Alex Rance

Alex Rance

Rance playing for Richmond against Brisbane in April 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1989-10-09) 9 October 1989
Place of birth Perth, Western Australia
Original team(s) Swan Districts (WAFL)
Noranda (WAAFL)
Draft No. 18, 2007 National Draft
Height / weight 194 cm / 96 kg
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Richmond
Number 18
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2008– Richmond 150 (8)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2016.
Career highlights

Alex Rance (born 9 October 1989) is a professional Australian rules footballer, currently playing with the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League. He is the son of former Footscray and West Coast player Murray Rance.

Early life and junior football

Rance is of strong footballing heritage, being the son of Murray Rance, a former Footscray and West Coast player and Swan Districts captain in the WAFL.

Born in Perth in the latter years of his father's VFL career, Rance played junior football at the High Wycombe Junior Football Club in Perth's eastern suburbs.[1]

He later played for Noranda in the Western Australian Amateur Football League before again moving to the Swan Districts side in the WAFL.[2]

He completed high school studies at Guildford Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia.[3]

AFL career

Early days (2008-2010)

Rance was drafted with Richmond's second selection and the 18th overall in the 2007 National Draft.

He failed to play senior football in his first season at the club, instead playing for the reserves affiliated Coburg Football Club in the VFL.

Rance made his AFL debut in Round 2 of the 2009 season in a loss to Geelong at Kardinia Park. He recorded 18 disposals and six marks in the match.[4] In Round 7 of that season, Rance was involved in a head clash with Brisbane Lions player Troy Selwood. He suffered three small cheekbone fractures and missed three matches as a result of the incident.[5] He kicked his first career goal in a Round 19 loss to Sydney.[6]

2011

In 2011 Rance was suspended following a Round 1 hit on Carlton's Jarrad Waite. He would miss three matches for the incident.[7] He did not play in a victory that season, with the club losing all ten matches he appeared in in 2011.[8]

2012

In Round 2, he recorded a career best 34 disposals as well as a career best 17 marks.[8] In a Round 6 win against Port Adelaide, Rance recorded his first career Brownlow Medal votes, scoring the maximum three points for the match.[9]

2013

He built form after a slow start in 2013 and produced the best of his six seasons, playing every game and pushing for the All Australian Team. Ranked ninth in the AFL for overall marks, he was third at Richmond for contested grabs and top 10 for kicks and handballs. Playing on and often beating the League’s best tall forwards, Rance also offered good rebound from the back half. Courageous and vital to the Tigers’ climb up the ladder.[10]

2014

In later years, Rance would reveal he had privately decided to give up football after enduring a grueling 2014 season. He had intended at the time to complete the last year of his contract in 2015 before retiring from the game.[11]

2015

In the early parts of the 2015 season, Rance was strongly linked to free agency move to other AFL clubs, specifically Fremantle and Brisbane Lions. Rance's playing future was under speculation with reports emerging that he was considering retiring,[12] however, in June, he ended the speculation by signing a four year contract extension that will keep him at Richmond until at least the end of the 2019 season, on a reported $750,000 a season.[13] His season was rewarded with the Jack Dyer Medal as the club's best and fairest player.[14]

2016

Prior to the the 2016 season, Rance was voted by his peers into Richmond's five man leadership group.[15] As the only defender in the group, he replaced teammate Troy Chaplin as the official leadership voice of the club's backline.

Rance was reported in April for striking Melbourne's Jack Watts in an incident in the clubs' ANZAC Day-eve clash.[16] He subsequently accepted a two match ban for the incident and offered a public apology for his actions.[17]

Rance played all other matches that season and finished with a then career-best 155 marks for the season from his 20 matches. It was also a career best year for average disposals, as he continued to improve his rebounding from defensive 50.[8]

He narrowly missed out on his second straight best-and-fairest, pipped by teammate Dustin Martin 61 votes to 62.[18]

Playing style

Rance plays as key-position defender. He is most often tasked with one-on-one defensive roles, negating opposing teams' best forwards. He has been regularly referred to by media and football experts as the best defender in the game since his first All-Australian season in 2014.[19][20][21]

