{"id":384366,"date":"2024-04-12T21:37:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T21:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384366"},"modified":"2024-04-13T07:04:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T07:04:13","slug":"the-phone-call-that-changed-a-luckless-ruckmans-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=384366","title":{"rendered":"The phone call that changed a luckless ruckman's life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geelong<\/a> ruckman Rhys Stanley notches up game 200 on Sunday against North Melbourne.<\/p>\n

But despite his cool demeanour, Stanley's journey to the top, which includes a 2022 premiership medal in the hoops, wasn't all that easy.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old began his career with St Kilda, but it took just one phone call from Cats coach Chris Scott<\/a> back in 2014 to convince him to make the move down the highway.<\/p>\n

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It was an easy sell according to Stanley, who hasn't looked back and has officially made Geelong home.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"A phone call with Scotty. That's as good a pitch as you need, isn't it?," Stanley told media during the week at Kardinia Park.<\/p>\n

\"Rhys<\/p>\n

After 58 games for the Saints, he found his feet in the middle for Geelong, after playing a completely different role at Linton Street.<\/p>\n

"We brought him in really with a specific role in mind that he hadn't played much of at AFL level," Chris Scott told media.<\/p>\n

"He was a forward at St Kilda, and played a little bit back as well.<\/p>\n

"We brought him in specifically to be a ruckman and he's just been terrific value for us. He's been a really good person to have around the club and performed well for us on the big stage."<\/p>\n

\"Rhys<\/p>\n

That big stage Scott is talking about was the 2022 grand final, where Stanley played a key role in helping his Cats to a fourth flag in 15 years, smashing Sydney by 81 points on that last Saturday in September.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Stanley collected 27 hit outs to dominate the Swans ruck stocks, collecting 16 disposals on the way to maiden premiership glory.<\/p>\n

\ufeffHowever, while finding his feet at Geelong, he also struggled through hamstring injuries that continued to set him back when the Cats needed him most.<\/p>\n

To overcome those injuries, Scott says, has made Stanley a more complete footballer.<\/p>\n

\"Rhys<\/p>\n

"I'm really proud of Rhys," Scott said.<\/p>\n

"It hasn't been easy for him. He's had his ups and downs, he's had to fight his way through, and my observation is that he is better for it.<\/p>\n

"You don't wish it on players necessarily, but to become a really resilient player you need to find your way through some difficult times."<\/p>\n

The Cats host North Melbourne a Kardinia Park on Sunday afternoon.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geelong ruckman Rhys Stanley notches up game 200 on Sunday against North Melbourne. But despite his cool demeanour, Stanley's journey to the top, which includes […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":384368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384366"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=384366"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":384372,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384366\/revisions\/384372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/384368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=384366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=384366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=384366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}