That was the reality of Thursday night’s NAB Cup fixture for Richmond youngster Alex Rance as he played his first game at the top level.
Rance was good in his debut in the yellow and black, gathering 16 touches, snaring two marks and laying a couple of tackles.
But despite being no stranger to AFL football – the 19-year-old is the son of former West Coast captain Murray Rance, and has been on Richmond’s list for a year – he admitted the big-time was still an eye-opener.
“It was a very quick game – quicker than I’ve ever played in before,” he told richmondfc.com.au after the match.
“The hits are a lot harder, and everyone says that to you, but it takes a lot of time for it to click in, before you actually realise that it is.
“My first half was relatively good, but in the second half, I started to waver a bit.
“They linked up pretty well through the midfield, so it was pretty hard to defend, but I thought it was a reasonable start.
“I’m looking forward to building on this as a sort-of stepping stone.”
The shape of Richmond’s backline took on a much more settled appearance last year, making it that much tougher to break into, but last year’s best-and-fairest at Coburg (Richmond’s VFL affiliate) said the extended backline was a tight group.
“It was very easy to slip into there – they’re very directive and they look after you. If you’re not in the right place, they tell you where to go.
“There’s a lot of competition down there now, but we don’t hold it against each other, we make sure that we try to better each other, and it’s a very good feeling.
“It urges you to do better – it reflects down to our VFL side as well, if we can push harder as a defender in a VFL side, then we can make a difference in the senior side.”
Having had a taste, Rance wants more, and soon, preferably next Friday night in Shepparton.
“I hope that I can get another opportunity at this place – I’d like to get to know it.”
Coach Terry Wallace was clearly happy with the debutant.
“I thought he was nice and solid first up,” he said after the match.
“He’ll get opportunities, and if he plays like that, he shows that he really wants to perform at the next level.”
Dream Team watch – Alex Rance is rated an $86,600 defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.
