Former AFL player of the year Alex Rance has revealed the bizarre reason he felt winning games was 'pretty gross.' The 36-year-old, who played over 200 games for Richmond, said he felt for the opposition when winning games, a stance that seems in direct conflict with the job of a professional athlete.
Empathy on the Field
Speaking to Trent Cotchin on the Shaped Podcast, the 2018 McClelland Trophy winner said, 'I just didn't like that element, that I had to make someone's day worse, for my day to be better. And we as a collective, had to make 22 other guys, or 23 now, weekend worse and week worse.' He added, 'So that was just this thing where it was like 'ah man, I know I've got to do this, I love my mates and I love training hard and I love working with them to achieve a goal. But the by-product of this is pretty gross and I don't like it.'
Personality Conflict
Rance elaborated on how his personality clashed with the demands of football. 'I am very much an extrovert and I love connecting people, love making people laugh and being creative. So, when you're playing the game of football, you need to be more decisive and task focused. Less worried about how people feel out there and need to get this job done.' He explained that putting on a 'mask' on game day took energy, and the effort was multiplied by having to make someone else's day worse. 'I had to potentially end someone's career, potentially end someone's dream of being an AFL player. If they kept playing on me, their career would end, that was my job and sometimes it was fortunate they didn't play on me the whole time because it kept their career alive.'
Clash with Mason Cox
Speaking of a clash with Mason Cox at the MCG, Rance said, 'By all reports he's an amazing cultural man. He is probably the opposite, where if you look at a typical American athlete, it's love the show, love performance. And I think that's part of the show, part of the mask he puts on, I don't like it, I've never been a smack talker, I don't like the psychological element of the game. Some players do and that's fine. I didn't like that, I thought that was disrespectful, this is a Brownlow medalist, a Premiership captain, you're disrespecting and you've barely played any good games. So how does that make me feel? When he retired I popped up in his highlight reel, it does stir up a bit of emotion but at the same time that's part of your identity man so I'm okay with it so well done on winning a Premiership.'
Many who have played against Rance have considered him one of the top competitors, so it will definitely catch some by surprise that he has stated his mixed feelings towards winning. But it is clear from the podcast that he is a man in touch with his feelings and used that throughout his glittering AFL career.
