St Kilda will farewell club great Lenny Hayes on Sunday, hoping to send him out a winner.

Against the Western Bulldogs, Hayes will be feted by the Saints at his last home match of a 16-season AFL career.

Few players have managed to be as well-liked as Hayes, who has won plenty of admirers across clubs for his hard-tackling, no-nonsense style.

That includes Bulldogs boss Brendan McCartney, who outed himself as a Hayes fan during the week.

“He (Hayes) is everything that’s right about our game, isn’t he?” he said.

“He’s been an amazing player, I have so much respect for the person and the player.”

“I’m sure they’ll get up for him, and play really well for him… it’ll be a really good game of footy.”

If the Saints are to get up, they’re playing at the right place.

St Kilda hasn’t won an AFL match anywhere else since round 13 last year against Melbourne at the MCG.

And the Saints have form – rising to a season-best smashing of flag fancies Fremantle in the week Hayes announced 2014 would be his last year.

But St Kilda, like the Bulldogs, were brought back to earth last week with large interstate losses.

The Bulldogs were trumped by Hawthorn in Launceston, while St Kilda went down on the Gold Coast.

The Saints’ loss was particularly hard to take, becoming the first team to lose to the Suns without Gary Ablett in the side.

But with little for either side to play for in 2014, Sunday will be all about Lenny.

The legend himself said it was his body and not his spirit that would prevent him playing on.

“The passion for me is still there,” Hayes told FoxFooty.

“There’s a lot of talk about the state of the game but I think it’s in really good shape.”

The missed opportunities in Hayes’ career are obvious: three grand finals in two years without a premiership.

“Not to be able to hold that Cup up, for a long time that was my goal,” he said.

“I don’t have any regrets, we couldn’t have done any more to get there.

“But when we do win that premiership I’ll be in the stands with a big smile on my face.”

A quirk of the draw has handed St Kilda their last home game in round 20.

While the season has three rounds remaining, St Kilda are on the road to finish the year, with matches against Sydney (SCG), Richmond (MCG) and Adelaide (Adelaide Oval).