You’d think the demands of elite level AFL training would be quite enough sweat and pain to endure, but the opposite rings true for two Gold Coast SUNS players as their personal training business takes flight.
Midfielders Sam Iles and Danny Stanley first crossed paths when they were on Collingwood’s list back in 2006. Their time at the Magpies helped forge a solid friendship, one that has grown stronger both on- and off-field since the pair joined the Gold Coast SUNS as mature-aged rookies last year.
Iles and Stanley have both completed certificates three and four in fitness and personal training and neither is a stranger to the professional personal training game. During their time in Melbourne they teamed up with a few Magpie teammates to train a client list drawn mainly from Collingwood’s corporate sponsors. After moving north, it seemed only natural to start out on their own.
The venture started simply enough with the pair training a few Gold Coast SUNS staff members. Since then their client list has grown steadily.
According to Iles, it’s important for players to have a welcome distraction from the grind of day-to-day football. He says the fact he and Stanley both share a genuine passion for their off-field pursuit is an added bonus.
“We both have an interest in fitness and training as we are both doing it all day we have a pretty high level of knowledge in the area,” Iles said.
“We really enjoy training people and it is definitely something we can see ourselves continuing on with after we finish our football careers.”
Both players are grateful to the club in more ways than one for support received as they’ve worked to establish their business.
“The club has been a great help,” said Iles. “And of course we’ve been lucky so far the majority of our clients come from there”.
Juggling two careers can be a struggle, but according to Stanley the pair find a way.
“We still manage to have a day off during the week,” he said. “We try to have most of our clients on Tuesdays and Thursdays early in the morning and late in the afternoon”.
Player Profiles
Danny Stanley is a hardworking midfielder. Taken at pick 21 in the 2005 AFL Draft, he spent four years on the Magpies’ list. His endurance and work ethic saw him consistently feature in VFL ‘best on ground’ lists but opportunities at AFL level eluded him. Remarkably, he managed only five games in Collingwood’s senior side before being delisted after the 2009 season.
He was invited to train with Fremantle in the 2010 pre-season but the Gold Coast SUNS swooped by picking him with its fifth selection in the 2010 Rookie Draft. Once described as ‘a bull of player’ by Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse, Stanley’s dynamism, physicality and maturity will be much valued at the Gold Coast SUNS.
Sam Iles was picked up by the Gold Coast SUNS in the 2010 Rookie Draft after a standout season in the midfield at Box Hill Hawks that saw him share third place in the club’s best and fairest and achieve selection in the 2009 VFL Team of the Year.
A highly rated Tasmanian junior, Iles originally joined Collingwood as a small back-half option after being selected in the 2006 AFL Pre-season draft. Iles was selected for just seven games over two seasons before his delisting ahead of the 2008 season.
But as with Stanley, the Magpies’ loss will be the Gold Coast SUNS big gain if Iles’ 2010 VFL form is any indication.
Iles adds some genuine class to the midfield and his impressive skills, maturity, level-headedness and experience are significant given the relative inexperience of the club’s youthful list.
