Alex Rance [merged]

[wayne]

Seems to be a glimmer of hope maybe?

When Hodge, Roughead etc. retired, there were no articles about teammates praying that he might come back. 

[Andyy]

Would be thrilled if he came back after the bye.

[pmac21]

I think the odds are shifting for him to come back. 

[one-eyed]

Hardwick slams trolls over Rance rumours

Chris Vernuccio
Herald Sun
January 17, 2020 12:26pm

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick has slammed “weak” keyboard warriors for smearing Alex Rance following his sudden AFL retirement.

Speaking for the first time about Rance’s departure, Hardwick said there was “nothing sinister” in the premiership defender’s decision to walk away the game last month with two years still to run on his contract.

“That’s what people do, I think they sit there and they hide behind keyboards and it’s weak. It’s incredibly weak and it’s incredibly disappointing from my point of view,” Hardwick said.

“There’s no truth to it, there’s nothing to it. This man is a man who’s been devoted to his family and his faith for a long period of time and there’s nothing more sinister than that.”

Hardwick said the door was open for Rance to return but wants what’s best for him, sharing the sentiments of premiership defender Bachar Houli who on Thursday said he ”prayed” his former teammate will return to footy.

Rance remains on Richmond’s list but Hardwick isn’t planning on him pulling on the yellow and black jumper this year.

“At this stage he’s retired in our plans, but plans can change,” Hardwick said.

“My more important thing is to make sure Alex is happy in his journey in life.

“Alex’s always been an incredible player for us, but his family and his faith have always been at the forefront of his mind. Whatever makes Alex happy, makes us happy.

“Is the door ajar? Probably it is but the ball is in Alex’s court from that point of view.”

Hardwick said his players preferred to acknowledge Rance’s achievements in private as he addressed the lack of social media tributes from them after the five-time All-Australian announced his retirement.

“I know we probably copped a little bit of flak with regard to that but it’s not how our club operates. We tend to leave the phones at home and the phones where they are,” he said.

“The more and more we hug, we love – all that sort of stuff is very much a part of us.

“(Rance) knows exactly how we feel about him, how important he is to the fabric of our organisation. So he’ll be heavily missed, not only as a football player, but as a person.”

Hardwick said he wasn’t caught off-guard by Rance’s early retirement despite most being shocked by the decision.

“We probably thought it may come to this at some stage – and it has,” Hardwick said.

“We would’ve liked to have got a couple of years out of him, but once again Alex’s happiness is at forefront of our mind.”

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/damien-hardwick-slams-online-trolls-over-alex-rance-rumours/news-story/80a2e1ece1c6ce9a50ae58adafa13b4f

[one-eyed]

Ball in Rance's court for retirement backflip: Hardwick

Damien Ractliffe
The Age
17 January 2020 - 11:00am

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says the door remains ajar for Alex Rance to return in a playing capacity but the Tigers are planning for life without the champion defender.

Fellow defender Bachar Houli said on Thursday that he "prayed" Rance would change his mind after announcing his retirement in the off-season and Hardwick doubled down on Friday morning, saying the option to return remained open.

"Is the door ajar? Probably it is but the ball's in Alex's court from that point of view," Hardwick said.

"We're moving on from a planning point of view that he won't be available but that may change.

"My more important thing is to make sure Alex is happy in his journey in life.

"Alex has been an outstanding player for our footy club and the biggest thing for us and our organisation is to make sure Alex is happy. He's got a bigger purpose in life and football is second to that and we understand that. Family and faith are incredibly important to him and we support him 100 per cent."

But Hardwick said Rance’s decision wasn’t necessarily surprising.

"We probably had a feeling," he said. "It's been a significant force in Alex's life, family and faith, so we have had some conversations over the last two to three years with regard to this and we probably thought it may come to this at some stage and it has.

"We obviously would have liked to get a couple [more] years out of him but once again Alex's happiness is at the forefront of our mind."

Online gossip regarding Rance's shock retirement disappointed Hardwick, but the two-time premiership coach said there was nothing sinister about Rance’s career-ending decision.

"That's what people do, they sit there and hide behind keyboards and it's weak," Hardwick said.

"It's incredibly weak and it's incredibly disappointing from my point of view but there's no truth to it.

"This man is a man that has been devoted to his family and his faith for a long period of time and there's nothing more sinister than that."

Hardwick defended his players’ decision not to rush to social media to pay tribute to their teammate.

"Our players have got a different mindset to that," he said.

"We don't necessarily have to be forefront in the social media game.

"Our guys are really heavily connected by human connection - phone calls, conversations - and I know we probably copped a little bit of flak in regard to that, but that's not how our club operates. We tend to leave the phones at home.

"The more and more we hug, we love, all that sort of stuff is very much a part of us. He knows exactly how we feel about him, how important he is to the fabric of our organisation. He'll be heavily missed, not only as football player but as a person."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/ball-in-rance-s-court-for-retirement-backflip-hardwick-20200117-p53sas.html

[TigerLand]

The key will be whether we do much of a fanfare for him. Richo had 12 month farewells if we do nothing for Rance he's still a chance to come back.

