One tiny takeaway was Josh Bruce reaching out despite not knowing each other. 👊
 
gringo2011 said:
He's the best of them but Nas, Hill, Byrnes, Wood etc all wave run from the backline. Our rebound and transition game looks sharp lately with lots of high risk attacking through the corridor happening recently. We have gone from playing safe to pulling the trigger on riskier longer corridor kicks.
Click to expand...
Definitely looks like there’s been a change in gameplan but rest of them were all in the same position when we were struggling to move the ball. I think it’s the combination of Sinclair and Nas, if you try and slow down one the other gets you.
 
hayes said:
Definitely looks like there’s been a change in gameplan but rest of them were all in the same position when we were struggling to move the ball. I think it’s the combination of Sinclair and Nas, if you try and slow down one the other gets you.
Click to expand...
One thing I’d love to know is how many of stockers kicks result in scores seems to really try to cut teams up.
 
#1_pigeonracer said:
A good read, thanks for posting. One tiny takeaway was Josh Bruce reaching out despite not knowing each other. 👊
Click to expand...


Yeah, for a guy who gets bad-mouthed a fair bit, that was a pretty classy move.
 
hayes said:
Definitely looks like there’s been a change in gameplan but rest of them were all in the same position when we were struggling to move the ball. I think it’s the combination of Sinclair and Nas, if you try and slow down one the other gets you.
Click to expand...


Those wings roll up too so they struggle to contain them all. Nas got sat on a fair bit by Brisbane. Sinclair then cleans up with 30 of his own. Nas is your creative architect and distributes long and clean. Sinclair does more of the dirty in tight work and mopping up. Nas can do both but his best is looking up field and finding holes to cut open.
 
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