RUGBY LEAGUE
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He may have produced an impressive 25-minute cameo in his NRL return last week but Dragons utility Kyle Stanley won't be putting his hand up for a starting role just yet.
Stanley was injected into the round-one match against the Wests Tigers after starting halfback Michael Witt was forced from the field with a shoulder injury in the second half.
Stanley twice opened up the brittle Tigers defence and showed glimpses of the speed and evasiveness that saw him touted as a future superstar by the Dragons as a junior.
Stanley said he considered his performance, his first NRL game since round 19, 2012, a considerable achievement
"It was definitely an accomplishment coming on to play 25 minutes," Stanley said.
"Obviously Witty got injured so they chucked me on in the halves and I felt really good.
"It was so good to be back in a premiership game."
Despite deputising well for Witt as the Dragons racked up 44 points, the 22-year-old said he didn't consider throwing his hat in the ring for a starting halves role this weekend.
"I'm pretty content where I am," Stanley said.
"They're just going to ease me back into it, which is really what I want.
"I've been out of the game for two years so [playing] a little bit of time won't do me any harm.
"I don't want to be thrust back into playing 80 minutes straight away because it takes a toll on your body and that's when injuries start happening."
Predominantly a five-eighth as a junior, Stanley said he's comfortable playing the back-up dummy half role to starting hooker Mitch Rein as the new rules open up the middle of the field for ball players.
"It's [dummy half] just another ball-playing role," he said.
"You've got to tackle a bit more but that's fine, I don't mind the physicality of it.
"It's definitely got a lot quicker, especially with the new rules coming in this year without the third bloke cannon-balling in.
"That's good for the quicker, speedy little guys, as you could see we got a few tries there [through the middle] at the back end of that game [against the Tigers]."