Shane Valenti

Shane Valenti
Personal information
Date of birth	29 January 1987
Original team(s)	Sandringham Dragons / Sandringham Zebras
Debut	Round 8, 2008, Melbourne v. Adelaide, at AAMI Stadium
Height/Weight	176 cm / 80 kg
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2008–2009	Melbourne	15 (5)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2009 season.
Career highlights
J. J. Liston Trophy 2010, 2011 VFL Team of the Year 2010, 2011 Fothergill-Round Medal 2007

Shane Valenti (born 29 January 1987) is an Australian rules footballer, who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

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 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]

References

1. Burgan, Matt. "Valenti and Buckley delisted". Melbourne FC. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
2. Mark Towson Shane Valenti takes out Liston Trophy, Retrieved 12 September 2010.
3. Diamond, Brett (13 September 2011). "Valenti seizes second Liston". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
4. Diamond, Brett (10 December 2011). "Dons set to draft Liston winner". The Age.
5. "Two-time JJ Liston Trophy champion Shane Valenti leaves Port Melbourne to play at Noble Park". Leader. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.

External links

• Shane Valenti's profile on the official website of the Melbourne Football Club
• Demon Wiki profile