You can’t keep a player of star key Richmond key defender Alex Rance’s quality down for long, as he proved yet again in last Thursday night’s Grand Final re-match against Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval.

Rance had his colours lowered early in the game, with key Crows forward Josh Jenkins kicking four goals on him.

The Tigers’ premiership hero and reigning All-Australian captain managed just two disposals in the first half, as he struggled to contain Jenkins and to have his trademark significant impact on the contest.

It was a different story after half-time, however, as he racked up a further 17 disposals and repeatedly repelled Adelaide attacking moves.

Rance finished with 19 touches, four rebound-50s, seven marks and a game-high 13 intercepts.

Jenkins paid tribute to Rance for the way he was able to bounce back following his slow start to the match.

“I found it really interesting because he kind of completely changed the way he was going about business in the first half,” Jenkins said on SEN.

“He was really conscious of being physical and taking body, whereas in the second half he sorted of just released his own shackles. He flew at the ball and made us all look silly at different stages.

“It’s the quality of the man, quality of the player, to show really great resilience.

“We’ve all had halves of footy that haven’t been our best, but he just bounced back and was a huge factor with 17 disposals in the second half.”