How many footy games are enough?
It depends on who is being asked.
It also depends, seemingly at least, on when the asking is being done.
Alex Rance called time on his AFL career after making one appearance for Richmond Tigers in 2019. He played in the ceremonial opener of the Toyota 2019 AFL Premiershipcompetition as the premiers took on Carlton.
He was a non-factor in the game, by Rance standards at least. An awkward landing during a contest late in the third quarter was the end of Rance’s 2019 AFL season.
Rance is on precisely 200 games.
Could it be that he is interested in returning and chasing the 300-game milestone?
He would need four perfect seasons of 25 games, but it is difficult to imagine even the Richmond Tigers winning four consecutive premierships, so to reach 300, Rance would need a minimum of five seasons and a minimum of 20 appearances over those five seasons.
Five AFL seasons for a 29-year-old such as Rance is an optimistic target.
Rance retired in December, ostensibly to focus on his family and his religion, but he must have got his fill and he refuses to rule out a return to footy and Richmond still has him on the list.
Could it be some wily veteran move to escape the rigours of training?
We like Rance’s retirement from that perspective.
Unfortunately, if he does come back, he has to bring both knees and he demonstrated that his faith did not extend to ACL ligaments when he opted out of returning last season, even though his knee rehabilitation was going well.
Lance recently told reporters he was happy with his decision to retire and mentioned that he was happy with his current “life balance.”
Lance seems to be astride the fence as far as coming back is concerned, although his recent comments tend to have us leaning in the direction of the retirement side of the fence, even if he will not shut the door entirely on a return.
