Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Les Kaine

Known as
Les Kaine

Born
8 August 1936

Died
18 August 2012 (aged 76)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 250d
Last game: 26y 17d

Height and weight
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 83 kg

Senior clubs
Hawthorn

Jumper numbers
Hawthorn: 1

Les Kaine

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
HawthornV/AFL1956-1962103800.7855%5.001.008
CastlemaineBFL1963-1965
KynetonBFL1966
V/AFL1956-1962103800.7855%5.001.008
BFL1963-1966
Total1956-1966103800.78

Pre 1965 stats are for selected matches only

AFL: 6,639th player to appear, 2,351st most games played, 1,348th most goals kickedHawthorn: 467th player to appear, 137th most games played, 75th most goals kicked

Evocatively known as ‘Killer’, Les Kaine, not surprisingly, counted extreme, sometimes excessive, physicality high among his footballing attributes. Originally from Coleraine, he made his senior VFL debut with Hawthorn as a nineteen year-old in 1956. He played most of his early football for the Hawks on the forward lines, but it was after being shifted to the defence that he really came into his own.

Kaine’s relentless, straight ahead style was admirably suited to the ‘commando’ ethos which coach John Kennedy sought to instil at the club, and which ultimately bore supreme fruit in the shape of the 1961 VFL premiership, Hawthorn’s first. Playing at full back, ‘Killer’ Kaine was a significant contributor to this success, but the following year his form fell away, and he struggled to keep his place in the side. He left for Castlemaine at the end of the 1962 season having played a total of 103 VFL games and kicked 80 goals.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.