In his early seasons he played matches in various roles including as a wing, general defender and even as a forward.[22]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2016 season [23]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team # Games G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
Totals Averages (per game)
2009 Richmond 18 15 1 2 69 135 204 47 43 0.1 0.1 4.6 9.0 13.6 3.1 2.9
2010 Richmond 18 10 6 3 55 66 121 36 23 0.6 0.3 5.5 6.6 12.1 3.6 2.3
2011 Richmond 18 19 0 0 190 155 345 113 49 0.0 0.0 10.0 8.2 18.2 5.9 2.6
2012 Richmond 18 22 0 0 236 159 395 136 48 0.0 0.0 10.7 7.2 18.0 6.2 2.2
2013 Richmond 18 23 1 0 226 156 382 153 50 0.0 0.0 9.8 6.8 16.6 6.7 2.2
2014 Richmond 18 18 0 0 154 158 312 104 49 0.0 0.0 8.6 8.8 17.3 5.8 2.7
2015 Richmond 18 23 0 0 203 196 399 135 68 0.0 0.0 8.8 8.5 17.4 5.9 3.0
2016 Richmond 18 20 0 0 212 161 373 155 43 0.0 0.0 10.6 8.1 18.7 7.8 2.2
Career 150 8 5 1345 1186 2531 879 373 0.1 0.0 9.0 7.9 16.9 5.9 2.5

Personal life

Rance is a practicing Jehovah's Witness.[24]

While playing football he has studied but not completed courses in carpentry, building and piloting as well as completing part time work in real estate sales.[11]

Rance married partner Georgia in December 2012.[25]

In 2011 Rance was the victim of stalking by a man who was later sentenced to 12 months in prison for incidents also including harassment and soliciting cash while posing as a doctor.[26]

Other work

In 2016 Rance appeared regularly as a guest panelist and special segment host on The Footy Show.[27] He also worked as a co-host on the AFL Exchange podcast for AFL Media in 2016.[28]

In 2016 Rance personally launched The Academy, an Australian rules football academy for high school students. The program, which Rance is credited with conceiving, is designed to provide students opportunities in sport outside traditional pathways. Graduating students will earn a Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "Alex RANCE (Swan Districts)". WAFL. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ↑ Greenberg, Tony (23 November 2016). "Richmond draft reflections: 2007". Richmond FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Football". Guilford Grammar School. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "Round 2 2009 Geelong vs Richmond". AFL Tables. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Ralph, Jon (11 May 2009). "Richmmond's Alex Rance will be back in three weeks harder than ever". Daily Telegraph. News Ltd. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Round 19 2009 Richmond vs Sydney". AFL Tables. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Matthews, Bruce (21 April 2011). "Tigers read riot act to defenders Luke McGuane and Alex Rance". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "Alex Rance". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "Round 6 2012, Port Adelaide vs Richmond". AFL Tables. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Senior Players List". Richmond Football Club. Richmond Football Club. 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  11. 1 2 Quayle, Emma (15 April 2016). "Why Alex Rance almost walked away from Richmond". The Age. Bigponf. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Wilson, Caroline (29 April 2015). "Why Richmond's Alex Rance may walk away". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Alex Rance signs new four-year deal with Richmond". Herald Sun. News Ltd. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  14. ↑ Greenberg, Tony (6 October 2015). "Rance reigns". RichmondFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Rance, Edwards elevated to leadership group". Richmond FC. Bigpond. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  16. ↑ Edwards, Nat (24 April 2016). "Tiger defender Alex Rance on report for late brain-fade". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  17. ↑ Lerner, Ronny (26 April 2016). "AFL season 2016: I'm absolutely remorseful for what I did, says Alex Rance". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  18. ↑ Greenberg, Tony (8 September 2016). "Dusty's Jack triumph". Richmond FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  19. ↑ Schmook, Nathan (12 August 2015). "Coaches have their say on the AFL's best - position by position". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  20. ↑ Ralph, Jon (4 July 2014). "Richmond defender Alex Rance is the best one-on-one player in the AFL". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  21. ↑ Murnane, Matt (21 April 2015). "Alex Rance can lay claim to being the best key defender in the AFL". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  22. ↑ Quayle, Emma (24 August 2013). "Tiger defender is flying". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  23. ↑ Alex Rance's player profile at AFL Tables
  24. ↑ Nicholson, Larissa. "Alex Rance's dilemma: Jehovah's Witnesses in sport". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  25. ↑ Phelan, Jennifer (20 February 2013). "Rance looks to the skies". Richmond FC. Bigpond. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  26. ↑ Deery, Shannon (27 August 2013). "Scott Raymond Thomas wins sentence appeal after stalking AFL player Alex Rance". Herald Sun. News Ltd. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  27. ↑ "AFL stars join worldwide Pokemon Go craze". Herald Sun. News Ltd. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  28. ↑ "AFL Exchange". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  29. ↑ Quayle, Emma (25 August 2016). "Richmond defender Alex Rance's latest creation: a school". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 27 November 2016.

External links

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