Star Richmond key defender Alex Rance has provided an insight into how he’s handling his role as one of the Club’s on-field leaders.

Rance, in his first season as an official member of the Tigers’ playing leadership group, revealed one of the main challenges is adopting a measured approach when dealing with teammates.

“It’s a fine balance between the stick and the carrot,” Rance said on SEN.

“You’ve got to be able to discipline the players and really try and evoke some emotion out of them.  But, at the same time, you can’t be crushing them down to a pulp . . . 

“I’m still learning very much as a leader what that balance is and what the players around me require.  But I think I’m starting to find some good cohesion, especially with the backs that I tend to deal with the most. 

“You might see me every now and then give one of my players a spray or a clip, or something like that down back.  But we’ve got that relationship where we’re able to do that . . . 

“I definitely need to take more ownership there of driving the standards, especially in the backline.”