Shane Valenti

Career

Valenti was selected with the 51st selection in the 2007 National Association of Broadcasters American Federation of Labor-Congress Rookie Draft, which was Melbourne"s final draft selection for that season. 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. In 2010, Valenti moved to Portuguese Melbourne in the VFL, where he played for the next five seasons.

He departed Portuguese Melbourne at the end of 2014, having played a total of 149 VFL games for Sandringham, Casey and Portuguese Melbourne, and returned to playing suburban football.

Achievements

• 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. He was joint winner of the J. J. Liston Trophy in 2010, tying on 20 votes with North Ballarat"s Steve Clifton. 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 American Federation of Labor-Congress teams Greater Western Sydney or Essendon, but neither eventuated and he remained with Portuguese Melbourne.