When thrown down the challenge to fully ignite his AFL career off the back of last year’s head-turning SANFL campaign, Jack Hayes answered the call.
But when phoned by his manager – who was bearing the news that St Kilda had invited him to RSEA Park for a trial run – while on the jobsite just a few days before Christmas, Hayes literally didn’t answer the call.
"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.”
Hayes was officially announced as a Saint last week, joining fellow South Australian recruit Jarrod Lienert as one of two recruits snapped up during the pre-season Supplemental Selection Period (SSP).
While interest in picking up the South Australian had dwindled by the time he was 20, attention quickly perked back up for the now-25-year-old after his sensational 2021 season for Woodville-West Torrens.
Hayes’ year included South Australian captaincy honours, an equal-third finish in the Magarey Medal, as well as the coveted Jack Oatey Medal – polling 27 out of a possible 27 votes – for his best-on-ground Grand Final performance as the Eagles secured back-to-back Premierships.
It was a near-perfect audition reel which ultimately put his name “on a few radars”, with St Kilda’s Head of List Management James Gallagher among those to renew their focus on the powerful key forward/ruck.
Fellow SANFL selections and former opponents of Hayes Callum Wilkie and Tom Highmore – also scouted out by Gallagher and his recruiting team led by Chris Liberatore and Chris Toce – were quick to plug his game, pointing to moments where he’d been near-impossible to rein in.
The contentious 2018 SANFL preliminary final between Woodville-West Torrens and North Adelaide (a game in which Hayes said he “did alright” against Wilkie) ended with the prospective Saint booting a game-high six goals.
Hayes was invited to train with the Saints in late December, completing his two-week trial run post-Christmas to the satisfaction of coach Brett Ratten and club recruiters.
The decision was made to sign him just eight days into his stint in the new year.
“I just came over and gave it everything I’ve got,” Hayes said.
“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.
“I came back over in January and got the call from Gags (Gallagher) saying they were going to take me.
Now, the goal of a Premiership three-peat for Woodville-West Torrens has been replaced by a potential debut next Friday night against Collingwood.
The concreter-turned-Saint has since laid the foundations over the subsequent months for a possible Round 1 call-up, with veteran ruckman Paddy Ryder in some doubt for the season opener with Achilles soreness.
Hayes played in both St Kilda’s intra-club and practice match against Carlton in February before netting 12 touches and a goal working in tandem with Rowan Marshall during last week’s AAMI Community Series game with Essendon.
As to whether he’d pictured he’d be in this situation less than six months, well, it’s safe to say he’s still “over the moon”.
“I wouldn’t have believed them (if anyone said I’d be in this scenario),” Hayes said.
“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.”
