Alex Rance opens up on the Tigers premiership gloryALEX RANCE,
Herald Sun
7 October 2017THE question came amid the euphoria in our rooms straight after the Grand Final.
“Does the Western Bulldogs premiership hangover scare you?”
As champagne bottles popped around me and the beers and tears flowed, it wasn’t something I’d had time to ponder.
But after our first week as Richmond premiership players, I’ve found myself giving 2018 quite a bit of thought.
It came up on Thursday in a phone conversation I had with Trent Cotchin and we both came to the same conclusion — what we have has no expiry date.
I just have so much confidence and belief in our culture.
This wasn’t luck and it wasn’t us catching the competition on the hop. We’re building something that’s pretty cool and something we believe can be replicated quite well. Every new kid who comes in each year is going to be made to understand what it takes to be a Richmond man.
Whatever has taken place at the Dogs this year shouldn’t scare us. There shouldn’t be any expectation or weight on us because history is done. Once you’ve won a flag, how much better can it get?
It’s about relaxing into next year and doing it again. But for now, the body and mind needs a rest.
The emotion of Grand Final day hit me like a tonne of bricks.
I had a bit of a moment on the ground in the goalsquare in those chaotic few moments after the final siren. I looked up and saw all my family and friends in the box and it was the first time I’d actually seen their faces while I was still standing on the ground.
That probably made me cry more than anything else, just to see their enjoyment, satisfaction and pride seeing me achieve something special.
Despite my father-son connections, as a kid I never saw myself winning a flag or even being any good at football, so I never had “that dream”.
What made me so emotional after the game was the looks on everyone elses faces. It was like that had almost ticked a massive box for themselves and to see that excitement pulled at the heartstrings.
There’s a trend here isn’t there? I’d definitely be on the podium at Richmond for biggest cryer. I think Dave Astbury and I bring the worst out of each other.
I’m not a huge fan of posing for photos, believe it or not, but the one I really wanted to get was Dave, Dylan Grimes and myself holding the cup because we’ve built something really special over the past two years.
It sort of became our backline as the three leaders and there was a pretty unreal moment we shared holding the cup. I think our personalities and values mesh really well together. Dave and Dylan are from bigger families and bush communities where you tend to value each others’ time and put a massive emphasis on care and looking out for your mate.
That is something I love about those guys; that off-field they take care of their families and love their families as much as I love mine. From the moment they came in the door of the club we naturally clicked.
There was about two minutes to go in the Grand Final and the three of us are like, ‘Stick to the process, we haven’t won it yet’, while Bachar Houli and Brandon Ellis — the flamboyant halfbacks — were wanting to celebrate.
I never really prepared myself to do that. We’d had a few games taken away from us earlier in the year — Fremantle and GWS — that frustrated and annoyed me and I didn’t want it to happen again.
But given we were about 40 points up with 120 seconds left perhaps we should have followed their lead.
Yet everyone is different, which was the power of our team this year — embracing everyone’s individuality. As we walked around the MCG’s underground service lane towards the stage long after the game, oblivious Jack Riewoldt was being a rock star above us, I caught up with Bachar.
Bachar’s faith is well-documented, as is mine I guess. I just said to him: ‘Enjoy this any way that you want to enjoy it. Don’t feel like you have to do everything the boys are doing’.
I think some guys feel they’ve got to spray beer on each other or do a ‘shoey’ or whatever, but some people celebrate in different ways and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Personally, I try not to go to over the top. I’m not afraid of a beer, obviously, and I had a few hazy days. It’s not really a moral or faith compromising situation. It’s just everything in moderation.
Moderation applies to the appearance offers over the last week too. I’ve been really trying to strike a balance between the commercial side of things and having time with the boys because there’s been a lot of opportunities.
But Mad Tuesday was fun. I went as a friend of mine, our trainer Matt Pearce. In that Geelong qualifying final I split my head and there was all that kerfuffle about me telling him to go and get stuffed. So I was happy to take the pee out myself a bit.
For the next couple of months we get to live a normal life.
I’ll start by sinking my teeth into The Academy, our education and training program aimed at developing student-athletes.
We’ve got two boys classes next year, but we’ve also got two girls signed up and are working on getting a girls class up and going.
My wife Georgia and I will next month head to Tasmania for Jack Riewoldt and Carly Ziegler’s wedding before embarking on a bit of a bucketlist trip to Africa.
And then it’s back to work, but that won’t be a problem.
How can you suffer Mondayitis after winning a premiership with your mates?
I can’t wait.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/alex-rance-opens-up-on-the-tigers-premiership-glory/news-story/effc2bd92c887495566d348168a0a980
