Hayes's knee buckled in round two last year. He underwent his second knee reconstruction in the space of five years and was forced to sit on the sidelines watching the Saints' late-season resurgence amount to very little.

Understandably, the 31-year-old's enthusiasm for playing AFL again, even the pre-season competition, is palpable.

``I'm at the stage now where I just want to start playing. I haven't played since round 2 last year, so I'm pretty keen to get out there,'' Hayes said.

``It's good just being with the main group again because, if you've got an injury, you're sort of isolated.

``I've been back to full training almost two months now and I'll be right to play in all the intra-clubs and NAB Cup.''

For a talented midfielder still hunting an elusive premiership, 2011 can't have been much fun.

But rather than dwell on the obvious downers, both on a personal and club level, the 2010 Norm Smith medallist is instead upbeat about his 14th season with the Saints, and his fifth AFL coach, Scott Watters.

``It was unfortunate going out first week of finals to the Swannies, but I think we've learned a lot from last year,'' he said.

``We've got a new coaching staff and there's a pretty good vibe around.

``It's only been a couple of months but I've been real impressed with how Scott has gone about it.

``He's very well prepared, as you'd expect. He's easy to get along with and you can see he's a very determined person.

``I just like the way he's included everyone. He's really working the young guys hard to get a bit more out of them.''

Watters has replaced Ross Lyon, while former players Aaron Hamill, Max Hudghton, Troy Schwarze and Greg Doyle have returned as assistant coaches.

And that's not the only change. ``It seems like we're a very young team now,'' Hayes said.

``A lot of the young guys are burning up the track and I reckon they'll play a lot of senior footy this year.''