| Shane Valenti | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | 29 January 1987 | ||
| Original team(s) | Sandringham Dragons / Sandringham Zebras | ||
| Debut | Round 8, 2008, Melbourne vs. Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium | ||
| Height | 176 cm (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2008–2009 | Melbourne | 15 (5) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Shane Valenti (born 29 January 1987) is an Australian rules footballer, who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club, playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). It is named after and based in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, and plays its home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football in Australia. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throughout the 1980s.
Valenti was selected with the 51st selection in the 2007 NAB AFL Rookie Draft, which was Melbourne's final draft selection for that season. He made his mark in the Victorian Football League, playing with Melbourne's VFL-affiliate Sandringham, as a tough, in-and-under midfielder, and won the Fothergill-Round Medal as the league's most outstanding young player.
Valenti made his senior debut for Melbourne in Round 8 against Adelaide in the 2008 season, he played a total of nine games for the year. The 2009 season saw Valenti only manage six senior games for Melbourne, spending majority of the season as a consistent performer in the VFL, with Melbourne's new affiliate team Casey. He finished fifth in Casey's best and fairest. At the end of the 2009 season, Valenti was delisted by Melbourne. [1]
In Australian sport, the best and fairest, or fairest and best in some competitions e.g. West Australian Football League, 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 suspension for misconduct or breaching the rules during that season.
In 2010, Valenti moved to Port Melbourne in the VFL, where he played for the next five seasons. He was joint winner of the J. J. Liston Trophy in 2010, tying on 20 votes with North Ballarat's Steve Clifton. [2] The following year, he won the Liston Trophy again, this time outright, becoming the third player in VFA/VFL history to win the award back-to-back. With his win, there was speculation that he may be recruited by AFL teams Greater Western Sydney [3] or Essendon, [4] but neither eventuated and he remained with Port Melbourne. He departed Port Melbourne at the end of 2014, having played a total of 149 VFL games for Sandringham, Casey and Port Melbourne, and returned to playing suburban football. [5]
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne and is currently playing in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded annually to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League.
North Ballarat Football Club, nicknamed The Roosters, is an Australian rules football club based at Mars Stadium in Ballarat. The club is locally known as the Roosters, and was most notable for competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1996 and 2017.
