Yep. Most have moved on. Been a year since he laced up and we won the lot without him. Time to find a new full back for 2021
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Alex Rance
- Thread starter Tigers of Old
- Start date
I still think our defence missed him. Particularly his organisation & ability to cover off two opponents.
he was a once a generation freak. of course we miss/ed him.
we'll always miss him.
makes me miss world of sport.
we used to be able to watch the champs grow old on Sunday mornings
Yeah, I miss the old Energiser Bunny, repelling hundreds of attacking moves every game just by himself.
Church gatherings have presented a heightened risk for early coronavirus cases in other countries.
Door knockings might not be a good idea in the coming months either.
Anyone know if JWs believe anything different regarding the coronavirus because of their faith?
Door knockings might not be a good idea in the coming months either.
Anyone know if JWs believe anything different regarding the coronavirus because of their faith?
I'd take a stab and say they would believe
that only sodomites and gamblers get smote down by this tiny little spikey hand of god?
“The devil is trying to give me the flu......or whatever else he’s trying to do”. Classic.
Ummm... So, if I lick my computer screen I'm immunised, right?
BTW - What is that *smile* on his hand? Is he lubed up to reach inside the viewers rectum to extract the gold they have secreted there in preparation for the coronarapture?
What a spanner!
Bennnny
Punt Road End. The best place to watch The Tiges.
Story in The Age today. Church didn't tell him to retire. Has anybody seen him knocking on doors in the southern suburbs.
strange and why would the church think it’s their business to comment publicly anyway.
it’s a nothing article as the JW representative is only guessing and doesn’t really know the specific details of the Rance situation.
'Conflicted' ex-Tiger Rance wasn't told to quit by his church
By Michael Gleeson
www.theage.com.au
Alex Rance's church has weighed in on his abrupt retirement from football, saying the Richmond premiership defender's decision was personal and not dictated by his religion.
Rance, a devout Jehovah's Witness, referenced his faith and family when he made the extraordinary off-season call to walk away from the Tigers and the game, just as he was nearing a return to the field following the knee reconstruction that caused him to miss the club's second flag in three seasons.
But, as Richmond prepare to launch their premiership defence against Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night (assuming an escalation in the coronavirus crisis does not force the AFL to cancel games), Rance's evangelical Christian church has said it did not thrust the decision upon him.
"Truthfully it boils down to the fact that we have no authority to tell anyone what to do," said David Eades, the Jehovah's Witness spokesman for southern Australia.
So the church would not have said to Rance 'we don't want you to play'? "No. It cannot happen," Eades said, stressing that he was not talking directly to Rance's situation but to anyone in a similar position.
"If a person was making a choice and came and asked for advice it would all be Bible-based advice recognising that the person asking has developed their own faith and maybe just wants to bounce it off someone else.
"In the end we would never say to someone 'so with all of that in mind you are definitely not going to do this,' that runs completely contrary to how our organisation works.
"It's all personal choice, it truly is, because otherwise that would put us in some sort of God-like position to be telling him what to do.
"I can't talk on behalf of him personally but the rationale is if someone is finding, whether it be football or any other form of employment, that it is getting in the way of their faith, we as a Jehovah's Witness would always put our faith and Bible principles before our employment.
"Your religion is your choice, your employment is your choice. "Rance's decision was the most remarkable early retirement of a healthy, fit footballer (albeit one returning from long-term injury) that the AFL has seen.While he had come close to retiring in 2015 for religious reasons and admitted to wrestling with the compatibility of his faith and his football throughout his career, the decision when it came in December was still stunning.
That a player could, at the peak of their professional career, voluntarily walk away from the elite level of the game and tear up a contract that would leave millions of dollars on the table is unprecedented in the AFL.
This was not a minor player. Rance was among the most gifted in the game, a six time All-Australian, a premiership defender, a player who will, even in early retirement, be regarded as possibly the best defender Richmond has ever had.
