Former North Melbourne champion centre half-forward, now respected football commentator, Wayne Carey, has paid star Richmond key defender Alex Rance a huge tribute, by likening him to his former teammate Glenn Archer.
Carey, writing in ‘The Age’, ranked Rance right up there with the mighty North backman, who was voted the ‘Shinboner of the Century’.
“I actually think Alex is the modern-day Archer. Obviously Rance is taller and heavier – he's listed as being 194cm and 96kg, while the media guide has ‘Arch’ at 182cm and 93kg – but that's about the only obvious difference,” Carey stated.
“Just like Archer, Rance is able to turn 30-70 situations against him into a win, because of his talent, sheer competitiveness and hatred of being beaten.
“The Richmond man's desperation and courage in the air bring back memories of Arch, and what I witnessed at North week after week for 200-plus games.
“Like Archer, Rance is at all times the consummate team player. His primary focus is to beat his opponent, but the number of times he covers for his fellow-defenders, by reading the play, is amazing.
“Whether courageously going back into a pack, or leaving his man to run 30 metres and meet an oncoming opponent, Rance always puts team first.
“Most of the time the Tiger takes the opposition's best forward, whether it's a tall like Lance Franklin, or a small like Eddie Betts. He's played on both of those guys this year.
“And, you have to remember, that key forwards in the modern game are much better protected than they were 20 years ago – there's no chopping of the arms, no holding allowed off the ball, and the third umpire watches everything like a hawk. Also, players generally use the footy much better, so I think forwards can take advantage of those things and score a lot of easier goals.”
Carey regards Rance as Richmond’s most important player.
“He's just about the complete package. He's also got a bit of mongrel in him . . . the forearm to the back of Jack Watts' head a few weeks ago – although very much out of character – had a bit of ‘Arch’ about it, too.
“Comparing his stats with Glenn's, he gets more of the footy, takes more uncontested marks and lays more tackles. The contested marks were roughly even, but Arch kicked a lot more goals having spent more time forward. And, of course, my old teammate had an intimidation factor that can't be measured.
“Alex is a dual All-Australian and reigning Jack Dyer Medallist and, at 26, is just entering the peak of his career.
“Glenn, in his 311 games, was a three-time All-Australian, dual premiership winner and winner of the Norm Smith Medal in the 1996 Grand Final.
“As a footballer, I think Rance is more polished and perhaps more consistent than Archer – he only plays two or three bad games a year. He's as courageous as the former North man, too.”
Carey was full of praise for Rance’s efforts in last Friday night’s clash with North Melbourne at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena, which Richmond lost by 70 points.
“If Alex Rance wasn’t on that park last Friday night, the Tigers would have got beaten by another 10 (goals). The way he covers . . . he was just absolutely brilliant, I thought,” Carey said.
Rance had 17 disposals, including 10 contested possessions, a game-high 12 intercepts (the next best for the match was eight by North’s Robbie Tarrant), a game-high four intercept marks, a team-high six tackles and three rebound-50s.
