Shane Tuck (24 December 198120 July 2020) was an

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played 173 matches for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL) after also spending two years on the AFL list at Hawthorn without making an AFL appearance. Tuck was a life member at Richmond and placed in the top 10 of the club's "best and fairest" award in seven of his ten seasons at Richmond. His father is seven-time Hawthorn premiership player

Michael Tuck Michael Tuck (born 24 June 1953) is a seven-time premiership-winning player, Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) / Australian Football League (AFL). His 426 career games was a VFL ...

Early life and junior football

Tuck played junior football at

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

in the suburbs of Melbourne, and played representative football with the

Dandenong Stingrays The Dandenong Southern Stingrays are an Australian rules football team in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. 1992 saw the birth of the Southern Stingrays, developed under the leadership of Steve Kennedy (Regiona ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

. In his draft-age year in 1999, Tuck also played with the reserves side in the AFL reserves competition.

Playing career

Hawthorn (2000–2001)

After being overlooked by the club as a potential

father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...

selection at the 1999 national draft, Tuck was offered a rookie contract opportunity when selected by with the club's second selection and 24th pick overall in the 2000 rookie draft. He spent two seasons at Hawthorn without earning an AFL debut, instead playing reserves grade football with the club's VFL affiliate, the

Box Hill Hawks The Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill, currently competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the VFL Women's (VFLW). Since 2000, Box Hill has had a reserves a ...

. At the end of the

2001 AFL season The 2001 AFL season was the 105th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured sixteen clubs, ran from 30 March until 29 September, and compris ...

, Tuck was delisted by Hawthorn.

Local and state-league football (2002–2003)

Tuck played local football in the Mornington Peninsula League in 2002, before moving to South Australia to play with West Adelaide in the SANFL in 2003, where he began attracting the attention of AFL scouts.

Richmond (2004–2013)

Tuck was drafted by with the club's six pick and the 73rd pick overall in the

2003 AFL Draft The 2003 AFL draft was the 2003 instance of the AFL draft, the annual draft (sports), draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. The 2003 d ...

. After spending much of the year playing reserves football with the club's VFL-affiliate , Tuck made his AFL debut in Round 14 of the

2004 AFL season The 2004 AFL season was the 108th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured si ...

. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Tuck had a stellar season and played all 22 games

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

were involved in. He finished third in the club's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award that year. Tuck placed 10th in the club's best and fairest in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, third in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and second in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. Tuck missed playing in Round 17, 2009, ending a 104-game streak of consecutive games since playing in Round 1, 2005. He placed seventh in the club's best and fairest in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. In Round 6 2010, Tuck collected a career-best 28 disposals in a match against . A month later he set a new club record with 14 tackles in a match against in Round 10. That year he placed fifth in the club's best and fairest count. After the 2011 season, Tuck informed the club of his decision to retire, but he was talked into recommitting to the club for at least one further season. In Round 12 in 2012, he collected a club record 23 contested possessions, a feat which he equalled six weeks later in Round 18. In 2012, Tuck placed fourth in the club's best and fairest count. He set new records that year for the most contested possessions (298) and most tackles (124) in a single season by any Richmond player in the club's history. Both records stood for five years until broken by former teammates

Dustin Martin Dustin Martin (born 26 June 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Martin was drafted by Richmond with the third pick in the 2009 AFL draft#2 ...

and

Trent Cotchin Trent William Cotchin (born 7 April 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is an All-Australian, a three-time Jack Dyer Medal, Richmond be ...

, respectively, in 2017. At the end of the year, he was awarded life membership at Richmond. Tuck suffered a fractured scapula in May 2013 that saw him miss two months of football. Following four weeks of reserves football, Tuck made a return to AFL football for the later part of the season before announcing he would retire at season's end. Tuck featured in the club's first finals match in 12 years when Richmond earned an elimination final berth against in 2013. He was the substitute player for Richmond during that match but played almost the full match when brought on to replace Reece Conca after the latter suffered a hamstring injury just 10 minutes into the game. Tuck retired following the 2013 season after 173 games over 10 seasons with Richmond.

