Mark Loane AM (b.1954), eye surgeon and former rugby international, made his debut for the Wallabies against Tonga at the age of 18 when he was a second year medical student at the University of Queensland. By the time Loane graduated 4 years later, he had become the captain of the Queensland state side at the age of 21. He won Test caps against the All Blacks, England, Japan, Fiji and France and toured the British Isles in 1975-76 and 1981-82 and France in 1976. Appointed Wallabies captain in 1979 against the All Blacks he led the team to the first Bledisloe Cup victory in Australia in 45 years and captained the side to the first tour of Argentina in 1979. He captained 6 of the 28 Test matches he played. Considering himself more a doctor than a footballer, Loane retired in 1982 to pursue studies in ophthalmology (eye surgery) where he received the Cedric Cohen Medal for the best pass in the eye surgery first part exam in 1984, then completing the second and final part exams in1986. Further studies and fellowships followed at Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia and the University of California, San Diego. Returning to Queensland and to private practice, he set up the Cape York Eye Health Project in 1999 to provide eye health services to the remote Indigenous communities of Cape York, chairing the Indigenous and Remote Rural Eye Health Service for 5 years.
Loane was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011, particularly for his work with the Indigenous communities of North Queensland. His sporting honours include the Australian Sports Medal and inductions into the Wallabies and Queensland Reds Halls of Fame.
