Richmond key defender Alex Rance believes stability was the key to the Tigers’ defence becoming one of the competition’s stingiest in 2013.

Those players considered locks for spots in the back six – Rance, Troy Chaplin, Steve Morris and Bachar Houli – missed just four games between them for the season.

“As a defensive group, I think we’ve got a lot better.  I think we were number three (in the competition) for scores against, which is a fantastic sign for us,” Rance told Roar Vision.

“The dynamics of the game are still changing.  A lot of ‘mids’ are being rotated through the half-forward and half-back lines.

“I think the key roles are pretty set.  There are always going to be a couple of floating mids that come through the back and forward rotations, but as a whole, the backline is really quite settled.”

Richmond conceded 1754 points in 2013, which was bettered only by top-four sides Fremantle and Sydney.

Rance was one Tiger who lifted his rating to a higher level during 2013, helping the team to a fifth-placed finish at the end of the home-and-away season.

And, the 24-year-old, who took out the Francis Bourke Award for the second time in his career, at the recent Jack Dyer Medal presentation night, believes the continued improvement of Richmond’s young players will drive the Club forward.

“The development of the younger players has been outstanding.  The overall contribution of the team, I think, is increasing,” he said.

“The sharing of the workload has gone up another notch.  We’re not leaving it to too few.”