|
Hayden McLean
Hayden McLean (born 20 January 1999) is an Australian rules footballer playing for Sydney in the Australian Football League (AFL). A 1.98-metre tall who can play as a ruckman or key forward, McLean began his career in the TAC Cup before a season in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was recruited by Sydney on the eve of the 2019 season as a pre-season supplemental selection, and made his AFL debut later that year. Junior careerMcLean attended St. Bede’s College in Mentone. He played junior football for the Beaumaris Sharks[1] before joining the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup.[2] He also was a member of the AFL Academy – spending time at the Sydney Swans as part of the development program[3] – and represented Vic Metro at the AFL Under 18 Championships. In 2017, McLean became Sandringham's captain and Vic Metro's vice-captain, but was overlooked in the 2017 AFL draft.[2][3] He began playing in the VFL for the Sandringham Zebras, who were affiliated with AFL club St Kilda. McLean played 13 matches in 2018, averaging 5.2 marks, 10.3 hit-outs and 13.2 disposals[4] and rucking against AFL-listed players including Matthew Leuenberger, Braydon Preuss and Zac Smith. He was also named the club's best first-year player for 2018.[2] McLean trained with St Kilda in November, hoping to be selected in the 2018 AFL draft,[5] and was named by Fox Sports, which considered him similar to Adelaide ruck/forward Josh Jenkins, as a likely mature-age recruit.[6] However, he was again overlooked and moved to Adelaide to play with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club South Adelaide in 2019.[2] AFL careerMcLean was recruited by Sydney in March 2019 as a pre-season supplemental selection to cover the loss of defender Jack Maibaum to a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury.[4] His recruitment also increased the club's depth of tall players after Kurt Tippett's retirement.[2] McLean's selection was criticised by SANFL officials, as it deprived South Adelaide of an important recruit only a fortnight before their 2019 season began, leaving them unable to find a replacement in time.[7] McLean spent most of his first season in Sydney's North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) side, before a call-up to the AFL team in round 18 – a challenging match-up rucking alongside Robbie Fox against Fremantle veteran Aaron Sandilands.[8] He played three more matches to finish the season and extended his contract with Sydney to 2020.[9] McLean signed a four-year contract extension to stay with the swans until 2027 2021He kicked a career-high four goals in the Round 7 win against Geelong.[10] StatisticsUpdated to the end of the 2022 season.[11]
Notes
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hayden McLean.
Information related to Hayden McLean |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
