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.

Hayden McLean
McLean in 2019 playing for Sydney in the NEAFL
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Dossa
Date of birth	(1999-01-20) 20 January 1999 (age 26)
Original team(s)	Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)
Draft	Pre-season supplemental selection, 2019
Debut	Round 18, 2019, Sydney vs. Fremantle, at Optus Stadium
Height	198 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	100 kg (220 lb)
Position(s)	Ruckman/key forward
Club information
Current club	Sydney
Number	2
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2019–	Sydney	93 (95)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 18, 2025.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Junior career

McLean 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 career

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.^[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

2021

He kicked a career-high four goals in the Round 7 win against Geelong.^[10]

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2022 season.^[11]

Legend

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	53	23	30	0.9	0.5	5.6	2.9	8.5	4.4	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
Career			31	27	11	161	103	264	106	71	135	0.9	0.4	5.2	3.3	8.5	3.4	2.3	4.4	1

Notes

1. 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.