Pennant Hills Juniors’, Lenny Hayes, Kieren Jack and Jarrod McVeigh have today been announced in the NSW AFL Greatest Team of All Time, an incredible achievement to three genuine legends of the game.
Kieren Jack has played 247 games to date for the Sydney Swans, including a Bob Skilton medal in 2010, premiership in 2012, AllAustralian honours in 2013, as well as being a 3x Brett Kirkmedalist and a club captain (2013-2016). His teammate, Jarrod McVeigh has played a mammoth 318 games to date, having captained the Swans from 2011-2016, including being a captain during the premiership winning 2012 side. He is a 2x Bob Skilton medal winner (2008, 2013) and was awarded All Australian honours in the same year as Kieren (2013). No doubt the two of them will go down as some of the best to have ever donned the red and white!
Meanwhile, Lenny Hayes forged a remarkable career of his own at St Kilda, playing 297 games from 1999 – 2014. Lenny was a 3x Trevor Barker medal, winning St Kilda’s highest honour in 2003, 2010, and 2012 (he was also remarkably runner-up twice and finished 3rd three times), whilst he was awarded All Australian honours on 3 seperate occasions (2003, 2005, and 2009). He was fortunate enough to captain St Kilda in 2004 and 2007, whilst he was awarded the Norm Smith medal as the best player on ground in the 2010 drawn grand final against Collingwood. At the conclusion of his career, he was awarded the Madden Medal – an award presented to the retiring player who has best demonstrated on-field excellence, personal development and growth, as well as community spirit over the course of his playing career.
Whilst it’s almost impossible to say which one of them had the finest career, as all of them have truely achieved greatness at some point, the fact that they all were apart of the Pennant Hills Football community at some point in their lives is truely special. The club would like to congratulate each of them on this significant achievement.
Full team below:
Greatest NSW Team of All Time
B: Chris Lethbridge (Sydney YMCA/Fitzroy), Leo Barry (Deniliquin/Sydney), Ross Henshaw (North Albury/North Melbourne)
HB: Jarryd McVeigh (Pennant Hills/Sydney), Gordon Strang (East Albury/Richmond), Dennis Carroll (Albury Tigers/Sydney)
C: Shane Crawford (Finley/Hawthorn), Lenny Hayes (Pennant Hills/St Kilda), Neil Davies (Central Broken Hill/Glenelg)
HF: Terry Daniher (Ungarie/Essendon), Wayne Carey (North Wagga/North Melbourne), Luke Breust (Temora/Hawthorn)
F: Paul Kelly (Wagga Tigers/Sydney), Bill Mohr (Wagga Tigers/St Kilda), John Longmire (Corowa-Rutherglen/North Melbourne)
R: Bruce McGregor (West Broken Hill/West Adelaide), Brett Kirk (North Albury/Sydney), Haydn Bunton (West Albury/Fitzroy)
I/C: Mark Maclure (East Sydney/Carlton), Isaac Smith (Wagga Tigers/Hawthorn), Kieren Jack (Pennant Hills/Sydney), Tom Hawkins (Finley/Geelong)