Two current-day Richmond stars and one former top-line Tiger were awarded life membership of the Club at tonight’s 2016 Annual General Meeting held at Punt Road.
Alex Rance and Dustin Martin, along with Trevor Poole, became the latest recipients of Richmond life membership.
Rance qualified for life membership of the Club, when he reached the 150-milestone game with the Tigers in the final home-and-away round of the 2016 season against Sydney at the SCG.
The 27-year-old, a product of WAFL club Swan Districts, was a priority pick (No. 18 overall) for Richmond in the 2007 AFL National Draft, after it had finished last that season with just three wins and a draw.
He spent the entire 2008 season playing for Richmond’s then VFL affiliate club Coburg, before making his AFL debut with the Tigers in Round 2, 2009 against Geelong at Kardinia Park.
Today, Alex Rance is widely regarded as the best key defender in the competition.
He is the total package as a backman, combining rock-solid defence with exceptional attacking flair.
Rance possesses enormous courage, a fanatical desire to succeed and is elite with his intercept ability.
For the past three years, Rance has been selected in the All-Australian team, he won the 2015 Jack Dyer Medal and was runner-up in the Tigers’ Best and Fairest for the 2016 season.
He averages 16.8 disposals and 5.8 marks per match throughout his 150-game AFL career. On 41 occasions, he has picked up 20 disposals or more in a match.
Essentially, he is worth his weight in gold to the Richmond side.
Dustin Martin achieved the 150-game milestone in the Tigers’ Round 20 clash with Collingwood this year.
Martin, who started playing senior football with Victorian country club Castlemaine as a 16-year-old, was Richmond’s first pick (No. 3 overall) in the 2009 AFL National Draft.
He made a promising senior league debut with Richmond in Round 1 of the 2010 season against Carlton at the MCG (18 disposals, four marks) and played 21 games all-up that season, finishing an impressive fourth in the Jack Dyer Medal.
Since then, Martin has gone from strength to strength and developed into one of the competition’s most dynamic midfielders.
Martin’s ability to win contested ball, fend off tackles with his trademark ‘don’t argue’, then burst clear and deliver the ball long and direct to teammates further afield, makes him such a weapon for the Tigers.
He also is so damaging when isolated in Richmond’s forward half because of his great strength, which enables him to consistently win crucial one-on-one contests.
Martin has been runner-up in the Club’s Best and Fairest twice (2013 and 2015), third two times (2011 and 2014), and took out his inaugural Jack Dyer Medal in 2016 following an outstanding season.
This year, Martin also was named in the All-Australian line-up for the first time, and he finished third in the Brownlow Medal with 25 votes.
He averages 24.5 disposals per match in his AFL career and nearly a goal a game (150 goals in 153 games).
Trevor Poole was recruited by Richmond from Victorian country team Tempy-Gorya-Patchewollock, which competed in the Mallee Football League.
Poole worked his way through the ranks at Tigerland, starting with the under-19s in 1981, and making his senior league debut in Round 11 of the 1984 season against Geelong at the MCG.
He played predominantly on a wing, and across the backline, throughout his 99-game senior career with the Tigers.
With his mobility, marking strength, good ball skills and ability to read the play so well, Poole was a decided asset for the Richmond side.
His best season of league football was in 1985, when he wonthe Jack Dyer Medal and represented Victoria twice in state matches.
The following year, he finished third in Richmond’s Best and Fairest.
Poole transferred to Geelong at the end of 1989 and subsequently played in the Cats’ 1992 Grand Final side.
In 2001, Poole returned to Richmond as the Club’s Football Operations Manager, which was a role he had for a couple of seasons.
For the past few years, Poole has been actively involved with the Tigers as a committee member of the Former Players and Officials Association.
