Rance grabs his chanceMatt Murnane
The Age
April 6, 2012RICHMOND full-back Alex Rance says he is ready to become the leader of the Tigers' defensive unit after a year of boxing above his weight against the game's best key forwards.
While captain Chris Newman remains the back-line general, the Tigers will charge Rance, Jayden Post and Dylan Grimes - three emerging defenders with a total of just 77 games between them - with the responsibility of stopping the opposition's best goalkickers.
And there are few greater challenges than the one the trio faces at the MCG tomorrow night, against Collingwood twin towers Travis Cloke and Chris Dawes under the spotlight provided by 70,000 fans.
As the ''senior'' figure out of the three and coming off a breakout season, Rance wants to be the club's go-to man in defence and believes he has done enough work over the pre-season to reach that level soon.
''I just want to be that Mr Reliable that can do the job … that anchor of the back line that's always the first guy selected,'' he said. ''And I don't see it as being too far off. This is the most solid pre-season I've done.
''I know what I've got to do now, so it's just about executing on a regular basis. And I'm confident I can do that now with the fitness base I've got. It was mainly under fatigue that I would make the mistakes.
''I know my worst games improved a lot last year, if that makes sense, and my good games also improved a little bit.''
There was a time when Richmond supporters would have cringed hearing Alex Rance and ''Mr Reliable'' in the same sentence.
Selected with pick 18 in the 2007 draft, the 22-year-old is the first to concede he struggled to make an impact during his first three seasons, partly due to confusion about whether he was a forward, midfielder or defender.
''There was times when I did question whether I would make it,'' he said.
It wasn't until defensive coach Justin Leppitsch came to the club and told him the player he wasn't, that Rance became the player he is now.
He describes the period at the end of 2010 as the turning point of his 45-game career.
''He put me on the right track and said, 'This is the type of player you've got to be'. You've just got to be that competitive beast,'' he said.
That's exactly what Rance morphed into last season, leading the club in spoils and intercept marks, and finishing second in rebound 50s.
He finished sixth in the club's best and fairest.
Rance, the son of former Footscray and West Coast player Murray Rance, is regarded as the strongest player at Punt Road. And there was a strong focus again this pre-season on developing his core strength.
''It's just about using the attributes I have, but also anticipating the play,'' he said.
''I have to use my strength a lot more because I'm only 194 centimetres and I'm going to be playing on blokes a lot bigger than me. I have to anticipate their movements a lot quicker and be a lot more physical in the way I play.''
All this is far from just wishful thinking on Rance's part.
Not only do Leppitsch and coach Damien Hardwick think he is capable of becoming the Tigers' defensive anchor, they are counting on him to do so.
''Rancey is a guy we felt stepped forward enormously last year and we expect him to make the same progression this year,'' Leppitsch said.
It was only one game, but already there are signs this year that Rance could deliver.
When the Tigers' back line came under fire against Carlton last week, Rance stood tall by collecting 21 disposals, 13 contested possessions, 11 intercept possessions and two intercept marks.
He was also one of the few Tigers that kept his composure by foot, with 10 of his 11 kicks hitting the target.
The statistics are significant given intercept possessions and winning contested ball in defensive 50 are two key areas the Tigers worked on over the pre-season.
''We are going to try to capture the ball centre-forward rather than waiting until it gets to defensive 50,'' Rance said.
''But we were also quite poor contested-ball wise in the defensive 50 last year, which is something we've worked on.''
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