He played little football growing up but impressed with South Australia in the AFL Under 18 championships and in two senior games for West Adelaide.

Stanley spent his first AFL season developing with St Kilda's VFL affiliate team Sandringham.

On 23 May 2010, he made his official debut in Round 9 of the home and away season in which St Kilda defeated the West Coast Eagles at Subiaco.

[3] From rounds 9 to 14, he played in a tall forward role, helping St Kilda to win all six of these games while the captain, Nick Riewoldt, recovered from a hamstring tear.

[4] Since joining Geelong in 2015, Stanley has been selected to play in two AFL grand finals, a loss in 2020 against the Richmond Tigers and a premiership victory in 2022 against the Sydney Swans in which he had 16 disposals and 27 hit outs.