He was set to return to a side that had just won a flag and stood poised – especially with his re-inclusion – to be a strong chance to win another flag.
Thus the decision left many bewildered. The manner of the announcement, coming in the lead-up to Christmas via a video statement but not a press conference and without immediate gushing tributes from his teammates, only furthered the uncertainty of those who carried doubts over the truth of the reasons for the decision.
When days later it emerged Rance's marriage had also broken down, the cynicism strengthened that there were other reasons behind the decision.
Undoubtedly the marriage breakdown played a part in Rance's retirement decision, according to those close to him. The timing of the two decisions was not coincidental.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, Eades acknowledged, hold the view that a marriage vow is forever and that a couple wanting to separate must demonstrate they have taken all the steps they can to preserve the marriage.
Many close to and around Rance believe the retirement decision was a demonstration to the church and his wife of his commitment to try to save the marriage. He was showing that he was willing to forsake his football for his faith, and so put his faith and his wife first.
It is also true he wanted to spend more time doing church work – he has since been door-knocking in Melbourne's southern suburbs, spreading the church's word.
Eades rejected the suggestion that it would have been preferable for Rance to continue to play and retain a high profile and so reach a bigger audience for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
"You could look at it like that, but we don't," Eades said.
Rance first told the club in July last year that he was again looking at retiring. Things calmed for a period as he was not playing and in some ways that made it easier to balance the competing pressures. He wrestled with his decision, having ongoing conversations with senior football and club figures and his manager as well as his church mentors.
"You have never met a more conflicted person than he was in that six months," a senior Richmond person said.
Some at Richmond believe he did not want to retire but felt it was the right thing to do – he still loves footy – and so also would not be surprised were he to return to the club asking about a comeback.
On the day he finally told the club he was committed to retiring, he said he wanted to tell the players then have a final training session with them in the following week, when he had been due to return to main training for the first time after his injury.
The club explained this was a mixed message and that he should be either in or out. He is out … for now at least.
Now the season is to begin, quietly, without a crowd at the game but also without a Rance in the Richmond backline. Richmond fans would likely feel no closer to truly grasping why he is not out there.
By Michael Gleeson
'Conflicted' ex-Tiger Rance wasn't told to quit by his church
Richmond are getting ready to launch their premiership defence without Alex Rance. A conversation with the Jehovah's Witnesses has shed some light on his decision.
Alex Rance's church has weighed in on his abrupt retirement from football, saying the Richmond premiership defender's decision was personal and not dictated by his religion.
Rance, a devout Jehovah's Witness, referenced his faith and family when he made the extraordinary off-season call to walk away from the Tigers and the game, just as he was nearing a return to the field following the knee reconstruction that caused him to miss the club's second flag in three seasons.
But, as Richmond prepare to launch their premiership defence against Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night (assuming an escalation in the coronavirus crisis does not force the AFL to cancel games), Rance's evangelical Christian church has said it did not thrust the decision upon him.
"Truthfully it boils down to the fact that we have no authority to tell anyone what to do," said David Eades, the Jehovah's Witness spokesman for southern Australia.
So the church would not have said to Rance 'we don't want you to play'? "No. It cannot happen," Eades said, stressing that he was not talking directly to Rance's situation but to anyone in a similar position.
"If a person was making a choice and came and asked for advice it would all be Bible-based advice recognising that the person asking has developed their own faith and maybe just wants to bounce it off someone else.
"In the end we would never say to someone 'so with all of that in mind you are definitely not going to do this,' that runs completely contrary to how our organisation works.
"It's all personal choice, it truly is, because otherwise that would put us in some sort of God-like position to be telling him what to do.
"I can't talk on behalf of him personally but the rationale is if someone is finding, whether it be football or any other form of employment, that it is getting in the way of their faith, we as a Jehovah's Witness would always put our faith and Bible principles before our employment.
