2008 season Rance was drafted by with the club's second selection and the 18th overall in the
2007 AFL national draft. He began his first season at the club by playing two levels below AFL, with the reserves side of Richmond's VFL affiliate, the
Coburg Football Club. He played his first match at VFL level in mid April, before spending another month in development. When he returned in mid-May he became a regular selection, gathering 35 disposals and five tackles in a mid-June match. He did not make his AFL debut that year, but did hold a spot in the VFL team through their finals series.
2009 season Rance made his AFL debut in round 2 of the 2009 season in a loss to at
Kardinia Park, recording 18 disposals and six marks in the match. He suffered three small cheekbone fractures and missed three matches as a result of the incident. He returned to AFL level in round 11 and played three straight matches before missing his side's round 14 encounter with Adelaide. That season he played in a number of different roles including as a key position player (in both forward and defence) a rebounding half-back, and was even named on-ball for Richmond's round 5 match against . Rance drifted forward in that match however, kicking a career high three goals in an impressive display. After seven straight matches he would return to reserves football, before being recalled for one match in round 17. Despite notching a then career best 23 disposals and 11 marks, it was his only match in that spell, playing AFL matches on only two more occasions that season. As a result of this form and an inability to gain regular selection at the highest level, Rance made contact with a number of clubs about a possible move, including , , and . Despite some interest, he chose to remain at Richmond, later admitting he grew in confidence as a result of the desire competing clubs had to attain his services. For the first time in his career he played round 1 in the club's senior side. He returned in round 4 and did not miss a match from that point forward. Rance earned the praises of former Richmond fullback
Darren Gaspar for his work in round 13, consistently beating forward
Jonathan Brown in one-on-one contests. The
Herald Sun labelled Rance "a shining light in a shock loss" in round 17, after recording 25 disposals and nine one-percenters during a loss to the expansion side, . He was duley rewarded with the club's Most Improved Player award that season. Though the club did not reach the goal in 2012, Rance's output improved considerably. In addition to his growing acumen in the rigidly defence focused parts of his game, he began improving on his rebound from defensive 50. In round 2's win over , he recorded a career-best 34 disposals as well as a career best 17 marks. In a round 6 win against , Rance recorded his first career
Brownlow Medal votes, scoring the maximum three votes for the match. He finished the season with then career-best totals in kicks, marks and handballs after playing all 22 possible matches for the first time in his career. Despite this, he remained the team's foremost defender even with the recent acquisition of former Port Adelaide tall defender
Troy Chaplin, whom Rance praised heavily prior to and during the season. During the season Rance would be tasked with defensive roles on some of the league's best forwards including
Travis Cloke,
Josh Kennedy and
Lance Franklin. In particular, his performance in negating Franklin in the club's round 19 match against was crucial to the team's victory. He held Franklin to only one goal in the match. In 2013 Rance played in the club's first final in 12 years, an elimination final loss to traditional rivals at the
MCG. At the end of the season Rance was ranked ninth in the league for marks. He ranked first at the club for marks, rebound 50s and one-percenters as well as top ten in both kicks and handballs.
2014 season After playing in Richmond's round 1 match against , Rance would subsequently miss 5 matches due to a bizarre foot-fracture. He sustained the break while riding his bicycle prior to the club's round 2 match. At the mid-point of the season, Rance was labelled by his coach as the best "one-on-one player in the competition", before he recorded a season-high 29 disposals in the club's round 13 match with . Teammate
Jack Riewoldt said at the time it was "probably the best quarter of footy (he'd) ever seen someone play" while Richmond CEO later said that Rance "single-handedly won that game." Rance won his first All-Australian selection that year, named in the position of centre half back. He also won his third consecutive player-voted Francis Bourke award at Richmond's best and fairest night. In later years, Rance would reveal he had privately decided to give up football after enduring a grueling 2014 season. He had intended at the time to complete the last year of his contract in 2015 before retiring from the game.
2015 season In the early parts of the 2015 season, Rance's unwillingness to sign a contract extension with Richmond led to media speculation concerning his future. It was reported at the time that he was considering significant contract offers from other
AFL clubs, specifically
Fremantle and the
Brisbane Lions. Later reports emerged suggesting Rance was also considering retiring. On-field his game followed the trajectory established in previous years, with Rance maintaining his status as one of the competition's best defenders. In round 15 he was among the best players in a win over , notching 18 disposals in a first half in which the
Herald Sun said he "looked unbeatable in one-on-on-one contests" and that also earned him the label as the "dominant figure on the ground". In June Rance ended contract speculation by signing a four-year contract extension at Richmond, keeping him tied to the club through the end of the 2019 season. Rance finished the season playing in all 23 of the club's matches including in an elimination final defeat at the hands of . He also won a second consecutive selection as an All-Australian, this time in the position of fullback.
