‘A cult hero was born’: How St Kilda’s Jack Hayes went from concreter to game-turning spearhead

Jack Hayes is a 26-year-old concreter from South Australia who hung up on his manager when his AFL ambitions were finally realised.

Now, the man his new teammates affectionately call ‘The Ox’ has cemented himself as one of the great AFL debutants after almost single-handedly steering his new club to victory in their season opener against Collingwood.

The Saints trailed by 35 points early in the third quarter and the signs were starting to look grim. Then Hayes ignited, kicking three goals in a decisive burst that not only lifted his side off the canvas, but briefly put them in the lead. 

A star is born as St Kilda recruit Jack Hayes roars following a three-goal outburst in his AFL debut match against Collingwood on Friday night

It set up a ripping final quarter and although the Saints could not get the job done, the concreter from South Australia had forged his name in AFL folklore.

It was debut that had fans, commentators and teammates in awe, with Seven Network commentator Tim Lane declaring: ‘He is producing a quarter from heaven.’

The footy gods had to intervene for Hayes to even get on the park at Marvel Stadium on Friday, though.

After being overlooked by all AFL clubs in his formative years, Hayes settled into a life of working part-time as a concreter and plying his real trade of Aussie Rules in the SANFL for the Woodville-West Torrens Eagles. 

The forward/ruck had dominant years in 2020 and 2021 as his club claimed back-to-back premierships and he was honoured as the best on ground in the grand final on both occasions. 

It attracted the attention of St Kilda, but he was only formally signed 17 days before his debut because of circumstances out of his control. 

The family of Jack Hayes were present at Marvel Stadium to cheer him on. He put on a big show for them and almost won the game for a St Kilda side battling with injuries 

The Saints were rocked by injuries to Jack Billings [hamstring, 3-4 weeks], Hunter Clark [shoulder 4-6 weeks] and Nick Coffield [ACL, season] in the pre-season while speedster Zac Jones also took leave just before round one for personal health and wellbeing reasons. 

But it was tightness in the Achilles of veteran ruckman Paddy Ryder that presented Hayes with his opportunity.

St Kilda coach Brett Ratten is now left with a tough choice with Ryder expected to come into the mix for selection in their round two clash with Fremantle.

Jack Hayes of the Saints handballs whilst being tackled by Taylor Adams of the Magpies during their round one AFL match at Marvel Stadium.

‘He’s a really good young man who’s given the opportunity to play AFL and been looking for that for a long time and for him to perform the way he did was just full credit to him,’ Ratten said.

‘For him to perform the way he did for a big man who in the ruck is a bit undersized, he competed and did what he had to do to and showed everybody that he’s up for AFL level.

‘It’s great to see Hayesy perform that way, he’s still working really hard and Paddy we’ve sort of got to see where he sits next week as well.’

It’s a debut that almost didn’t happen at all for other reasons as well, most notably because after eight years of being shunned by AFL clubs Hayes didn’t rush to the phone when his manager finally called.

‘It’s a funny story. I was actually at work and got a call from my manager and I sort of saw it on my phone and hung up on him,’ Hayes told the Sounds of the Saints podcast.

‘I was just like ‘oh I’ll worry about that at the end of the day. I called him back at the end of the day and he’s gone ‘why’d you hang up on me?’ and then obviously told me the news.

‘It was out of the blue. I’m just absolutely rapt to be here.’

 It put Hayes in a position where he has nothing to lose and everything to gain, an opportunity he is desperate to seize. 

 ‘I probably (went in) thinking ‘I’m just going to go out here and have as much fun as I possibly can’ and if it’s to be it’s to be, if it’s not, I’ve got a job waiting for me back home,’ he said.

‘I wouldn’t have believed them (if anyone said I’d be in this scenario).

‘I hadn’t had any clubs approach me or anything going into the draft or rookie draft, so I was focussing on my SANFL career, hoping I could take that to the next level as well and we could go for three flags in a row.

Obviously playing in a couple of trial games has been really exciting but I’m really looking forward to what the year can bring. I don’t know if it has quite sunk in yet.’      

And the million dollar question, is Jack any relation to St Kilda icon Lenny Hayes?

‘I would love to say yes, but I don’t think there is [any family connection],’ Jack said.

‘Not as far as I know or any of my family know, but it would be an honour to be related to him.

‘He has been such a great player for St Kilda for so many years and someone who I aspire to be [like].’