"It really does show that there's a lot of family in footy, and as much as we're competitors and fierce rivals, there's still so much love. While the loss of Nic Naitanui and Andrew Gaff in the back half of the season were both bodyblows for the eventual premier, the absence of the star duo allowed the likes of Nathan Vardy and Grand Final hero Dom Sheed to step up and play career-best football. Otherwise sport becomes mere make believe.And yet here was Rance on the boundary line encouraging his teammates with a smile on his face instead of seeking the sanctuary of the sheds.Here was Rance rising to his feet — crutch-assisted — after the final siren to cheer the winning team from the ground, still beaming.Here was Rance speaking in that friendly, measured tone to the boundary line reporter having already been told the initial diagnosis was grim.
Disappointment is guaranteed.Thursday night's iteration provided an unusual but still routinely unsatisfying variation on the new well-worn opening-night theme — Richmond wins, Carlton loses, and everyone looks forward to Friday night.In this case, Richmond's victory was not convincing enough to hail a clear-cut premiership favourite, particularly given Rance's injury.But nor was Carlton's so-so performance good enough to suggest its young team had come of age or poor enough to predict the Blues would add to their impressive collection of kitchen cutlery.Instead, let's be brutally frank — or in the spirit of the week, @BrutalFrank.
Alex James Rance (born 9 October 1989) is a professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). I know my teammates love and care for me, so I'm very grateful for that.
Continuing to schedule the now-impressive Richmond against the serially dismal Carlton has been like mixing a fine aged Scotch with dishwater and settling back to enjoy the perfect pre-dinner drink.
Or at least "grim" in the traditional way we have always considered a season-ending knee.On a night when the AFL unveiled several rules changes we had expected to see something different. Scans have confirmed Richmond defender Alex Rance ruptured his ACL during last night's season-opening win over Carlton at the MCG. "While Rance is undoubtedly one of the game's best defenders, as evidenced by his five consecutive All-Australian selections, Richmond's back six is far from a one-man band.
Both Grimes and Astbury will likely be handed the duties of guarding the opposition's best two forwards.If Rance is the game's best intercept defender, then the Tigers have a ready-made clone in Grimes.In his 10th season in the AFL, Grimes has steadily developed into one of the AFL's truly elite defensive players. So did the losers.Only Alex Rance, the Richmond defender whose season had "I'm in a great team with a great culture so I don't have too much to be sad about," Rance told a TV boundary line reporter moments after the siren signalled Richmond's 33-point win over Carlton.The fact that Rance was on the boundary supporting his team, let alone sharing his thoughts with the TV interrogator, was poignant.We have a tendency to catastrophise these moments; to lose all sense of reason.In the footballing context, Rance is the pillar of the flag favourite's defence.
Barossa locals slam 'abstract' $50m luxury hotel proposal, taking council to courtNurses called public health hotline for advice during Tasmania's NW coronavirus outbreakVictoria records third consecutive day of fewer than 100 casesClinton was made redundant via a video call. "We're really disappointed for Alex that he'll spend an extended period of time out of the game, he's a wonderful player and fantastic leader of our team," Richmond general manager of football Neil Balme said.The rapidly solidifying consensus seems to be that no Rance for 2019 means no flag for the Tigers.Now, there is no doubt that his absence for the rest of the season is a big blow to Richmond — five-time All-Australian defenders are not too easily available at times like these.For any team that harbours aspirations of winning a flag, losing your best defender inside the first four quarters of the season is not a good start.It's also true that Rance offers something very important — the ability to take the best forward one-on-one.When the Tigers won their drought-breaking flag in 2017, the team held their three finals opponents to an average of just 55.7 points.Rance played a critical role in those performances, and was named All-Australian in 2017.He made it again last year, when the Tigers finished top of the ladder before conceding an average of 72.3 points in the finals.In the preliminary final against Collingwood, however, Richmond has lost five of its last seven games when Rance has not played, which would lead people to fear for the Tigers for the rest of this season.However, the most recent two of those seven games were rounds six and seven in 2016 — when the Tigers lost to Port Adelaide and Hawthorn.The star defender's season-ending injury, and the manner in which he accepted his fate, were the talking points of an AFL season-opener akin to mixing a fine aged Scotch with dishwater, writes Richard Hinds.That season Richmond conceded an average of a tick under 98 points a game, and unsurprisingly finished out of September football in 13th place.It's fair to say that the Tigers have been transformed since then under Damien Hardwick, and we're not really comparing like for like.An already-strong attacking team has got stronger with the addition of ex-Suns forward Tom Lynch, and while Dustin Martin didn't have his greatest game against Carlton, Trent Cotchin's opening performance suggests he will be at his best in 2019.Defence will obviously be an issue, but while Rance is not directly replaceable, Richmond will be calling on a response from the whole group to make up for the absence of their number 18.