2016 season Prior to the 2016 season, Rance was voted by his peers into Richmond's five man leadership group. As the only defender in the group, he replaced teammate
Troy Chaplin as the official leadership voice of the club's backline. Rance was reported in April for striking 's
Jack Watts in an incident in the clubs'
ANZAC Day-eve clash. He subsequently accepted a two match ban for the incident and offered a public apology for his actions. Rance played all other matches that season and finished with a then career-best 155 marks for the season from his 20 matches. It was also a career best year for average disposals, as he continued to improve his rebounding from defensive 50. Rance was selected as an All-Australian for the third consecutive season, equaling a club record for most career selections. He narrowly missed out on his second straight best-and-fairest, pipped by teammate
Dustin Martin 61 votes to 62.
2017 season Ahead of the
2017 season Rance was ranked the competition's best key position defender as part of the AFL statistics partner Champion Data's annual ranking. Though he went through a full pre-season program, a minor hamstring injury left Rance sidelined in Richmond's first match of the
2017 JLT Community Series. Back in full health, Rance was named as the club's co-vice captain prior to round 1. He led the Richmond backline in its contributions to a five win streak to open the season, seeing the Tigers ranked the best defence in the league. Personally he was averaging the most intercept possessions and any key defender in the league (8.4) as well as the third most intercept marks (2.8). At the midpoint of the season Rance led the competition in intercept possessions (9.0 per game) and improved his metres-gained from 213.2 per game in 2016, to 300.9 mid-way through 2017. At that same time he was named at fullback in AFL Media's mid-season All Australian team. Rance received media and public criticism for
excessive exaggeration following an incident in round 13 we he received a free kick during a push and shove with Sydney forward
Lance Franklin. The AFL's match review panel were later of the opinion that "any exaggeration of the contact that was made to Rance was not excessive" and decided not to penalise him for the fall. To that point Rance ranked third in the competition for intercept marks (38) and first for spoils (115). In round 21 Rance was comprehensively bested by defender-turned-forward
Harry Taylor who kicked four goals in his side's defeat of Richmond at
Kardinia Park. He kicked his first goal in four years the next week though, pushing forward for a brief spell during Richmond's 104 point domination of . At the end of the home and away season he was named in the All-Australian team for the fourth consecutive time. He was also named the team's captain, the first non-club captain to receive the honour since
Andrew McLeod in 2007. When he faced a rematch with Geelong and Taylor in a qualifying final, Rance had his revenge, restricting the Cat to eight disposals and a single goal in Richmond's win. He added 16 disposals and seven marks in a winning preliminary final too, before his side progressed to a grand final matchup against minor premiers . He received two votes in the Norm Smith Medal for the best player on the ground, placing third. In the days that followed he would receive the Jack Titus Medal as second place in the club's best and fairest count (behind Brownlow Medalist Martin) and be named at fullback in ''AFL Media's'' Team of the Finals. His 97 rebound-50s set the seventh best mark in club history, while his 242 one-percenters eclipsed his previous best to set a new club record.
