Shane Loveless (born 15 November 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). Loveless is best known as a prolific

full-forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

in country football, mostly for Victoria clubs, starting at

Latrobe Valley Football League The Gippsland League (formerly known as the West Gippsland Latrobe Football League) is an Australian rules football and netball league in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is considered the only AFL Victoria major league in Gipps ...

club Sale. He would continue playing across the state until the age of 46, by which time he had amassed over 2000 goals, from no less than 16 clubs. After arriving at Footscray from Sale, Loveless put together just two games in the

1979 VFL season The 1979 VFL season was the 83rd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 31 March until 29 September, and comprised a ...

but became their regular full-forward in 1980.AFL Tables: Shane Loveless
/ref> He had his best run of form mid-season, with eight goals in a win over

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

and another seven against

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

the following week. Another eight goal haul came soon after, against

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 ...

Western Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Victoria University Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, West Footscray. It is the training and administ ...

, and he finished the year with 44 goals. It was not enough to top Footscray's goal-kicking, which went yet again to

Kelvin Templeton Kelvin Templeton (born 30 September 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer. At sixteen years of age Templeton kicked 100 goals for Traralgon in the 1973 Latrobe Valley Football League season. Footscray, within whose country zone Trar ...

. With Loveless spending the season in the goalsquare, Templeton had been used as a

centre half-forward In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the North Melbourne ...

and won the 1980

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...

. Loveless was however Footscray's equal leading goal-kicker in 1981, with

Jim Edmond Jim Edmond (born 3 September 1958 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a former Australian rules footballer. Originally from Bairnsdale Football Club, Edmond made his senior debut for Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1977 ...

on 25 goals, as Templeton was injured for most of the year. In 1982 Footscray recruited WAFL star

Simon Beasley Simon Francis Beasley (born 26 July 1956) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Swan Districts Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and for the Footscray Football Club in the Victorian Football Leagu ...

, who took one of the club's key-forward positions. As a result, Loveless was stuck in the reserves and despite good performances, was not able to earn a call-up to the seniors and decided to leave the VFL. He was recruited by Glenorchy for the remainder of their 1982

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

campaign. A four-week suspension for striking Ray Riewoldt, uncle of AFL players

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

and

Nick Riewoldt Nicholas Fredrick Riewoldt ( ; born 17 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was the first draft selection in the 2000 AFL draft. He was the ...

, meant he would play only a few TFL games. For the rest of his career, Loveless was constantly on the move, setting new goal-kicking records as he went. He twice kicked 25 goals in a league game and managed to top 100 goals in a season on seven occasions. Back at Sale in 1986, he participated in their only premiership of the decade, one of five premiership teams that he played in. His complete list of clubs are Sale, Footscray, Glenorchy,

Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, and is situated within the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital (Melbourne) and west of the regional centre of Shepparton. At the ...

Kyabram Kyabram is a town in north central Victoria, Australia. Kyabram is located in the centre of a rich irrigation district in the Goulburn River Valley, north of Melbourne. It is the second-largest town in the Shire of Campaspe, situated between ...

, Nambrok, Gunbower, Casterton, South Gambier, Apsley, Kerang Rovers, Colbinabbin, Ardmona,

Nagambie Nagambie is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia. The city is on the Goulburn Valley Freeway north of Seymour and in the Shire of Strathbogie. As of , Nagambie had a population of 2,254. History The Nagambie Region is w ...

, Heyfield and Boisdale-Briagolong.''Weekly Times'
"Shane's love of footy"
22 July 2009, Ken Piesse

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loveless, Shane 1958 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Glenorchy Football Club players Kyabram Football Club players Sale Football Club players Tatura Football Club players Casterton Football Club players Living people