Code sports have some great articles. Long, well researched, well worth the read.This is a nice albeit sad piece.
Fremantle lost a promising midfielder and leader when Luke Valente’s career was ripped apart by injury at age 21
It’s been one year since Luke Valente retired from the AFL at age 21, without having played a game. Fremantle lost a special player and person when injuries ruined his career, writes ELIZA REILLY.
Eliza Reilly
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5 min read
January 30, 2023 - 9:00AM
Luke Valente’s AFL career looked enormously promising until injury intervened at just 21 years of age.
There’s no higher honour at Fremantle.
For three years, Luke Valente was the man viewed by many to be capable of upholding it.
Of the 237 players to have represented Fremantle, only three have worn the No.29 guernsey.
First, it was Brad Wira – a foundation selection in Fremantle’s inaugural season.
Then there was Matthew Pavlich. Arguably the greatest Docker of all time, Pavlich would hold the club’s all-time games record if not for David Mundy’s inhuman longevity.
A six-time Doig Medallist, a six-time All-Australian, an eight-time club leading goal kicker, a former captain and an Australian Football Hall of Famer, Pavlich bled purple.
And whoever followed him was expected to do the same.
Valente had the famous Fremantle No.29 in his grasp. Picture: Michael Klein
For two seasons, the number was retired as Fremantle fans adapted to life after their favourite son.
Then came Valente.
Like Pavlich, the highly-touted midfielder was born and raised in South Australia and oozed leadership.
Valente captained the Croweaters to glory at the Under 18s National Championships and his credentials tipped the scales when it came to claiming the No.29 guernsey.
But three years after arriving at Cockburn, Valente came to the gut wrenching conclusion his body could no longer handle what AFL football was throwing at it and he retired without playing a game.
One year later, Valente has moved on.
But at Fremantle, a sense of ‘what if’ remains.
Valente felt his body could not stand up to the rigours of footy. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images
*****
Growing up, Valente was a strong player and a spectacular leader.
It took East Adelaide coaches Tim Weatherald and Malcolm Ashwood less than an hour to appoint him as captain of their representative side.
Valente was one of a throng of kids trialling to be a part of his region’s side at the South Australian Primary Schools football championships.
Then only 12, Valente stood shoulders above the pack.
“I think we started training at 4pm and at 4.30pm or thereabouts, myself and Tim met in the middle of the ground and said simultaneously, ‘We have our captain’. We never did that,” Ashwood says.
Ashwood describes Valente as one of the best and most natural junior leaders he’s come across and with his influence, East Adelaide won the 2013 championship.
“He took all of the warms-ups for the kids and we just let him go. He even organised the reunion a few months after we won,” he says.
“He was always incredibly mature and a great leader with a meticulous touch.
“Within footy, you won’t hear a bad word.”
In year nine, Valente made the SA Under 15s squad and a year later in year 10, he made his First 18s debut at Rostrevor College.
Valente always had strong leadership potential. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images
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Valente’s talents extended far beyond the football field.
He was too smart to be purely a footballer and come year 12, he was appointed head prefect by his peers at Rostrevor.
All while maintaining average grades of 93 per cent, Valente’s junior footy career was in its defining phase.
Coming through in the same draft class as Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine, Connor Rozee and Jackson Hately, Valente captained South Australia to a tense grand final victory over the all-conquering Vic Metro.
At the conclusion of the championships, Valente was named South Australia’s Most Valuable Player and also earned selection in the All-Australian team.
“It was his natural talent and skill set. That’s what stood out to us,” then-SA talent manager Brenton Phillips says.
“He was clean with the ball. He could use both sides of his body extremely well. His left side of his body was as good as his right.
“He was always a skillful and really talented footballer in the three years he spent in the program.
“He always had strong leadership traits. He’s a class individual all around.”
Valente is presented the award for best player during a match at the 2018 U18 AFL Championships. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
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It took a little longer than experts predicted, but Valente finally realised his AFL dream at pick 30 on draft night.
In one of the first live trades ever to be completed at the national ballot, the Dockers packaged up picks 34 and 41 and sent them on to the Bulldogs in exchange for 30 and 57.
It was, they thought, a shrewd exchange.
“We saw Luke’s name still there on the board and we were very keen to get as high up in the draft as we possibly could so we did a deal with the Bulldogs to facilitate that,” football manager Peter Bell said at the time.
“We couldn’t type his name into the computer fast enough.”
Through no fault of his own, Valente’s career promised the world and delivered an atlas.
Valente’s clean ball skills and quick hands helped him stand out from an early age. Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images
What followed was a three-year battle with injury, a lack of meaningful match practice and development due to Covid protocols and off-field, the toll of it all prompted Valente to take time away from Fremantle in 2021.
Later that year, Valente received a raucous welcome from teammates when the Dockers returned to pre-season training in November.
But in the new year, Valente realised he simply couldn’t continue.
“Physically, I am unable to make the progress required to play at the elite level,” Valente said after retiring last January.
“It was an incredibly difficult decision to make but after a long period of reflection, including discussions with the club, my family, friends and management, I believe that, in terms of my long-term health and well-being, it is the right thing to do.”
Ashwood believes the AFL and Fremantle lost a player who would’ve set an example on and off the field.
“I think he would have been a consistent contributor who would’ve been a bit more of a Mark Bickley type,” he says.
“I think he would’ve been more valued within a club than the outside footy world. He was very good at the one percenters, all the team aspects of the game like blocking and that side of things.
“Within the Dockers, he would’ve been enormously respected. Whether he would’ve got much kudos from outside from the footy public looking in, probably not.”
Making the decision to step away from footy didn’t come easy for Valente. Picture: Michael Klein
Phillips can’t help but think about the big picture.
“The sad part for me is that we’ve lost someone to the football industry,” he says.
“Yes, he couldn’t quite get to AFL level, but there’s the WAFL or SANFL level that would’ve loved to have him.
“We’ve lost someone to footy who could’ve helped nurture and guide the next generation of footballers.”
Currently, Valente is back home in South Australia enjoying life away from the football spotlight.
While it’s unlikely he’ll return to the field anytime soon as he deals with the aftermath of several groin injuries, Valente is believed to be contemplating a return to local football in 2024.
And maybe then the football community can see what Fremantle never got the chance to.