2018 season Upon entering the 2018 season Rance was named by an
AFL Players Association poll as the best defender in the game and the sixth best player in the league overall, up four places from the year before. He played his first matches of the year in Richmond's two
pre-season wins over and . In round 1's win over he was described as "impassable" by the ''
Herald Sun's'' Sam Edmund. The following week Rance was bested by
Josh Jenkins, conceding four first half goals to the forward. In round 3 he was named one of Richmond's best, earning four votes in the Coaches Association award. Rance also attracted the attention of the AFL's Match Review Officer that week, being fined $2,000 for an errant late spoil on 's
Luke Breust. After four matches Rance led the league in intercept possessions (10.5 per game) and ranked third for intercept marks (3.8). In round 7 Rance's Richmond defence held Fremantle to a club record equal second-lowest first-half score of nine points. In round 11 Rance attracted significant media and public criticism for a 'diving' incident during the
Dreamtime at the 'G match in which he exaggerated contact in a marking contest with forward
Shaun McKernan and drew a free kick as a result. He accepted a $1,000 fine after the incident was classified by the AFL's match review officer as staging. At the half-way point of the season Rance was named in ''
Fox Footy's
mid-year All Australian squad while also being named in the Herald Sun and AFL Media'' teams of 22 players. To the end of round 13 Rance was ranked number one in the league for intercepts as well as fourth for one percenters and ninth for total marks recorded that season. He continued to hold the league's number one rank for intercepts through round 16 and also improved to second for intercept marks and fifth for spoils. It was at this time he signed a new two-year contract extension that saw him tied to the club until the end of the 2021 season. Rance picked up two votes in the Coaches Association award in round 20, this time as Richmond's equal third best player in a win over . Two weeks later Rance served as Richmond captain for the first time. He led the side to a win over Essendon in the absence of Trent Cotchin due to hamstring soreness. At season's end he was named All-Australian for a fifth consecutive season. In doing so he became the third among then-active players to receive the honour in five consecutive seasons after
Gary Ablett Jr. did it between 2007 and 2014 and
Scott Pendlebury, who did it from 2010 to 2014. Rance also led Richmond players with 72 intercept marks during the home and away season, leading the club to a league record-breaking total of 417. In the first week of the finals Rance recorded 13 disposals in Richmond's qualifying final victory over . Rance equaled a season-best with 20 disposals in the club's preliminary final match-up, a shock knock-out loss to that brought his season to an end. Following the conclusion of the 2018 finals series, Rance was named by the ''
Herald Sun's'' chief football writer Mark Robinson as the league's fourth best defender and 15th best player overall during the 2018 season. He also placed sixth in the club's best and fairest count, one vote shy of fellow defender
Dylan Grimes.
2019 season Rance opened his 2019 season by participating in an
AFLX exhibition tournament in February. He was drafted to play for the 'Flyers' team by captain
Nat Fyfe with the seventh overall pick in a televised draft. Rance followed that with appearances in each of Richmond's two pre-season matches in late February and early March before playing his 200th AFL match in the season opening match against Carlton at the MCG in late March. Late in the third quarter of that match, Rance landed awkwardly during a marking contest and severely injured his right knee in what coach Damien Hardwick labelled a "suspected ACL (tear)". Scans completed the following day confirmed that Rance had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. He had surgery to reconstruct the knee in the week that followed and was expected to miss the remainder of the 2019 season. With a minute chance that he would recover in time to play again that season, Richmond refused to move Rance to the club's long-term injury list, effectively keeping open the option of a late-season return. By early May, teammate
Dylan Grimes said Rance's recovery was progressing extraordinarily fast and that in three weeks of rehabilitation "he's shown more improvement than we've seen in some ACLs in three months." Rance resumed running of as mid-June, while speaking optimistically about an end-of season return. Within two weeks he was running straight lines at close to full speed, with coach Hardwick saying Rance was likely to press for a return to football that season and was "that far ahead of schedule, it's not funny." Rance told the media in late July that a decision on whether to step up his training into lateral movement and football exercises would come following a meeting with his surgeon the following week. In the first week of August, Rance announced publicly he was opting to suspend his attempt to return that season, citing the risk of re-injuring the knee and the impact such an injury could have on the team mid-match and potentially in a key final. He instead turned his attention to coaching, assisting the club's VFL side in an off-field role as they progressed through the finals and won the club's first reserves grade premiership since 1997. Despite his absence, the club also managed a second AFL premiership in three seasons, with teammates praising Rance's inspirational rehabilitation group leadership in a season where many of Richmond's best players spend long stints on the sidelines due to injury. At season's end he was co-winner of the club's Francis Bourke award for the sixth time, voted on by his teammates for the player who most represents the club's values of awareness, unitedness, relentlessness and discipline. After a minor knee arthroscope in November, Rance returned to limited training when his Richmond teammates commenced full pre-season training in the first week of December 2019. Club officials said at the time that he would be in full training by January and fully fit to participate in the club's official pre-season matches.
Retirement On the morning of 19 December 2019, Rance announced to his teammates his decision to retire effective immediately, announcing to the public through a club statement that he would "prioritise the more important things" in his life, listing spiritual growth and family and friends. Rance said the decision was a continuation of his contract uncertainty following the 2014 and 2015 seasons, but that his knee injury was fully repaired and did not play a part in the decision, only that his dedication to rehabilitating the injury had "left some other areas of my life wanting, and so I need to spend that bit of time on those areas now." Media reports in the days that followed claimed that Rance had been considering the decision and consulting with club officials over it for at least three weeks prior to the announcement. The
Herald Sun reported that list manager Blair Hartley advised Richmond CEO Brendon Gale in late November that Rance would imminently retire, saying "I think he's done." In announcing Rance's retirement, Richmond CEO Brendon Gale labelled Rance "one of the finest players to play at (the) club" in its history. ==Playing style==