Hayden McLean

Hayden McLean (born 20 January 1999) is an Australian rules footballer playing for 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 career McLean attended St. Bede’s College in Mentone. He played junior football for the Beaumaris Sharks, where he was coached by Dermott Brereton before joining the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup. – 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. and was named by Fox Sports, which considered him similar to Adelaide ruck/forward Josh Jenkins, as a likely mature-age recruit. However, he was again overlooked and moved to Adelaide to play with South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club South Adelaide in 2019. His recruitment also increased the club's depth of tall players after Kurt Tippett's retirement. 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. 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 veteran Aaron Sandilands. He played three more matches to finish the season and extended his contract with Sydney to 2020.

2021 He kicked a career-high four goals in the Round 7 win against Geelong.

2022 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.

2023 Following the 2023 season, McLean signed a four-year contract extension to stay with the Swans until 2027

Personal life 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.

Statistics Updated to the end of round 22, 2026.

108 !! 113 !! 59 !! 640 !! 441 !! 1081 !! 409 !! 232 !! 661 !! 1.0 !! 0.5 !! 5.9 !! 4.1 !! 10.0 !! 3.8 !! 2.1 !! 6.1 !! 3