RICHMOND defender Alex Rance has sent a strong message to the Tigers' faithful that their club's season is not done yet.
Despite sitting 13th on the ladder with just two wins after seven games, Rance said the team had no choice but to battle hard to make finals.
"We're fighters," Rance told AFL.com.au. "The jumper is too proud to be able to just lay down halfway through the season."
The unenviable situation in which Richmond finds itself makes the club only an outside chance to play in back-to-back finals series for the first time since 1974-75.
However Rance said the players were remaining optimistic about their prospects.
"We've got to. You can't just hope. You have to start to put things into play. [We] took some really good steps forward tonight and you don't put the cue in the rack halfway through the season," Rance said.
After falling 35 points behind midway through the second quarter, Richmond outscored Geelong 12 goals to six but finished five points behind the Cats on the scoreboard.
The returns of Rance and fellow senior Tiger Brett Deledio were instrumental in Richmond's improved performance.
The underrated 24-year-old defender – who had not played since round one after breaking his foot when he fell off his bike – gave Richmond's defenders the confidence to run and spread.
He rebounded the ball from the defensive 50 five times and hit bodies hard, annoying Geelong's forwards like a creaking door.
He also allowed his other defensive teammates to just do one job at a time, rather than thinking they had to do more than that.
In football terms, he jumped straight back on the bike.
"It was sort of satisfying to contribute to some extent but those losses are always hard to take when so close and against quality opposition," Rance said.
But for the Tigers, once again, turnovers hurt.
"That's the tale of our past month. If we can tidy up a few of those skill errors then who knows where we can go?" Rance said.
Richmond has a bye and then faces Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney. If the Tigers aren't good enough to win those two games, any remaning hope will evaporate.
Rance is only looking to the next game but he knows the team is good enough to get rolling.
"The reality is we are 2-5," he said. "It's a long road from here but I think we can make it."
