Richmond face distraction with Rance, Martin yet to re-sign The Australian
February 04, 2015 RICHMOND are facing a major distraction on the eve of a crucial season as Alex Rance and Dustin Martin have yet to re-sign beyond this year.
Speculation about the future of the pair could become an unwanted focus should they remain uncontracted at the business end of the season when the Tigers are attempting the win their first finals match since 2001. They have made the final eight in the past two seasons but were bundled out in the first week of both series — by Carlton in 2013 after finishing the home-and-away season fifth, and by Port Adelaide by 57 points last season following a nine-match winning streak.
Of massive concern is the position of current All Australian key defender Rance, 25, who is understood to have sought a deferment of contract talks with Richmond until later this year.
Fremantle are set to make a huge bid for the West Australian free agent to return home, even though Rance is known to be keen to remain in Melbourne, particularly following the relocation of his parents from Perth to Victoria.
Having lost out on securing defender James Frawley in last year’s free-agency window — he left Melbourne for Hawthorn — the Dockers are desperate to add depth to their ageing key defenders. Luke McPharlin, 34, and Michael Johnson, 30, both missed Fremantle’s two losing finals games last year because of injury.
While the Dockers will vigorously pursue Rance, they have been told by his Stride management team that they are not interested in entering in any discussion about his future.
Sources close to Rance say the lure to return to Perth is not strong, and that he remains committed to a future at Punt Road even though he does not want to deal with a new contract until the end of the season.
Another reason given for the postponement of contract negotiations with Richmond is that Rance does not want a repeat of his form lapse in 2013 when he was in contract talks, which eventually resulted in a two-year extension.
Richmond general manager of football operations Dan Richardson said his club would “not be giving a running commentary” of players’ contract positions. “Both Dustin and Alex are integral to the team and we will be working hard to re-sign them,” he said. “With Alex, we’ll get to discussions at some stage soon.”
Martin is entering the final season of a two-year contract extension after almost walking out on the Tigers at the end of 2013 when he requested that his manager, Ralph Carr, seek more lucrative offers from rival clubs.
At the time, Richmond said Martin’s decision to field and consider options from rivals was disappointing after they considered they were close to reaching an agreement with him.
“Given the considerable effort we have put into Dustin’s development both on and off the field, and our efforts to retain him all season, we are extremely disappointed with this decision,” Richardson said. Martin was finally secured by the Tigers following minimal interest from other clubs, mainly because of his high price tag.
History suggests that when out-of-contract players put negotiations on hold until the end of the season, they generally switch clubs. That was certainly the case with Buddy Franklin (Hawthorn to Sydney), Gary Ablett (Geelong to Gold Coast), Brendon Goddard (St Kilda to Essendon), Dale Thomas (Collingwood to Carlton), Nick Malceski (Sydney to Gold Coast), Eddie Betts (Carlton to Adelaide), Tom Scully (Melbourne to GWS), Callan Ward (Western Bulldogs to GWS), Jarrad Waite (Carlton to North Melbourne).
Three stars who bucked the trend were Collingwood’s Travis Cloke, Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich and Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak.
In a positive sign for the Tigers, Boak, who rejected a move home to join Geelong at the end 2012, is managed by Rance’s agent Tom Petroro.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/richmond-face-distraction-with-rance-martin-yet-to-re-sign/story-fnca0u4y-1227207076170