"Your religion is your choice, your employment is your choice. "Rance's decision was the most remarkable early retirement of a healthy, fit footballer (albeit one returning from long-term injury) that the AFL has seen.While he had come close to retiring in 2015 for religious reasons and admitted to wrestling with the compatibility of his faith and his football throughout his career, the decision when it came in December was still stunning.
That a player could, at the peak of their professional career, voluntarily walk away from the elite level of the game and tear up a contract that would leave millions of dollars on the table is unprecedented in the AFL.
This was not a minor player. Rance was among the most gifted in the game, a six time All-Australian, a premiership defender, a player who will, even in early retirement, be regarded as possibly the best defender Richmond has ever had.
He was set to return to a side that had just won a flag and stood poised – especially with his re-inclusion – to be a strong chance to win another flag.
Thus the decision left many bewildered. The manner of the announcement, coming in the lead-up to Christmas via a video statement but not a press conference and without immediate gushing tributes from his teammates, only furthered the uncertainty of those who carried doubts over the truth of the reasons for the decision.
When days later it emerged Rance's marriage had also broken down, the cynicism strengthened that there were other reasons behind the decision.
Undoubtedly the marriage breakdown played a part in Rance's retirement decision, according to those close to him. The timing of the two decisions was not coincidental.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, Eades acknowledged, hold the view that a marriage vow is forever and that a couple wanting to separate must demonstrate they have taken all the steps they can to preserve the marriage.
Many close to and around Rance believe the retirement decision was a demonstration to the church and his wife of his commitment to try to save the marriage. He was showing that he was willing to forsake his football for his faith, and so put his faith and his wife first.
It is also true he wanted to spend more time doing church work – he has since been door-knocking in Melbourne's southern suburbs, spreading the church's word.
Eades rejected the suggestion that it would have been preferable for Rance to continue to play and retain a high profile and so reach a bigger audience for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
"You could look at it like that, but we don't," Eades said.
Rance first told the club in July last year that he was again looking at retiring. Things calmed for a period as he was not playing and in some ways that made it easier to balance the competing pressures. He wrestled with his decision, having ongoing conversations with senior football and club figures and his manager as well as his church mentors.
"You have never met a more conflicted person than he was in that six months," a senior Richmond person said.
Some at Richmond believe he did not want to retire but felt it was the right thing to do – he still loves footy – and so also would not be surprised were he to return to the club asking about a comeback.
On the day he finally told the club he was committed to retiring, he said he wanted to tell the players then have a final training session with them in the following week, when he had been due to return to main training for the first time after his injury.
The club explained this was a mixed message and that he should be either in or out. He is out … for now at least.
Now the season is to begin, quietly, without a crowd at the game but also without a Rance in the Richmond backline. Richmond fans would likely feel no closer to truly grasping why he is not out there.
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And it's what I was suggesting all along. They say they didn't force him to quit..........well not directly anyway, but from what I know, they did make him aware of their stance if he continued.'Conflicted' ex-Tiger Rance wasn't told to quit by his church
By Michael Gleeson
'Conflicted' ex-Tiger Rance wasn't told to quit by his church
Richmond are getting ready to launch their premiership defence without Alex Rance. A conversation with the Jehovah's Witnesses has shed some light on his decision.
Alex Rance's church has weighed in on his abrupt retirement from football, saying the Richmond premiership defender's decision was personal and not dictated by his religion.
Rance, a devout Jehovah's Witness, referenced his faith and family when he made the extraordinary off-season call to walk away from the Tigers and the game, just as he was nearing a return to the field following the knee reconstruction that caused him to miss the club's second flag in three seasons.
But, as Richmond prepare to launch their premiership defence against Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night (assuming an escalation in the coronavirus crisis does not force the AFL to cancel games), Rance's evangelical Christian church has said it did not thrust the decision upon him.
"Truthfully it boils down to the fact that we have no authority to tell anyone what to do," said David Eades, the Jehovah's Witness spokesman for southern Australia.
