Richmond star Nick Vlastuin expects Alex Rance to have big impact in his return from injury

The Tigers won the flag without their best defender but they expect superstar Alex Rance to pick right up where he left off when he returns from injury next season.

Nick Vlastuin can’t wait to have Alex Rance back. Picture: David Crosling

Richmond premiership star Nick Vlastuin has declared the premiers are expecting “big things” from ace full back Alex Rance in his return from injury next season.

Vlastuin said the champion defender would be “itching” to get back on the field after missing the Tigers’ premiership win over Greater Western Sydney.

Five-time All-Australian Rance selflessly pulled the pin on his hopes of a fairytale comeback from a Round 1 anterior cruciate ligament injury in August.

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David Astbury, Alex Rance and Dylan Grimes celebrate the 2019 Grand Final win. Pic: Getty Images

Vlastuin said Rance would be a weapon for the Tigers in their premiership defence.

“He has been flying, he was one of the hardest trainers a month leading up to the Grand Final,” Vlastuin said.

“He will be itching (to get back). I’m sure he will go straight back into it, he is a superstar player.

“We expect big things from him and he will be a gun.

“With Rancey coming back, he plays on my man a bit as well, so I get to be a bit looser. We’ll see how we go, it’s a long year.”

After crushing the Giants to claim their second flag in three years, Vlastuin was bullish about the Tigers’ targeting back-to-back premierships and third in four years in 2020.

He said the players were hungry for more after getting another taste of flag success.

“Once you have tasted it once you just want it again, you don’t want to miss out because you know how good that feeling is,” Vlastuin said.

“Definitely the new players, like Lynchy (Tom Lynch) last year, we would talk about 2017 so much and you felt bad about it because he was always there. So for him to taste that in his first year was unreal and really happy for him.

Nick Vlastuin is off to India. Picture: David Crosling

“You just don’t want to miss out on that feeling … so when we get back we are going to be doing everything possible to get back there again.”

Vlastuin has made the most of his off-season so far, travelling with his premiership teammates to Thailand and Bali.

The defender’s latest adventure will take him to India with teammate Toby Nankervis to help raise awareness for Tiger conservation as part of the club’s partnership with the WWF.

“I got lucky enough to get the call up to India with a partnership with WWF we are going over there … going through a few a couple of reserves and looking for Tigers and seeing what they do to save them,” Vlastuin said before flying out to India on Friday.

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“Me and Jack Graham went to Sumatra last year and learnt about what they are trying to do. India is kind of a success story, they have been really successful in boosting Tiger numbers.

“In Sumatra we couldn’t see more than 10 or 15 metres but we had a lot of locals reassuring us that we would probably have to walk for about five days before we saw any.

“We were in a group of 15 as well so they said seeing a Tiger was going to be very unlikely.

“In India we are in the cars and there is a lot more open spaces and a lot more Tigers, so hopefully we get lucky.”

Originally published as Richmond star Nick Vlastuin expects Alex Rance to have big impact in his return from injury