Background
Hayes grew up in suburban Sydney and began playing junior football with Pennant Hills in the Sydney American Federation of Labor-Congress.
Hayes grew up in suburban Sydney and began playing junior football with Pennant Hills in the Sydney American Federation of Labor-Congress.
Hayes is a former captain of Street Kilda and was an onfield leader in the Saints" midfield. 1990s
Hayes debuted the following year in the American Federation of Labor-Congress. 2000s
Hayes was captain for the 2004 season as part of Street Kilda"s then policy of rotating the captaincy to a different player each season. After a strong start to the 2006 season, Hayes ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against the Kangaroos in Round 9, requiring a minor knee reconstruction which sidelined him until the 2007 season.
In just his fifth game back in the 2007 season he suffered a broken collarbone, sidelining him for three weeks, although he managed to come back and play 19 games for the year.
Hayes was a co-captain and part of the Saints" 2007 leadership group – dubbed the "Young Saints", which also included Justin Koschitzke, Luke Ball (co-captain) and Nick Riewoldt (co-captain). Also included in the leadership group were Aaron Hamill, Fraser Gehrig, Nick Dal Santo and Robert Harvey.
In 2009, Hayes played his 200th American Federation of Labor-Congress game in Round 9 against the Brisbane Lions at Docklands Stadium. During the match he gained 31 possessions in the Saints" 16-point victory.
He finished third in the 2009 Brownlow Meda
Hayes played in 19 of the 22 matches in the 2009 home and away rounds in which Street Kilda qualified in first position for the finals series, winning the club’s third minor premiership. Street Kilda qualified for the 2009 American Federation of Labor-Congress Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary final wins. Hayes played in the grand final in which Street Kilda were defeated by 12 points.
2010s
Hayes played 25 games in 2010, including four finals, and received a number of accolades for his performances during the season:
Trevor Barker medallist for Street Kilda"s best & fairest player in 2010.
2010 Norm Smith Medallist (1st Grand Final). Street Kilda"s player of the finals series (jointly with Zac Dawson).
Hayes injured his left Anterior Cruciate Ligament early in the 2011 season and did not play the rest of the year. He had a fantastic season and made a brilliant recovery from the Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury from 2011.
On 15 July 2014, Hayes announced his retirement in front of all his teammates and family.
Out of respect his teammates wore t-shirts with the hashtag #ilovelenny. At the time of his retirement, Hayes held the VFL/American Federation of Labor-Congress all-time record for most tackles in a career, having lain 1,496 tackles at an average of 5.04 per game. He still holds the record as of 19 September 2014.
In 2015, after twelve months working in the media, Hayes returned home to Sydney and joined Greater Western Sydney as an assistant coach.