Lance Picioane (born 7 June 1980) 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

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

during his time 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). Picioane attended Essendon Grammar and was captain of the Vic Metro Under 16s and Under 17s which played in the victorious Vic Metro at the 1997

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 ...

. Picioane started his career in 1998 with Adelaide but found it difficult to find a regular spot with a side that had won a premiership the previous season. He failed to play a senior game for Adelaide in 1999 and at the end of the season he was traded to Hawthorn for pick 79 in the upcoming draft. Playing mostly in the midfield, Picioane managed 58 games in his five years at Hawthorn before being delisted at the end of the 2004 season. Early in the 2004 season, Piciaone was with Danny Jacobs when Jacobs was caught drink driving. After initially lying about Picioane's involvement, both players were fined $5000 and suspended from playing for a week. He then joined

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

for the 2005 season. Lance suffered a range of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, during his football playing days and this led him down a path of substance abuse. In 2012, he sought professional assistance, and, after going "cold turkey" from substances, he walked from Sydney to Melbourne (with his mother in a support vehicle) to raise awareness of mental illness. In 2013 he founded an organisation 'Love Me Love You' which aims to improve and empower the lives of young people with mental health and substance abuse issues. He is currently playing with

Kerang Kerang is a rural town on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located north-west of Melbourne on the Murray V ...

in the

Central Murray Football League The Central Murray Football Netball League (CMFNL) is a major country Australian rules football and netball competition based in northern Victoria and southwest New South Wales in Australia. History The league was formed in 1997, combining all e ...

. His father, Joe Picioane, was a soccer player who represented the

Australia national soccer team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia ...

in 1978 and 1979. He is of Romanian descent.

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Love me, Love you
organisation {{DEFAULTSORT:Picioane, Lance 1980 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian people of Romanian descent Adelaide Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club players Western Jets players Kyneton Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School