Tigers backman concedes Rance can't be replacedDaniel Cherny, Scott Spits
The Age
22 March 2019Richmond defender Nick Vlastuin concedes Alex Rance cannot be replaced but has called on his fellow backmen to step up in the superstar’s absence.
While not yet confirmed, the Tigers are bracing for the possibility that Rance’s season could be over, with Richmond suspecting that the five-time All-Australian and 2015 Tigers best and fairest ruptured his ACL when landing awkwardly late in the third quarter of Thursday night’s 33-point win in the season-opener against Carlton.
Rance didn’t return to the game and was on crutches after the match, which should have been a celebratory occasion for his 200th AFL appearance.
Richmond are expected to confirm the prognosis over the next day or two, but Tigers coach Damien Hardwick wasn’t optimistic.
“It’s going to be disappointing if it is [an ACL],” Hardwick said.
“We’ll cross our fingers and hope for the best, but it’s looking dire at this stage.
“It is suspected at this stage, but we’ll confirm that when we get the chance.”
Hardwick pointed to West Coast’s premiership success in the absence of Nic Naitanui and Andrew Gaff as proof that teams could succeed despite losing their best players.
“He’s obviously a champion of the game. He’s one of the best full-backs I’ve ever seen,” Hardwick said.
“These things can be overcome. It’s disappointing to lose such a fantastic player, but it also provides an opportunity for someone else to get some games under their belt. We’ll get to find a player. Are they going to be to Alex Rance’s standard? Certainly not straight away, it’s very hard to replace an Alex Rance. But it’ll give someone an opportunity no doubt.”
Hardwick acknowledged, however, that it was a bitter pill to swallow.
“You’ve been through a lot with this guy, and been through a journey, and then to have it taken away from you round one is disappointing. We walk away with four points but we certainly walk away disappointed we lost a warrior,” he said.
“There were guys in tears, knowing they’ve lost a comrade for possibly 12 months.”
Key defender Ryan Garthwaite, 20, who played two games last year, looms as an option to help fill the hole left by Rance.
Noah Balta, who debuted as a forward on Thursday night, could also be used in defence.
Rance’s premiership teammate Vlastuin explained how the Tigers reshuffled after Rance went down.
“Dave [Astbury] and Grimesy [Dylan Grimes] took his role on deepest [forward], and then we kind of all shuffled back down. We had Jack Graham down there in the last quarter who didn’t know what we he was doing but looked like a natural down there,” Vlastuin told The Age.
Looking forward, Vlastuin said it would require a team effort to fill the void.
“You can never replace Alex Rance,” he said.
“But hopefully Dave will stand up a little, I’ll stand up a bit, I’ll stand up myself, and hopefully you just try to fill the void. Ryan Garthwaite’s a very promising young key back. Balta has played a little bit of backline as well. Or maybe we’ll go a smaller backline.”
Rance has missed just two games since the start of 2015, one of several key Tigers to have been very durable in recent years.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/carlton-v-richmond-star-tiger-defender-suffers-knee-injury-20190321-p516ek.html
