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Hayden McLean
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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.
Key Information
Junior career
[edit]McLean attended St. Bede’s College in Mentone. He played junior football for the Beaumaris Sharks,[1] where he was coached by Dermott Brereton[2] before joining the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup.[3] He also was a member of the AFL Academy – spending time at the Sydney Swans as part of the development program[4] – 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.[3][4]
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[5] 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.[3] McLean trained with St Kilda in November, hoping to be selected in the 2018 AFL draft,[6] and was named by Fox Sports, which considered him similar to Adelaide ruck/forward Josh Jenkins, as a likely mature-age recruit.[7] However, he was again overlooked and moved to Adelaide to play with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club South Adelaide in 2019.[3]
AFL career
[edit]McLean 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.[5] His recruitment also increased the club's depth of tall players after Kurt Tippett's retirement.[3] 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.[8] 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.[9] He played three more matches to finish the season and extended his contract with Sydney to 2020.[10]
2021
[edit]He kicked a career-high four goals in the Round 7 win against Geelong.[11]
2022
[edit]McLean was selected for the 2022 AFL Grand Final by the Swans after not playing at senior level since round eight that season, making for a 140-day gap between senior games. This made it the second-biggest gap for players listed as inclusions for a grand final.[12]
2023
[edit]Following the 2023 season, McLean signed a four-year contract extension to stay with the Swans until 2027 [13]
Personal life
[edit]McLean is a third-generation VFL/AFL footballer, with his father Paul McLean playing for Fitzroy and his grandfather Tom McLean playing for Melbourne & North Melbourne. McLean's uncle, Glenn McLean, also played for Melbourne & Collingwood.[14]
Statistics
[edit]Updated to the end of round 9, 2026.[15]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks | H/O
|
Hit-outs |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | H/O | |||||
| 2019 | Sydney | 41 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 20 | 43 | 12 | 19 | 53 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 10.8 | 3.0 | 4.8 | 13.3 | 0 |
| 2020[a] | Sydney | 41 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 24 | 14 | 38 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 6.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 0 |
| 2021 | Sydney | 41 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 67 | 35 | 102 | 52 | 23 | 30 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 5.6 | 2.9 | 8.5 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1 |
| 2022 | Sydney | 2 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 47 | 34 | 81 | 28 | 14 | 38 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 9.0 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 0 |
| 2023 | Sydney | 2 | 22 | 21 | 14 | 150 | 121 | 271 | 97 | 55 | 213 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 6.8 | 5.5 | 12.3 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 9.7 | 1 |
| 2024 | Sydney | 2 | 26 | 27 | 19 | 179 | 107 | 286 | 116 | 59 | 179 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 6.9 | 4.1 | 11.0 | 4.5 | 2.3 | 6.9 | 0 |
| 2025 | Sydney | 2 | 19 | 25 | 12 | 106 | 71 | 177 | 68 | 32 | 72 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 5.6 | 3.7 | 9.3 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 1 |
| 2026 | Sydney | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 13.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 | |
| Career | 99 | 103 | 56 | 602 | 409 | 1011 | 390 | 218 | 605 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 6.1 | 4.1 | 10.2 | 3.9 | 2.2 | 6.1 | 3 | ||
Notes
- ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
[edit]- ^ Gates, Zachary (15 March 2019). "McLean thrilled as Swans surprise". sydneyswans.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/hawthorn-great-dermott-brereton-wants-the-nab-league-to-become-an-under19-competition-to-stop-young-talent-being-lost-to-footy/news-story/80afbe838825437813951b1c9a3e13ea
- ^ a b c d e Cleary, Mitch (12 March 2019). "Swans fill final list spot with South Australian big man". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ a b Ryan, Peter (12 March 2019). "Sydney Swans add South Adelaide's Hayden McLean via rookie list". The Age. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ a b Balmer, Matt (12 March 2019). "Sydney add tall Hayden McLean to playing list". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Navaratnam, Dinny (5 November 2018). "Saints put state league pair on trial as 2018 draft looms". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Olle, Sarah (13 November 2018). "AFL draft 2018: Mature-age VFL stars AFL clubs should consider at national and rookie drafts". Fox Sports. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Sutton, Malcolm (25 March 2019). "AFL injuries bode poorly for state leagues with mid-season draft looming". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Rugari, Vince (19 July 2019). "Swans back rookie ruck to handle the AFL's biggest challenge". The Age. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Swans re-sign five, including former US college basketballer". AFL.com.au. Telstra Media. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Swans steal victory from Cats in SCG thriller". The Australian. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/teams/sydney-swans/afl-grand-final-2022-teams-logan-mcdonald-dropped-hayden-mclean-last-game-ins-and-outs/news-story/433532d27ff55495a4b1ffdd68cb747c
- ^ https://www.sydneyswans.com.au/news/1418719/four-more-for-mclean
- ^ https://www.afl.com.au/news/97839/academy-trip-wrap-breakfast-running-and-family
- ^ "Hayden McLean". AFL Tables. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
External links
[edit]
- Hayden McLean's profile on the official website of the Sydney Swans
- Hayden McLean's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Hayden McLean at AustralianFootball.com