Lance Franklin v Alex Rance is the modern Wayne Carey v Glen Jakovich, writes Mark Robinson
THE best v the best. Last man standing. Carey v Jakovich reincarnated. Damien Hardwick owes it to the game to play Alex Rance on Lance Franklin, writes MARK ROBINSON.
Mark Robinson
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mark Robinson. Followed categories will be added to My News.
LET’S hope Damien Hardwick was joking like he once used to joke about himself with Mrs Hardwick.
The Tigers coach said Wednesday Alex Rance was no certainty to play on Lance Franklin in today’s clash at the MCG.
No certainty?
MATTHEW LLOYD: WHY DAMIEN HARDWICK IS COACH OF THE YEAR
Fans don’t want for much. They want their team to win. They want their best players to play well. They want to sing the song.
Occasionally, like this weekend, they ask for more.
Team defence can go to hell. No swap overs. No plans for Buddy deep and Buddy high. Fans want Rance to play on Franklin because those two opposed to each other are Carey v Jakovich reincarnated.
The best v the best. Athleticism v athleticism. Last man standing.
Didn’t Hardwick watch Fyfe v Dangerfield a couple of years back? Didn’t he sense the occasion, the richness and anticipation of the contest?
Come on Dimma, be a sport,
Buddy on Grimes doesn’t cut it, Buddy on Astbury hasn’t happened before, Buddy on Rance ... well, football simply needs these contests.
Leigh Matthews will commentate this match
The GOAT also longs for the big match-ups, although there is no doubt who Matthews will barrack for.
He’d prefer to see Franklin kick eight goals than watching Rance keep Franklin to one, however magnificent Rance would be in doing that.
“I barrack for offence, I barrack for goalkickers, I don’t barrack for defenders,’’ Matthews said.
“That said, the Rance ability to cover for others and back himself in the air, he’s unique as defenders go in most generations, let alone this one. That athleticism, speed and leap, he’s a beauty.
“It’s always interesting (when they play on each other), he’s a unique player Franklin and Rance is such an athletic and difficult-to-play-on defender.’’
Where do you rank them?
“Rance is outstanding, I wouldn’t use the words like ‘the best’, but he’s becoming an outstanding player.
“Finals always tend to frank a player, and that’s a team thing and not an individual thing. Players who don’t play in September haven’t got a chance to strut their stuff in September. That aside, I don’t know if that’s counting against Rance.’’
And franking Franklin?
“On his good days, he destroys you.”
Matthews, like many others, hankers for the days when full-forwards kicked monster bags.
He admires Franklin enormously and you get the feeling he’d admire him even more if his match-day exploits returned hauls of eight, nine and 10 goals.
“What’s changed even in Franklin’s time in football is five goals is a terrific day in footy for those blokes,’’ he said. “In 2008, he kicked 100 goals. He’s probably a better player now and unfortunate is probably the wrong word, but the unfortunate thing is the dominant forwards just don’t kick the bags of goals.
“Four goals used to be an average game for the champion goalkickers, whereas now it’s really good game.’’
Matthews argued defenders were better trained, more agile, and that team defence meant forwards often competed against numbers in the air.
“All positions are different, but that position (full-forward) has been incredibly different,’’ he said.
“I often say, and it’s a long time ago now, but I can still picture myself sitting in the Glenferrie Oval grandstand, and I was playing reserves in my first year, and watching Peter Hudson kick 16 goals against Melbourne. I can still remember the last quarter when he kicked six. Every time the ball went in his direction and I don’t know what the crowd was, maybe 10 or 15,000, but it was just a real exciting part of the game when players were kicking big multiple goals.
“The way the game is being played now, it’s preventing that from happening.’’
If Franklin kicks 16 on Rance, Hardwick will have a heart attack and the knowledgeable would probably rank it the greatest individual game ever played.
Rance is Hardwick’s best bet, although Franklin has got hold of him in their past two meetings.
Franklin has kicked 16 goals with Rance as his direct opponent in their past four encounters, including five and five in past two matches.
Interestingly, in their past four matches, Franklin has won just six of 18 one-on-one contests, meaning Rance’s ability to compete in the air and on the ground betters Franklin.
Franklin appears to slip away from Rance higher up the ground.
The Swans champ has kicked 10 goals from marks, and 10 of the 16 goals have come from 40m-plus, five from 50m-plus. In every other area, Rance appears to hold the edge.
Hardwick this year has preferred to play David Astbury on the opposition’s most dangerous forward and Rance on the 2IC to allow him more freedom to rebound.
Kevin Sheedy did that with Dustin Fletcher and while Fletcher was erroneously downgraded for not playing on the best player, Sheedy’s plan was ahead of its time.
Astbury this season has played on Jesse Hogan, Taylor Walker and Josh Kennedy. In the same games, Rance played on Christian Petracca/Jack Watts, Josh Jenkins and Jack Darling.
Hardwick said on Wednesday Franklin would dictate who he got as an opponent. “Lance is incredibly damaging up forward, he’s also incredibly damaging up the ground, we’ll have our plans in place for where he plays both,’’ he said.
He added: “What I do know is Alex is a fantastic player, in career-best form again, three-time All Australian, I’m prepared to back in my guy every day of the week.’’
Good, let’s back him in.
Originally published as Lance Franklin v Alex Rance is the modern Wayne Carey v Glen Jakovich, writes Mark Robinson
‘In games we give up’: Flag hero savages Dons as board war looms
‘We are no longer feared, we’re certainly not respected’ – Essendon premiership player Paul Weston has had enough. He tells MARK ROBINSON exclusively about his plan for change.
‘We’ve got champions who are zombies’: Mitchell’s plea for help
Last Monday, at just 58, Barry Mitchell was lying in Epworth Hospital wondering if the game he loves had almost killed him again. This is his confronting story the footy world needs to hear.