Brave Rance shows his metal

YOUNG Richmond defender Alex Rance is recovering well from the horrendous head-clash with Troy Selwood that left him with a fractured cheekbone and various metal structures in his face after an operation and a couple of days in hospital.

Rance is expected to miss up to three weeks, but despite the club telling him to take the week off, the 19-year-old was back just a couple of days after being released from hospital.

"He's really good – he's been in this week already despite us saying just have a rest," football manager Ross Monaghan told richmondfc.com.au.

"He just wanted to come down to the club – he didn't train yesterday, but he got his gear on and rolled some footys out for some of the other guys, just so that he was involved.

"He's in terrific spirits – he just needs to let the swelling settle a bit and I probably expect him to have a run around next week.

"His progress has been fantastic."

With Ben Cousins now having made it through two games, Monaghan defended the club's medical staff after recent criticism regarding their management of Cousins and star Matthew Richardson.

"Look, the club gets criticised when decisions you make don't work out, but when they do work, you don't hear from anybody," he said.

"You've got to actually be involved to know what goes on, see the amount of work that goes in, and see how professional the program is – the medical team is outstanding.

"For someone outside to start analysing what injuries blokes have got, what they should do and what treatment they should get, they're kidding themselves.

"The fact is, Ben's program over the period when he was injured was meticulous – he played his game in the VFL and got through that without any problems, then made a real contribution last week in the AFL even though it wasn't maximum game time.

"It was a really good sign that everyone's doing everything right, including him."