Alex Rance likely to get extended summer break to start pre-season later than his Richmond teammates Jon Ralph
Herald Sun
October 07, 2015 8:00PMRICHMOND is likely to allow best-and-fairest winner Alex Rance an extended off-season break that sees him resume at Punt Rd in January.
Rance on Tuesday won the club champion trophy after a scintillating year that also saw him consider his future away from the game.
He has been talking with the Tigers about an extended break that will likely be granted.
Rance revealed after he re-signed this year that he wanted to live a balanced life where football was not his only priority.
Teams which play in week one of the finals can request their players back in mid-November.
Senior players are often only required back in early December, but 25-year-old Rance would be expected to keep up his fitness and return in elite shape.
Kevin Sheedy often told James Hird he only wanted him back in January to ease the mental strain on his star, with Melbourne Storm using the same tactic with its elder statesmen.
Richmond football boss Dan Richardson told the Herald Sun on Wednesday the club was working through that negotiation.
“We are just working through it with a few of our guys. That maybe the case. Other clubs have done it in the past,’’ he said.
Rance and his wife are determined to travel extensively and enjoy their life outside football, with his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witnesses devotee not a factor in his hope for a longer pre-season break.
In his Jack Dyer Medal acceptance speech on Tuesday night, Rance delivered a humble, hilarious at times bizarre speech where he labelled himself a “flog” when he first arrived at the Tigers.
http://www.themercury.com.au/alex-rance-likely-to-get-extended-summer-break-to-start-pre-season-later-than-his-richmond-teammates/story-fnj3twbb-1227561013915
