The daughter of a former New Zealand player, Stanley had not played senior provincial netball when she was sent to her international debut against Jamaica in 1994.

[4][5] Stanley is renowned in netball circles as an outstanding athlete and for her speed through court and trademark bullet pass.

She returned to the Silver Ferns in October of that year, and was a member of the Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning team of March 2006.

Only a few weeks into the 2006 National Bank Cup season, she announced that she was pregnant and would be retiring from netball to concentrate on her family life, thus ending a fluctuating but successful career on the court.

They have a daughter, Jaya and a son, Nico and on 20 January 2011, eight days after their baby's due date, they became parents to Zac, who weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces (3.7 kg).