The arrival at Punt Road just over a year ago of two off-field recruits – Neil Balme (from Collingwood) as the Club’s General Manager of Football and Blake Caracella (from Geelong) as an assistant coach – was an important factor in Richmond’s remarkable rise to premiership glory in 2017, according to brilliant key defender Alex Rance.

Here’s what Rance had to say about the pair during a recent interview with radio station ‘SEN’.

On Neil Balme

“’Balmey’ is probably the real calming influence of the whole environment we created there,” Rance said on SEN.

“You know, a situation would bob up, where it may be fuelled by media, or someone stepped out of line . . . And, instead of just taking a hard-line, extravagant approach, he’d just be, ‘Ah yeah, whatever. That’s footy, or that’s life. Let’s move on’.

“He wouldn’t make it too fanatical.”

On Blake Caracella

“Blake has got a great mind to be an offensive coach because, when you’re playing football, the right answer is just hitting the target,” Rance said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to kick straight, kick long. The right decision is the one that you hit the target with.

“Blake would ask, ‘Which option should we hit here?’ Five people would say, this, this and this.

“’Well, you’re all right. As long as you hit the target, you’re right’, he’d reply.

“That’s a really nice methodology to have as a coach, (for a player) to not feel like you’re going to be crucified for every mistake.”