AFL statistics

, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, , 38 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , 21 , , 3 , , 1 , , 0 , , 21 , , 16 , , 37 , , 7 , , 2 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 7.0 , , 5.3 , , 12.3 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 21 , , 22 , , 10 , , 14 , , 323 , , 195 , , 518 , , 106 , , 71 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 14.7 , , 8.9 , , 23.5 , , 4.8 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 21 , , 22 , , 11 , , 8 , , 262 , , 199 , , 461 , , 102 , , 72 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 11.9 , , 9.0 , , 21.0 , , 4.6 , , 3.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 21 , , 22 , , 12 , , 6 , , 253 , , 237 , , 490 , , 114 , , 61 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 11.5 , , 10.8 , , 22.3 , , 5.2 , , 2.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 21 , , 22 , , 10 , , 1 , , 229 , , 318 , , 547 , , 102 , , 84 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 10.4 , , 14.5 , , 24.9 , , 4.6 , , 3.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 21 , , 19 , , 8 , , 3 , , 213 , , 310 , , 523 , , 90 , , 62 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 11.2 , , 16.3 , , 27.5 , , 4.7 , , 3.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , 21 , , 20 , , 5 , , 5 , , 227 , , 283 , , 510 , , 91 , , 103 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 11.4 , , 14.2 , , 25.5 , , 4.6 , , 5.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , 21 , , 10 , , 1 , , 2 , , 85 , , 110 , , 195 , , 31 , , 36 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 8.5 , , 11.0 , , 19.5 , , 3.1 , , 3.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , 21 , , 22 , , 11 , , 11 , , 266 , , 310 , , 576 , , 117 , , 124 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 12.1 , , 14.1 , , 26.2 , , 5.3 , , 5.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , 21 , , 11 , , 5 , , 6 , , 95 , , 94 , , 189 , , 22 , , 24 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 8.6 , , 8.5 , , 17.2 , , 2.0 , , 2.2 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 173 ! 74 ! 56 ! 1974 ! 2072 ! 4046 ! 782 ! 639 ! 0.4 ! 0.3 ! 11.4 ! 12.0 ! 23.4 ! 4.5 ! 3.7

Honours and achievements

* Jack Titus Medal (2nd place, Richmond B&F): 2008 * 2× Maurie Fleming Medal (3rd place, Richmond B&F): 2005, 2007 * Fred Swift Medal (4th RFC B&F):

* Kevin Bartlett Medal (5th place, Richmond B&F): 2010 * Richmond life membership, awarded 2012

Post-AFL life

In 2014, Tuck played local football for the Goodwood Saints Football Club in the

South Australian Amateur Football League The Adelaide Footy League (AdFL), formerly known as the South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL), is a semi-professional Australian rules football competition based in Adelaide, South Australia. Comprising sixty-seven member clubs play ...

(SAAFL). Tuck debuted in professional boxing in November 2015 at the

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), colloquially referred to as Jeff's Shed, is a group of three adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The venues ar ...

, being knocked out in the fourth round from an

uppercut The uppercut (formerly known as the undercut) is a punch used in boxing that starts low and travels upwards vertically aiming at the opponent's chin or upper abdomen (so-called " solar plexus"). It is, along with the cross, one of the two main p ...

to the chin by Lucas Miller; he was carried out on a stretcher. He fought in five professional matches over a boxing career that lasted until August 2017, winning three, losing once and drawing on one other occasion.

Personal life

Shane was the son of footballer and former-

VFL/AFL The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

games record holder

and older brother of former footballer Travis Tuck. He was the nephew of great

Gary Ablett Sr. Gary Robert Ablett Sr. (born 1 October 1961) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "God", Ablett is widely regarded as one of Australian football's greatest ...

and former VFL footballers Geoff and

Kevin Ablett Kevin Ablett (born 26 March 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in ...

. He was cousin to Geelong and players

Gary Ablett Jr Gary Robert Ablett Jr. (born 14 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). The eldest son of Australian Football Hall of F ...

and Nathan Ablett. Tuck was married to wife Katherine and had two children, a boy and a girl. Tuck died by suicide on 20 July 2020 at the age of 38. Richmond wore black armbands to honour his memory in their Round 8 match against on 24 July 2020. In January 2021, the Australian Sports Brain Bank stated that Tuck had had a severe case of the degenerative brain disease

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets wor ...

. In March 2023, Tuck's family, alongside former AFL players

Darren Jarman Darren Robert Jarman (born 28 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and for the North Adelaide Football Club in the ...

and

Jay Schulz Jay Schulz (born 18 April 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League from 2010 to 2016. A high marking forward, he previously played for Richmond ...

, launched a class-action lawsuit in the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

against the AFL and the

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

, Hawthorn and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

football clubs, with the plaintiffs alleging that the defendants failed to ensure proper concussion management during the plaintiffs' playing careers.

References

External links

* *
Shane Tuck's statistics
from Footy Wire * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Shane 1981 births 2020 deaths West Adelaide Football Club players Richmond Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players Place of death missing Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Dandenong Stingrays players Coburg Football Club players 2020 suicides Players of Australian football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy Australian sportspeople who committed suicide