[RedanTiger]

The JW influence played a major part in this IMO.

I found it interesting that Houli was the one to make this statement.
Amongst the reasons that Rance gave was that he worried that it was hypocritical to preach non-violence and then go out to beat up on an opponent.

Houli is one who has been in that exact position. As a devout Muslim he has strongly and regularly preached non-violence as a key part of his religion.
When he has transgressed - hitting a player with a backhander - he has been punished to at least twice the extent of any other player. I think Houli could clearly explain to Rance how religious principles operate in every day life and on the professional field of play.

Houli has also complied with much more strenuous restrictions (eg fasting, prayer times) than Rance would be subject to in their religious observances.

Good that Houli has so clearly outlined the situation.
Does seem though that in this instance it was an abrupt change of mind for Rance.   

[WilliamPowell]

And Dimma goes whackety,  whack , whack!

Thanks Dimma, hope it's enough for folks now. 

[Tiger Khosh]

 

Looks like it is all true, gutted

 

[MintOnLamb]

Looks like it is all true, gutted

 

Thank goodness for that

[one-eyed]

"I call bulldust": Kane Cornes questions Damien Hardwick's Rance comments

By SEN
20 Jan 2020

Kane Cornes isn’t buying Damien Hardwick’s reasoning behind Richmond’s players delaying their response on social media to Alex Rance’s retirement.

In the days since Rance’s shock retirement, speculation mounted about why his Tigers teammates didn’t immediately post on Instagram to mark the occasion.

Hardwick denied there was anything sinister behind the social media silence.

"Our players have got a different mindset to that, we don't necessarily need to forefront in the social media game,” Hardwick said on Friday.

"Our guys are really connected via actual human connection … phone calls, conversations.

"I know we probably copped a little bit of flak for that but it's not how our club operates. We tend to leave the phones at home.

"The more and more we hug, we love. He knows exactly how we feel about him, how important he is to the fabric of our organisation. He'll be heavily missed, not only as a football player but a person."

But Cornes said Hardwick’s comment didn’t make sense, questioning why players didn’t post about their premiership teammate on social media despite being active on a range of social platforms.

“(Damien Hardwick) reckons his players don’t get involved in social media but I call bulldust,” Cornes told SEN SA Breakfast.

“I would believe Damien Hardwick if his players didn’t have Instagram accounts and if they weren’t on Instagram, Twitter and social media and on their phones regularly – but they are.

“I’ve looked at three or four Richmond players already this morning in response to Damien Hardwick’s comments – they’ve very active on social media.

“I’m not sure that’s an excuse for not paying tribute to Alex Rance, these are the guys that post for someone’s 50th game.

“You’ve got a premiership teammate who’s going to be a walk up Hall of Famer in the AFL and they’re not paying tribute to him on social media which is how it’s done now, players in their 20s now live on social media.

“I don’t believe Damien Hardwick that his philosophy as a footy club is to leave the phones at home and I think it’s surprise they didn’t pay tribute to Alex Rance on social media.”

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2020/01/19/i-call-bulldust-kane-cornes-questions-damien-hardwicks-rance-comments/

[mightytiges]

Cornes being an idiot again. If there's a slight chance Rance might return then the rest of the team aren't going to farewell him for good.

[The Machine]

Cornes being an idiot again. If there's a slight chance Rance might return then the rest of the team aren't going to farewell him for good.

On the money 

[one-eyed]

Report: Tigers optimistic of Rance late-season return

We may not have seen the last of the five-time All Australian.

Ben Cotton
zerohanger.com
January 21, 2020

Richmond have not ruled out an Alex Rance return, according to Triple M’s Tom Browne.

Browne told The Hot Breakfast on Tuesday morning that the club believes there is some chance the premiership defender will come out of retirement in 2020.

“My whisper yesterday is that Richmond remain very, very cautiously optimistic, or at least a chance, that Alex Rance could at some stage during the season change his mind,” Browne said.

“That’s partly why they have left him on the list”.

Tigers coach Damien Hardick kept the door ajar on Rance returning on Friday.

“At this stage he’s retired in our plans, but plans can change,” Hardwick said on Friday when speaking publicly for the first time about Rance’s decision.

“My more important thing is to make sure Alex is happy in his journey in life.

“Alex has always been an incredible player for us, but his family and his faith have always been at the forefront of his mind. Whatever makes Alex happy makes us happy.

“Is the door ajar? Probably it is, but the ball is in Alex’s court from that point of view.”

The 30-year old’s sudden retirement shocked the football world in December after 200 games.

https://www.zerohanger.com/report-tigers-optimistic-of-rance-late-season-return-37970/

[crackertiger]

The trolls on facebook are just horrible. Social media is just a soap box for asswipes honestly.