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Alex Rance
- Thread starter Tigers of Old
- Start date
He certainly polarises opinions does Alex. My biggest worry with him is the gap between his best and worst is huge. One week he looks assured, hits targets and defends well, the next he is giving away stupid free kicks, missing targets 15 meters away and going to ground in every second contest. I said this last week after his good game against the Dons, and this week was the bad Rance. I just can't comprehend how anyone could possibly think he played well on the weekend. From week to week I just don't know which Rance will turn up.
Punxsutawney Phil said:
Fair call. He is an enigma. I've seen him play games where he fair dinkum looked like he didn't have a clue what was going on; liked it was the first time he'd ever set foot on a footy ground. Then he plays like he did against Essendon and Freo!!
Aliti said:
Apologies Aliti if that one was directed at me. I used to quite enjoy a poster called Allybabe getting worked up over Rance.
I actually miss Allybabe. She put a lot of time and effort into some of those posts looking at possible draft selections.
I have said this before. Rance has almost no overhead capability. If he is on someone who has fair overhead skills, he gets found out. His only way he has to deal with it is to initiate body contact and try to nullify the contest, what Leppitsch has taught him.
I have grave concerns this deficiency could ruin his career as a defender, similar to what happened to Jake King's career as a defender.
I have grave concerns this deficiency could ruin his career as a defender, similar to what happened to Jake King's career as a defender.
That was the knock on him last year . Many of us were posting about his lack of overhead capability . However if you study this years games he has improved that immensely and is a passable over head mark now . I believe that he has a lot to learn about body contact . He is at his best on his opponent when he can get a run at the ball and use his spring and athleticism to spoil and then recover on the ground. It's when he has to use his body one on one that he struggles .ICE said:
I am sure Leppa is working on it with him .
Disco08 said:
Agree, watched a replay and Rance was no worse than many others. Has improved measurably as a player, hopefully his Essendon game is not a one off. Posters criticaL of him need to watch that game again and see what he is capable of.
Agree with some posts that his form has fluctuated but at least we now have hope he can be an asset to the side.
Rance showed why the club wants him to be our full back at times on sat night. made some good spoils, won the ball on the ground and ran the ball out of defence.
he also showed why many dont rate him. turned the ball over and gave away frees.
he has shown much improvement this year, but needs to continue to show more of his good attributes and continue to eliminate he flaws.
he also showed why many dont rate him. turned the ball over and gave away frees.
he has shown much improvement this year, but needs to continue to show more of his good attributes and continue to eliminate he flaws.
Much easier to be a defender when your midfield is controlling the ball and backing up hard when they don't have it. If your mids are fumbling,farting and turning the ball over when trying to go forward then defenders get buried under the incoming crap.Brodders17 said:
Disco08 said:
Maybe chest marks.
I'll admit he gets to a lot of contests therefore his numbers might be up for spoils. Would reckon he would also be high for frees against, and marks against.
To be honest, I don't trust stats that much. They can give an indication, but I prefer to make my judgements from what I observe on the field.
Of course they don't tell the whole story, but it's obvious that stats identify the best players very easily. I find it hard then that Rance would be a complete statistical anomaly.
FWIW, I've watched every game of Rance's this year fairly closely and I think "no overhead ability" is a completely ridiculous statement to make.
On Frees against, he's 73rd in the AFL.
Aside from Minson taking a couple against him, I don't think his marks against would be that high at all.
FWIW, I've watched every game of Rance's this year fairly closely and I think "no overhead ability" is a completely ridiculous statement to make.
On Frees against, he's 73rd in the AFL.
Aside from Minson taking a couple against him, I don't think his marks against would be that high at all.
No idea where or how to find it but marks from opposition kicks would be a good one to look at.
Far better than total marks for backline players who have these numbers boosted by the chip around the defensive 50 they often do to each other.
Far better than total marks for backline players who have these numbers boosted by the chip around the defensive 50 they often do to each other.
Agreed. Supercoach scores take that into IINM. I think pro-stats ratings do to. Not ideal but FWIW Rance is 8th and 10th at the club respectively in those categories this year. Pretty good given defenders traditionally struggle in such ratings.
Rance doesn't do a lot of the chipping around though either so I reckon his numbers are pretty impressive.
Rance doesn't do a lot of the chipping around though either so I reckon his numbers are pretty impressive.
Agreed that Rance normally likes to take the game on, its certainly a positive to his game.
Doesnt mean he doesnt receive easy balls from teammates though.
Dont happen to have a top 10 in that marks from opposite kicks do you Disco?
Doesnt mean he doesnt receive easy balls from teammates though.
Dont happen to have a top 10 in that marks from opposite kicks do you Disco?
I stand by what I have seen and believe he is incredibly suspect overhead. Almost no overhead capability.
The best example were those two "touching attempts" on the goal line in the last quarter against the Bulldogs. Wouldn't show up on any stats but highlights his lack of ability to judge a high ball in flight.
And he spoils by initiating contact againt the forward as soon as he can, not by judging the ball in flight and jumping and punching like Grimes does. He has added this to his game and I think he has credited Leppitsch for teaching him this skill. This has worked pretty well for him altho against Schulz gave away a few frees.
If he is good overhead, an indicative stat might be contested marks.
The best example were those two "touching attempts" on the goal line in the last quarter against the Bulldogs. Wouldn't show up on any stats but highlights his lack of ability to judge a high ball in flight.
And he spoils by initiating contact againt the forward as soon as he can, not by judging the ball in flight and jumping and punching like Grimes does. He has added this to his game and I think he has credited Leppitsch for teaching him this skill. This has worked pretty well for him altho against Schulz gave away a few frees.
If he is good overhead, an indicative stat might be contested marks.
