LUCKLESS Melbourne defender Shae Sloane has suffered a third ACL tear, this time on her "good" left knee.

The 28-year-old injured her knee at training on Saturday, the joint giving way when she changed direction.

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She previously tore her right ACL in round one, 2019 (her debut match) and then again at training in December of that year.

Sloane was poised to make a comeback to footy in the next few weeks before the devastating blow.

"Shae unfortunately suffered an ACL rupture during a training session on Gosch’s Paddock on Saturday morning. It was really an innocuous incident, whereby Shae simply went to change direction, and her left knee just gave way," Melbourne head of AFLW Daniel McPherson said.

"It’s always devastating to see someone suffer an ACL injury, but when it happens to someone like Shae, who has done such an amazing job to get herself back to be so close to returning to play, it’s just heartbreaking.

"Shae will take the time over the next few days to work through with our medical team the best course of action for her from here."

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The highly athletic Sloane played junior football before continuing with volleyball, captaining Australia.

She signed as a Melbourne rookie at the end of 2018, having played a handful of VFLW games with Casey.

The Demons also have forward Krstel Petrevski (hamstring) ruled out for the season, while Meg Downie is set to be sidelined for at least another week with an ankle injury.

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