DANNY Stanley has shown he'll do almost anything to keep his senior spot, but the converted tagger says he won't resort to dirty tricks to slow down the competition's best midfielders.
Three weeks ago, the Gold Coast stopper nullified Brisbane Lions ace Daniel Rich, keeping him to 13 disposals, the most influential of which came when Stanley had a brief rest.
Last week, he minded his good mate Scott Pendlebury in the Suns' upset win over Collingwood.
Pendlebury had 28 disposals but most of his touches were in close and had little impact.
The tagging role is relatively new to Stanley, but it's one he's lapping up.
The 25-year-old played just five games for Collingwood in four seasons before having his career resuscitated by the Suns in time for their inaugural 2011 season.
Since then he has played as a forward - kicking a team-high 20 goals in 2011 – in defence, in the midfield, and now as a tagger.
He does whatever coach Guy McKenna asks and is likely to match up with Carlton captain Marc Murphy at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.
"It's a little bit daunting … but the chance to play on some of the best midfielders in the competition and go head to head with them is a great opportunity for me," Stanley said.
"More often than not they'll take you to where the ball is so it's good in that regard."
Stanley said he was not interested in getting into verbal exchanges with his opponents or any other 'tricks' that taggers are known for.
"I'm not a niggling type," he said. "I'm not one to talk smack and niggle and pinch, I just do my job and run with them.
"Sometimes they get annoyed with you because you're running around with them, but I don't step on toes, I'm not the Steve Baker style," he said with a laugh.
Like Stanley, Suns assistant coach Mark Riley (who was an assistant coach at Carlton from 2008-2012) said the Blues deserved the utmost respect, despite their ninth position on the ladder.
Riley said Carlton had the same talent as the 2011 team that went within a kick of beating West Coast in Perth and reaching a preliminary final.
"They've got class across half-back with Walks (Andrew Walker) and (Kade) Simpson, and you've got (Chris) Judd and Murphy and (Matthew) Kreuzer and (Bryce) Gibbs in the midfield," he said.
"Then you've got the three indigenous boys and Henderson up forward… there's some class there.
"They're just getting used to a new system and style and guys are getting used to playing in new positions.
"It's been one of those seasons where with a bit of luck they could be 12 and four (win-loss) instead of eight and eight.
"They're a very good football team."
Michael Whiting is a reporter for AFL Media. You can follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
