'I just wanted to spend more time with my family, do more associated with my faith. In bombshell AFL off-season news, gun Richmond Tigers player and almost inarguably the game’s best defender Alex Rance has announced his immediate retirement from footy, citing a … Alex Rance (centre) has announced his shock retirement. Former Richmond Tigers star Alex Rance is reportedly set to make a sensational comeback to the AFL after quitting to commit to his Jehovah's Witness faith. It's the great dating dilemma - when should you first...We've got EU on the hook: More than 80 per cent of all English Channel cod is caught by French boats (yes,...Boris Johnson's No Deal hint: Prime Minister fear getting a trade deal is looking 'very difficult' as EU...Downing Street plans new digital ID cards for British citizens as Dominic Cummings bids to transform...Facebook 'could be slapped with a huge government tax costing them MILLIONS' after social media company said...Police find body in hunt for 15-year-old girl who had not been seen since going missing on SundaySaudi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launches fresh purge as he sacks country's top military commander...Priti Patel will launch official review into sentencing for criminals who kill police officers after she...Nicola Sturgeon announces new lockdown rules for Glasgow as people are asked not to meet other households -...Young woman who went to house parties instead of self-isolating is accused of being 'superspreader' behind...Government lacked 'a sense of strategy' during Covid-19 response and blamed 'following the science' too...UK announces three more Covid-19 deaths and 1,295 new positive cases as Matt Hancock warns Britain 'must do...Boris warns 'there is more wretched Covid still to come' but insists it's time 'to get country on its feet'...Portugal's Covid cases continue to RISE putting it on brink of quarantine and causing holiday hell for...London's West End could lose 50,000 retail staff amid £10bn-a-year shortfall after plunge in foreign...Today is my dream come true, said the mother who spoke for so many: ROBERT HARDMAN sees smiles on the faces...Tens of thousands of pupils miss their first day back at school as 'one in six' are kept at home over Covid...Gavin Williamson's face had the look of a boy outside the head's study: HENRY DEEDES watches the Education...Gavin Williamson insists exams WILL go ahead next year as he tells students who were victims of A-level and...UK's 'new Brexit trade envoy' ex-Australian PM Tony Abbott says more elderly Covid patients should be...Britain's Got Talent's Ian Royce dies at 51 from 'severe pneumonia and multiple organ failure' months after...George Ezra reveals that he was 'in bits' before Brit Awards after finishing a therapy course on the same...Furious customers blast Aldi for 'misleading' advertising after discovering toy sandpit is not much bigger...James Herriot is back - and they're milking the 1930s nostalgia: CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews the return of...In memory of Princess Diana: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plant his late mother's favourite flower...Samantha Cameron reveals she and husband David Cameron had a 'really weird' year when they did not 'get on...Married teacher, 33, 'had secret sex with schoolboy, 15, in a field before she sent him topless photos that...Frail 92-year-old Extinction Rebellion protester is among 90 activists arrested in central London after...Psychologist, 37, called his 64-year-old mother a 'Brexit-voting halfwit' before bludgeoning her to death...Even a Duke's heir has to cut wedding guest list for coronavirus! The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. I treated footy like a band-aid or a drug. The 30-year-old announced his shock retirement last year to focus on his family and religion, only to separate from wife Georgia eight days later.On the Nine Network's Footy Classified on Tuesday, AFL insider Caroline Wilson declared a 'comeback is on the cards' for Rance, who was plagued by injury before leaving the game. The Richmond premiership favourite shocked the footy world in December when he quit the game.
Source:Getty Images The AFL world has been left reeling after Richmond’s superstar fullback Alex Rance called time on his career. 'There's a possibility that he will [come out of retirement]. He had missed most of the 2019 season after rupturing his ACL in round one and was forced to watch on from the sidelines as the Tigers claimed a premiership, having run out of time to return to fitness.Rance played 200 games for the Richmond Tigers after being drafted in 2007He won Richmond's Most Improved Player award in 2011Rance was a key player in helping the Tigers win the 2017 Grand Final and their first premiership in 37 years He is a six-time winner of the Francis Bourke Award for club valuesHe played for the All-Australian team five times and was the captain in 2017Rance was the co vice-captain for Richmond between 2017-2019 Richmond CEO Brendan Gale called Rance 'one of the greatest players' in the club's history.Having completed the gruelling rehab, it made his retirement all the more mysterious.Just two days before his announcement, teammate Dylan Grimes told afl.com.au Rance was in great shape.The 2017 Premiership winner had long spoken of his battle to reconcile the conflicting values of a Jehovah's Witness and the elite sport he played for a living.In 2018, he admitted he almost quit the sport at the age of 25 - five years before walking away from a $2million contract with the Tigers. MEMBERS – The Retirement Of Alex Rance. Pictured with ex-wife Georgia at the Brownlow Medal count in 2014It appears they may have split months earlier, however.The pair sold their home in the upmarket Melbourne suburb of Brighton in September 2019, barely a year after moving in.Rance - a five-time All Australian who was widely regarded as the AFL's best defender - was about to return to the field after many months of rehabilitation following a knee reconstruction when he suddenly quit. I felt like being in the spotlight would draw attention to me,' he told 20Four's Stack Report at the time.