AFL 2024: Geelong premiership ruckman Rhys Stanley says he may be rested as he relishes being challenged by Toby Conway

Rhys Stanley is being seriously challenged by youngster Toby Conway for the No.1 ruck spot. He reflects on their duels throughout the pre-season and his frustrating 2023 season.

Patrick Dangerfield and Rhys Stanley at Geelong training. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Geelong veteran Rhys Stanley said he may be rested at stages this season as emerging ruckman Toby Conway vies for his spot off the back of a strong pre-season.

Stanley has relished the challenge of competing with 21-year-old Conway, who made his AFL debut in the final round of last season, throughout the pre-season.

The premiership ruckman is in the box seat to face his former side St Kilda in round one after he was selected over Conway in their final practice match against Essendon last week, but assistant coach Steven King noted that Conway was impressive battling with Bombers big man Sam Draper in the VFL hitout.

Experienced Essendon recruit Todd Golstein appeared to get the better of Stanley in their duel, with Stanley still managing to win 14 disposals, 15 hitouts and five clearances.

The 33-year-old is aware Geelong’s long-term plan is for the 206cm Conway to take the reins and is pleased Conway has been able to get his first full-pre-season under his belt, despite the pressure on his own spot.

He said it remains unclear how the Cats’ ruck mix will look with Conway and supporting acts Mark Blicavs and Shannon Neale. However, they have all placed a premium on being able to play in multiple positions.

Toby Conway is challenging Rhys Stanley for the No.1 ruck spot. Picture: Michael Klein

“I think it’ll be suck and see a little bit, whether we play on the same side at some stage. But the reality of it for the season is it’s a long stint, as a 33 year old I’m probably not going to be out there every game and there’s probably a few of us who are in that that same category so I wouldn’t expect our older players, our senior players, to try and string every game together,” Stanley said.

“So there’ll be times where he’ll come in and one of us will play, there’ll be times that we both possibly play with a forward resting or a different mix. I think the mix will change week to week, I think the coaches will have a play with that and I think early on they’ll flick a few things around and then see what sticks.

“If you’re not earning a spot and you sort of get comfortable I don’t think it’s a great spot to be. I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy training against other competitive players because it brings out the best in your game on the weekend.

“The plan for Toby too is to come in and be that number one ruckman and we’re sort of working each other as hard as we can to develop each other’s game. As an older player, you never want to stop learning and developing yourself as well.

“For me it’s been obviously great having someone of that calibre and an energy come into the group pushing me along, certainly pushing me along and I’m doing the same to him.”

Stanley suffered a fracture to his right eye socket last season – similar to the injury suffered by former Adelaide captain Rory Sloane – which the 200cm ruckman said was one of the worst injuries of his career.

The horror blow saw him lose vision for a period and sidelined him for 10 rounds of last season, managing to return for the back-end of the year.

Rhys Stanley fractured his eye socket last year. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

“I had a pretty crappy eye injury last year. I guess that’s one of the worst ones I’ve had, I didn’t I didn’t enjoy that at all.

“An orbital floor fracture and lost vision for a while there and I know that Rory Sloane has gone through a similar thing now and it’s not pleasant. Obviously wishing him all the best for his recovery as well but eye injuries aren’t all that fun,” Stanley said.

“There might be some small permanent damage there with the eyesight and stuff like that, but it’s very, very minor and with footy I can sort of get away with it.”

Poised to play his 200th game in round four, Stanley has had a strong preparation for the season like many of his teammates, with the ruckman claiming the Cats are the “fittest they have ever been”.

He signed a one-year deal at the end of last year and said he will let the year play out before assessing his future.

“We’ll see how this year goes,” he said with a laugh.

”Pre-season has gone really well so I guess as a group, and as an individual I reflect that group a little bit. Probably the fittest we’ve ever been, running really good numbers in the off-season, getting really good loads in. So I think you know if that’s a reflection then hopefully a few years but we’ll just see how the first half of the year goes.

And he knows it is time to put that pre-season into action.

“All this talk of a really good pre-season and stuff but at the end of the day, we’ve got to go and play now. We’ve got to go on and progress against really quality opposition. We can’t have too much to say this early in the year, it’s a really long year so we’ve got to get to work, put ourselves back up amongst the top runners,” Stanley said.

Originally published as AFL 2024: Geelong premiership ruckman Rhys Stanley says he may be rested as he relishes being challenged by Toby Conway