The duel between Richmond’s outstanding key defender Alex Rance and Sydney’s superstar spearhead Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin was a major highlight of last Saturday night’s epic MCG encounter.  Although Franklin finished with five goals, Rance’s inspirational efforts, particularly in the frenetic final few minutes of the contest, were pivotal to the Tigers snatching a stirring one-point win.  Here’s how Rance’s typically strong and bold performance was assessed by his coach and teammates (and himself).

Damien Hardwick:  “It was a good battle.  Lance kicked five, kicked some big goals.  But I thought Alex, in the one-on-ones, did pretty well . . .  He missed a couple of weeks (through suspension), so he was probably going to be a little bit rusty . . . I was pretty happy with Alex’s efforts after a couple of weeks’ break.”

Shaun Grigg:  “He’s a beast, ‘Rancey’.  We back him against anyone in the comp.  ‘Buddy’ Franklin still kicked his five (goals), and was so dangerous, but if Rance wasn’t playing I don’t know how many Buddy would have kicked . . . He was really good for us.”

Anthony Miles:  “He didn’t give up, just fought to the death . . . He’s a tremendous competitor . . . an awesome player.  It was an interesting one (the duel with Franklin).  Buddy probably kicked a few up the ground a bit further . . . Rancey certainly won his fair share of one-on-ones.  At the end of the day, Buddy kicked five, but it was certainly a pretty close duel, I thought.”

Ben Griffiths:  “We rely on him a lot.  His contest stuff’s unbelievable, and he really gets our ball movement going.  Although Buddy kicked five, we base ourselves on being a real team defence, so it comes back to all of us.  But ‘Tross’ (Rance) did really well.”

Alex Rance:  “I always enjoy the battle with Buddy.  We respect each other a lot.  After the game we shook hands.  But when we’re out here, we’re pretty fierce competitors.  He was kicking straight today (Saturday night) . . . I was pretty filthy.”