Hayden Lamaro (born 3 October 1978) is a former
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er who played for the
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
in the
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
(AFL).
Early life
Originally from
Euroa
Euroa is a town in the Shire of Strathbogie in the north-east of Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Euroa's population was 3,275.
The name Euroa comes from an Aboriginal word in the old local dialect meaning 'joyful'.
History
Major T ...
in north-eastern
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Lamaro played his junior football for
Euroa Football Club
The Euroa Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Magpies'', is an Australian rules football and netball club sited in the town of Euroa, in the north-east of Victoria.
The club teams has competed in the Goulburn Valley Football League since 19 ...
in the
Goulburn Valley Football Netball League
The Goulburn Valley Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. It is a member of the Victorian Country Football League and has won the Victorian Co ...
(GVFL).
Lamaro also played for the
Murray Bushrangers
The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the NAB League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval. The team is coached by Mark ...
in the
TAC Cup
The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...
.
The left-footer had an outstanding 1996 season, representing the Victorian Metro side at the
AFL Under 18 Championships
The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways ...
,
being named in the TAC Cup Team of the Year and winning the Bushrangers' Most Improved Award.
AFL career
Described as an athletic player with excellent skills, Lamaro came to the attention of AFL recruiters.
He was drafted by Melbourne with the 30th selection in the
1996 AFL draft.
Lamaro spent the entire 1997 season playing with the Demons' reserves before making his debut in the first round of 1998. His first AFL game, however, was disappointing; he had only one disposal (a
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
) and gave away two
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offence ...
s in a losing Melbourne side. Lamaro was dropped back to the reserves the following week and was only recalled back to the senior side in round 9 for a match against
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
*Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
*Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United King ...
, after playing well in the reserves. His second AFL match was little better than his first, again having only one disposal in another Melbourne loss. Dropped back to the reserves once more, Lamaro failed to break back into the seniors for the rest of the season, although he was continually impressive in the reserves. After only two disappointing matches in two years at the club, Lamaro was delisted by Melbourne at the end of 1998.
Post-AFL career
After being delisted by the Demons Lamaro returned to his old team, Euroa Football Club. He played for Euroa from 1999 to 2008, playing his 150th match for the club in his final season with the club
and representing the GVFL on six occasions.
In the off-seasons, Lamaro played for
Euroa Cricket Club, setting a record partnership in 2000. During his time with Euroa, Lamaro was called up to play for
Carlton
Carlton may refer to:
People
* Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname
* Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy
* Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...
's reserves side in 2002.
He ended up playing only one match in the reserves for Carlton and played the rest of the season with Euroa, winning the club's
best and fairest
In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...
award. After 10 seasons with Euroa, Lamaro moved to play with
Craigieburn in the
Essendon District Football League
The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competition c ...
for 2009.
He spent only one season with the Eagles, signing on to coach
Mernda
Mernda is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 28 km north-east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Mernda recorded a population of 23,369 at the 2021 census.
Hi ...
in the second division of the
Northern Football League
The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League.
It contains two divisions; Division ...
.
Mernda hoped to play finals, with an aim of making it to division one,
but after a poor start to the season, the Demons finished fifth, missing the finals by one position.
Although a disappointing year for Mernda, Lamaro was impressive, regularly being the club's leading goalkicker.
Lamaro's contract was not renewed at the end of 2010 and he signed on to coach
Violet Town
Violet Town is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Strathbogie local government area, northeast of the state capital, Melbourne on the Hume Highway. At the , Violet Town and district (Honeysuckle Ward) had a ...
, a team which his father, Daffy, played 175 games for, in the
Kyabram & District Football League
The Kyabram District Football League (KDL) is an Australian rules football league in Victoria. It is made up of 15 teams; the most recent additions include Dookie United in 2018 and Shepparton East in 2019. The KDL is made up of smaller country ...
for the 2011 season.
References
External links
Hayden Lamaro's profileon the Official AFL Website of the Melbourne Football Club
*
Hayden Lamaro's profileon Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamaro, Hayden
1978 births
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)
Living people
Melbourne Football Club players
Murray Bushrangers players
Euroa Football Club players
People from Euroa