So the church would not have said to Rance 'we don't want you to play'? "No. It cannot happen," Eades said, stressing that he was not talking directly to Rance's situation but to anyone in a similar position.
"If a person was making a choice and came and asked for advice it would all be Bible-based advice recognising that the person asking has developed their own faith and maybe just wants to bounce it off someone else.
"In the end we would never say to someone 'so with all of that in mind you are definitely not going to do this,' that runs completely contrary to how our organisation works.
"It's all personal choice, it truly is, because otherwise that would put us in some sort of God-like position to be telling him what to do.
"I can't talk on behalf of him personally but the rationale is if someone is finding, whether it be football or any other form of employment, that it is getting in the way of their faith, we as a Jehovah's Witness would always put our faith and Bible principles before our employment.
"Your religion is your choice, your employment is your choice. "Rance's decision was the most remarkable early retirement of a healthy, fit footballer (albeit one returning from long-term injury) that the AFL has seen.While he had come close to retiring in 2015 for religious reasons and admitted to wrestling with the compatibility of his faith and his football throughout his career, the decision when it came in December was still stunning.
That a player could, at the peak of their professional career, voluntarily walk away from the elite level of the game and tear up a contract that would leave millions of dollars on the table is unprecedented in the AFL.
This was not a minor player. Rance was among the most gifted in the game, a six time All-Australian, a premiership defender, a player who will, even in early retirement, be regarded as possibly the best defender Richmond has ever had.
He was set to return to a side that had just won a flag and stood poised – especially with his re-inclusion – to be a strong chance to win another flag.
Thus the decision left many bewildered. The manner of the announcement, coming in the lead-up to Christmas via a video statement but not a press conference and without immediate gushing tributes from his teammates, only furthered the uncertainty of those who carried doubts over the truth of the reasons for the decision.
When days later it emerged Rance's marriage had also broken down, the cynicism strengthened that there were other reasons behind the decision.
Undoubtedly the marriage breakdown played a part in Rance's retirement decision, according to those close to him. The timing of the two decisions was not coincidental.
The Jehovah's Witnesses, Eades acknowledged, hold the view that a marriage vow is forever and that a couple wanting to separate must demonstrate they have taken all the steps they can to preserve the marriage.
Many close to and around Rance believe the retirement decision was a demonstration to the church and his wife of his commitment to try to save the marriage. He was showing that he was willing to forsake his football for his faith, and so put his faith and his wife first.
It is also true he wanted to spend more time doing church work – he has since been door-knocking in Melbourne's southern suburbs, spreading the church's word.
Eades rejected the suggestion that it would have been preferable for Rance to continue to play and retain a high profile and so reach a bigger audience for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
"You could look at it like that, but we don't," Eades said.
Rance first told the club in July last year that he was again looking at retiring. Things calmed for a period as he was not playing and in some ways that made it easier to balance the competing pressures. He wrestled with his decision, having ongoing conversations with senior football and club figures and his manager as well as his church mentors.
"You have never met a more conflicted person than he was in that six months," a senior Richmond person said.
Some at Richmond believe he did not want to retire but felt it was the right thing to do – he still loves footy – and so also would not be surprised were he to return to the club asking about a comeback.
On the day he finally told the club he was committed to retiring, he said he wanted to tell the players then have a final training session with them in the following week, when he had been due to return to main training for the first time after his injury.
The club explained this was a mixed message and that he should be either in or out. He is out … for now at least.
Now the season is to begin, quietly, without a crowd at the game but also without a Rance in the Richmond backline. Richmond fans would likely feel no closer to truly grasping why he is not out there.
"We would never told him to quit" but "a marriage vow is forever and a couple wanting to separate must demonstrate they have taken all the steps they can to preserve the marriage". Totally Alex's choice and nothing to do with his faith's teachings though.
Up front I’m a Catholic and I never once heard of the Church forcing or otherwise a person to choose between the church and their employment/relationship etc.. all these bulls**t off shoots of Christianity are borderline cults where they have control over the individual.
