Rance a chance, he says

ALEX Rance believes there is a chance he could play this year, despite scans confirming he needs an ACL reconstruction.

Rance collapsed in pain during the third quarter of Richmond’s 33-point win over Carlton after landing awkwardly in a marking contest.

But the five-time All-Australian defender, who hasn’t missed a game with injury since 2014, isn’t quite ready to accept the standard 12-month recovery period.

An Instagram post from the AFL’s official account yesterday stated: “Richmond has confirmed Alex Rance will miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured ACL.”

Rance, pictured, corrected them in a comment underneath, writing: “* likely miss”.

The superstar stopper met specialists yesterday to map out a plan of action, with surgery earmarked for next week.

It’s understood early indications are it is a clean tear of the ACL with — most encouragingly — no collateral damage to the knee. While the odds are stacked heavily against him, Rance only needs to go back to this time last year for inspiration, with Collingwood defender Tyson Goldsack making an AFL comeback six months after reconstructive surgery.

Richmond football manager Neil Balme said there was no expectation.

“None of this is predicated on him playing at the end of the season, we’re just letting it happen,” Balme said.

“They’ll do the best job they can, he’ll recover as quickly as he can and he’ll play as soon as he can, but we’re not expecting it to be this year.

“We haven’t contemplated it and we’re not talking about it. We’re only worried about repairing it and it’s just about his welfare at the minute.”

Some of Rance’s teammates were in tears in the rooms on Thursday night, but Rance was a picture of positivity after the game and again yesterday.

“He’s a very unusual bloke. Very strong, very resilient, and behaves in a way you don’t expect,” Balme said.