Richmond defender Alex Rance put his hand up for the Travis Cloke task Sam Landsberger
From: Herald Sun
April 22, 2013 11:52PMIT was Alex Rance's call to take on Collingwood gorilla Travis Cloke, with the young Tiger determined to prove himself on the big stage.
Football experts have wondered why Troy Chaplin, the experienced full-back Richmond signed from Port Adelaide last October, didn’t match up on Cloke, who proved the difference with a devastating seven-goal haul on Saturday.
But Richmond captain Trent Cotchin revealed Rance, 23, asked for Cloke when the Tigers’ defence met to discuss the Pies last week.
“Obviously Rancey had been disappointed with his performances in previous weeks and wanted to show that he was capable of taking on one of the best key forwards in the competition,” Cotchin told Fox Footy’s On The Couch.
“We thought it was a fantastic thing that he wanted to put his hand up.
“I think before halftime he’d done a relatively good job considering our pressure wasn’t up to the standard in the midfield.”
Rance has suffered a tough start to 2013, with Liam Jones booting a career-best four goals against the priority pick in Round 3.
And Cotchin revealed that while the Tigers started favourites against the Pies, their training standards last week foreshadowed a dip in performance.
“It was a big build up. We thought we were ready, but even looking back to our training we probably didn’t have the standards we had leading into other games,” hr said.
“That was something we reviewed as a leadership group today.
“We thought we were ready to take a potential top-four side on and we didn’t. Our focus areas going into the game, we didn’t tick any of those off, and that’s disappointing.”
Asked to rate some of the other superstar midfield captains in the AFL, Cotchin said: “I’ve always idolised Gary Ablett and still looking back on that St Kilda game (in Round 1) to see him kick three or four goals in one quarter, and he’s consistently having mid-30 possessions with most of them pretty effective.
“He’s certainly the most talented in my eyes as a midfielder, but Joel Selwood’s impact and the way he leads is something to aspire to.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/teams/richmond-defender-alex-rance-put-his-hand-up-for-the-travis-cloke-task/story-e6frf9mx-1226626671279