Door ajar for Rance finals returnSam Edmund,
Herald Sun
April 18, 2019Richmond is refusing to put Alex Rance on the long-term injury list as the club keeps the door ajar on a miracle return.
The Tigers today said they were “really pleased” with Rance’s recovery from a knee reconstruction after the five-time All-Australian went down in the season-opener against Carlton on March 21.
A fully stocked Richmond would need to warehouse a player if it is to take part in the AFL’s first mid-season draft since 1993 on May 27.
Rance shaped as the obvious player to make way, but head of football Neil Balme said that wouldn’t be happening.
“In his case, there’s always some minor chance that he could play this year,” Balme told the Herald Sun.
“We’re not expecting that to happen, but we certainly wouldn’t do anything that meant there was no chance of him playing.”
Rance had surgery on March 26, four days after Tyson Goldsack was operated on last year before he returned for the Pies’ finals charge.
Both players went under the knife of renowned surgeon Julian Feller.
Fellow knee specialist David Young said the amount of “secondary trauma” was the most important factor in how quickly a player can return from a knee reconstruction.
It’s understood Rance had a clean tear of the ACL in his right knee, with Richmond physical performance manager Peter Burge saying the defender could straighten his leg six days after the operation.
“The surgery went fantastically well. He hasn’t got a lot of swelling … which is a really good sign,” Burge said at the start of this month.
“Knowing Alex, he’ll recover probably quicker than others, but we’ll be very careful in his rehab and we’re looking ahead to next year.”
Balme yesterday said Rance wasn’t going to die wondering.
“He’s a very, very committed guy. He leaves no stone unturned so he’ll give himself every chance to A) Get back to as good as he was and B) Do it as quickly as he can.
“But there’s no pressure from us one way or the other and obviously he has his moments because he’s not playing footy, which is an important part of his life.”
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/richmond-leaving-door-ajar-for-alex-rance-to-return-this-year-from-acl-injury/news-story/d43df6032b9f90e009ffdda562e95214
