Mark Loane

Rugby career Loane's senior rugby started in 1973 at the University of Queensland Rugby Club where he was coached by former Wallabies, Jules Guerassimoff and Chilla Wilson. State and national coach Bob Templeton was closely involved at the club. Loane came to Templeton's attention and was he selected aged eighteen to represent Australia when Tonga toured in 1973. He played in both Tests. The following year he made an appearance against the All Blacks.

In 1975 he played in a Test match against Japan and in two Tests against a touring England team. He was selected that year to make the 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland led by John Hipwell. Loane played in consecutive tour matches 1 through 4 but was injured in the game against London Counties and missed a number of matches including the Scottish and Welsh Tests. He played in eight straight games when he recovered, including the Tests against England and Ireland.

In 1976 Loane played in all three Tests matches against the visiting Fijians and also captained Queensland against them. He was also selected for the short 1976 Australia rugby union tour of Europe under captain Geoff Shaw. Two years later when Wales visited Loane again captained Queensland against the visitors and played in two spiteful Test matches, both won. He made the 1978 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand and although Loane was in the incumbent Queensland captain, his state rival Tony Shaw was selected by coach Daryl Haberecht as the squad's captain. Injury restricted Loane to just two tour match appearances against Hawkes Bay and Manawatu.

Loane's first Test as national captain was the 1979 Test against the All Blacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground which Australia won 12–6 to take back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 30 years. He also played against Ireland in two Tests and again captained the Queensland state side. That year the ARU showed full confidence in his leadership selecting him as squad captain for the 1979 Australia rugby union tour of Argentina, the first Wallaby tour to South America. He played in six of the seven matches including both Tests, for one win and one loss.

Later that year Loane's stellar career came to an end after he captained Queensland and then Australia in two Tests against the visiting Scottish national side. All told Loane captained Australia for six Tests and seven other tour matches between 1979 and 1982. He captained Queensland in many matches against touring sides and in several distinctive wins over NSW from the late 70s until 1982.

Professional medical career Loane graduated from the School of Medicine at the University of Queensland in 1977, before going on to complete his ophthalmology training in Queensland. He proceeded to complete Fellowships in both corneal transplantation and external eye disease (Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia) and in glaucoma (University of California San Diego, US). He has since performed more than 20,000 procedures. Loane practices in the private system through the Vision Eye Institute.

Accolades On 23 September 2000, Loane was awarded with the Australian Sports Medal for having played more than 50 games for Queensland and for his contribution to the development of rugby in Queensland. In 2007 he was honoured in the third tranche of inductees into the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame.

On 26 January 2011, Loane was named as Member of the Order of Australia for service to medicine in the field of ophthalmology, particularly to the indigenous communities of northern Queensland, and as a contributor to the development of sustainable health services.