CONSISTENCY COUNTS
RHYS Stanley has refused to entertain comments from Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson that Geelong is “not that good”.
The four-time premiership coach fired the shot in his Thursday night press conference after his side responded to last week’s resounding defeat at GMHBA Stadium.
Clarkson was quick to downplay the 61-point defeat.
“We lowered our colours to a good side last week and I hope I’m not discrediting Geelong by saying it but they’re not that good. We were just terribly poor,” Clarkson said.
Stanley was instrumental in the thumping win but played a straight bat when asked about
GMHBA STADIUM, TODAY 7.40PM B HB C HF F
R the comments yesterday. “We’ll just continue to perform and that’s all we can control,” Stanley said.
“Someone else’s comments — they’re free to (make) them but it’s on us now, our performance, and like I said with my own performance, I think that reflects the team. One performance isn’t going to cut it. We’ve got to perform for a long period of time to prove we’re a decent side.”
Stanley, 29, was pleased with his brilliant ruck display last week but the Geelong big man won’t be satisfied until he strings together consistent performances.
Stanley has often been knocked during his 134-game career for lapses and not reaching his potential.
He was at his athletic best against Hawthorn last week, impacting both in the air and at ground level. Stanley said his focus was on delivering his best more consistently.
“One performance isn’t going to cut it,” Stanley said.
“I need to try and make that a bit of a standard and try to back up each week.”
Stanley last week returned six inside 50s, six clearances, 14 disposals, two goals and 26 hitouts — the sort of numbers that have made Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy standout players
He said the contested side of the game — “helping the midfield do their thing, assisting them in ground balls and following up after my contest” — would be the key to being a weekly contributor.
“Ruck contests are just a little part of it for me and obviously covering the ground and test my ruckman at both ends of the ground,” he said.
Stanley was overlooked for Darcy Fort in Round 1 and had 12 weeks to sit on not being selected.
“I definitely had time to think things over and really concentrate on parts of my game I wanted to work on and the follow-up and that contested part of the game was definitely part of it,” he said.
“I guess you could call it a bit of a blessing but I had time to go and work on my game.”