Rugged midfielder Danny Stanley was superb in the side’s final practice match against Collingwood, suggesting he could be in for another strong season in the Gold Coast’s midfield. 

The 26-year-old picked up 25 touches, six marks, three clearances and two goals to be among Guy McKenna’s best for the afternoon.

Usually given the role of slowing down the opposition’s best clearance player, Stanley was let off the chain on Sunday, free to chase the football and pinch hit up forward when needed. 

After leading by 41-points at the half-time break, a third quarter lapse gifted the Pies an opportunity to work their way back into the game, and Nathan Buckley’s experienced line-up did just that, kicking seven goals to the GC SUNS two in the third term. 

“We dropped off in the contested ball and tackles, which really cost us in the end,” Stanley told goldcoastfc.com.au.

Although disappointed with the loss, Stanley said there were still some promising signs to come from the pre-season exhibition match, including their spread and hard run on the outside when they won the ball. 

“Yeah we can still take some positives away from the game, but it was just another good lesson that we need to play four quarters of football.”

McKenna echoed Stanley’s sentiments in his post-match media conference, and suggested it could have been the club’s best first-half performance since their inception into the AFL. 

“That was probably the best half of footy I’ve seen us play since we the club was formed so that was really exciting,” he said.

“Dion coming off at half time and Michael Rischitelli coming off, does their replacements impact us – I think we saw that, as we did last week when ouir four genuine mids weren’t playing and as such you get a similar result as we did in Brisbane.”

With the premiership season fast approaching, the playing list will be managed with a light week of training in the lead-up to their round one opener against Richmond.

Nonetheless, Stanley says the boys are ready to FIRE UP when they return for the Premiership action. 

“It was good to get a good run in their legs and get fresh before Richmond,” Stanley said.

“It has been a good pre-season for the boys, and we’ve managed any injuries so we should be ready to go for Round 1.”