A loyal teammate on and off the field, Lenny Hayes is the ultimate footballer according to his St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt.
Riewoldt says 34-year-old Hayes, who will retire at the end of the 2014 AFL season, is the best player he's played with or against.
Riewoldt has won five club best-and-fairest awards and he's tipping Hayes is on track for a fourth.
Grand-final teammates in 2009 and 2010, the two Saints' warriors have been through many battles together.
"There's just nothing that you would ask for different in a teammate," Riewoldt said on Tuesday.
"He just ticks all the boxes. There has been no one that I've played with that's been tougher, more skilful, a better team man.
"As a friend and off the field, he's the nicest, best guy, most fiercely loyal that you would ever meet.
"Of all the people that I've met in the football, he's the best person and he's the best player as well."
Hayes is averaging 24.9 possessions per game in 2014, and Riewoldt says it would have been nice to have the three-time All-Australian spearheading St Kilda's midfield next season.
"He's probably leading our best and fairest. He's had a great year," Riewoldt said.
"It would have been great to see him go again.
"But as an athlete you know your body better than anyone else."
Riewoldt said his fondest memory of Hayes's on-field exploits was his Norm Smith Medal-winning performance in the 2010 drawn grand final against Collingwood.
The skipper proudly wore an "I love Lenny" t-shirt at Hayes's media conference.
"He's pretty flat with the t-shirts and the fanfare. But that's Lenny, the modesty of the man," Riewoldt said.
"That just makes him even more attractive as a person and as a teammate and with general footy fans as well.
"How hard and tough and competitive he is, but really fair as well and just the modesty.
"He's just the ultimate team player and everyone who follows football can recognise that and see that in a player and that's why he's universally loved."
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