Heavyweight duel as rivals face off

GLEN Jakovich would chalk the wins and learn from the losses.

The legendary West Coast Eagles defender’s battles with champion North Melbourne forward Wayne Carey was one of the stories of the 1990s.

“I would be filled with excitement and obviously anxiety, because you’re playing on the best player in the competition,” Jakovich said this week.

“You knew you had to get the job done.”

Tonight the latest chapter in football’s great modern rivalry will unfold at Etihad Stadium when the game’s best fullback, Alex Rance, comes up against its most brilliant forward, Lance Franklin. It’s a duel that even captivates coaches.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said: “Alex plays fullback, [Franklin] probably plays a traditional full-forward role, we’re going to see that at various stages, but Alex will play on whoever’s down there. They’re two great players aren’t they?”

Jakovich has a great love of one-onone contests.

“Not only just my battle, but Dougy Hawkins and DiPier domenico off the wings, as a young teenager when I used to watch that I used to get wound up and thrilled and excited to watch that,” he said. “Peter Knights and Paul Van der Haar — funny enough, I ended up emulating a similar battle with Wayne Carey.

“You always had great battles with great midfielders, Robert Harvey and Shane Crawford … we don’t see a lot of that any more because they play a 360 game these days.”

There’s hype surrounding Rance v Franklin and it’s something Jakovich knows all about. He admits he let it get the better of him one day.

“I think it was the second or third time, it was a massive game at the MCG I did so many interviews, did the Footy

Show, did the whole box and dice and in the end it cost me,” Jakovich said. “I was pretty exhausted and mentally fatigued because I was worried about my individual role with Wayne. But I was 20 years of age, pretty young.

“Even after that, the battles got bigger … I had a pretty good mindset and rigid preparation program.

“The only time I’d really get wound up for it was when I was about to run down the race to take him on.”

Former Eagles coach Mick Malthouse pushed Jakovich to embrace the challenge of playing on Carey.

Malthouse gave Jakovich a stern talking to after his first battle with the King at Subiaco, saying Carey had embarrassed him in front of his family and friends.

“He was very firm,” Jakovich said.