St Kilda star Lenny Hayes to decide whether he wants to play on next season

ST KILDA veteran Lenny Hayes says he’ll decide whether to play on next year within the next four weeks.

Veteran Lenny Hayes and St Kilda team mates at the club recovery session at South Road beach.

ST KILDA veteran Lenny Hayes says he’ll decide whether to play on next year within the next four weeks.

The celebrated veteran admitted the Saints’ effort was unacceptable in Sunday’s 96-point loss to Geelong, which has the 2010 Grand Finalists stuck on the bottom of the table.

Hayes, 34, could reach 300 games if he played on for a 17th season in 2015.

He indicated he’d like to not only reach that milestone but also keep playing to help develop the club’s clutch of recent high draft picks.

St Kilda was yesterday reinstalled favourites for the wooden spoon and Hayes said players had to shoulder the blame for the demoralising loss to the Cats.

“We’ve got to find out who wants to play for the club and who’s going to put their head over it when they have to and who’s going to do all those hard things,” the star midfielder said yesterday.

“In some ways it can be the making of players and a team, so we’ve just got to keep working hard and get better and we will.”

Hayes said first-year coach Alan Richardson lashed St Kilda’s effort after the match but the former captain remained upbeat about the club’s future.

“I’ve seen it turn very quickly. In 2002 we finished (second last) on the ladder and two years later we were a kick away from a Grand Final, so it can be done.

“(But) it’s not just going to happen. We’ve got to work hard and all the players are prepared to do that.”

Hayes said Seb Ross’s breakout performance against the Cats was a highlight as the cousin of Jobe Watson collected a team-high 28 disposals.

On his playing future, Hayes said: “I think we had 10 guys who have played under 20 games on the weekend, so there needs to be a little bit of stability and experience out there and that’s where I see my role”.

“We’ve had a few tough losses this year, but I still see my role as being pretty important and vital to the team going forward.”

Hayes said he’d have a formal discussion with Richardson in the next month.

The Saints have lost their past seven games since their hot start, suffering defeats of 145, 86, 70 and 96 points to top-six teams.

They host West Coast on Sunday and Hayes urged fans to rally.

“We haven’t played at Etihad for a couple of weeks so we can hopefully get a big crowd. These are the times where you do need your supporters,” he said.

Originally published as St Kilda star Lenny Hayes to decide whether he wants to play on next season