How do you stop the best defender in the AFL, Richmond’s Alex Rance?Warren Tredrea,
The Advertiser
17 August 2017TO tag Alex Rance or not – that’s the question.
Tagging is a football term normally associated with players in the midfield.
It’s a thankless task being sent to a star opponent to stifle their influence with the brief: “Don’t let them get a kick”.
Over the past decade two players immediately come to mind when discussing the topic of tagging – premiership winning stars Cameron Ling and Kane Cornes – they made the run with role their own.
But we’re now regularly seeing defensive forwards assigned to dominant defenders.
But its not only damaging half-back flankers who are being shadowed. Key position players like star Richmond defender Rance are now being tagged out of games.
Rance’s ability to win possession by turning defence into attack is second to none. It’s also a key reason why coaches continue to put time into restricting his influence.
Adelaide sits comfortably on top of the AFL ladder with two matches remaining while Rance’s Tigers sit fourth.
Fast forward three weeks and if the minor round ladder stays the same Don Pyke will be faced with the dilemma “do we tag Alex Rance or not?”
The answer isn’t straightforward. So far this year we have two totally different approaches of how to curb Rance’s influence on a game.
The first was against Port Adelaide in round 15.
Jackson Trengove was assigned the role of tagging Rance, he was brilliant, dominating him in one on one marking contests and pressuring and denying him time and space on the ball.
Rance is used to dictating play with his positioning in defence, but Trengove mirrored his every move refusing him space. He also got in his face and Rance didn’t know how to deal with it - he almost of lost his cool.
It wasn’t until Rance regrouped at half time and decided to stand in front of Trengove in slow play situations that his fortunes changed.
His ability to read the play allowed him to lead Trengove to the ball, from here he began to influence the game.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/warren-tredrea/how-do-you-stop-the-best-defender-in-the-afl-richmonds-alex-rance/news-story/ffb640a78ebeba67f18da05e1e759859
