West Coast coach Andrew McQualter isn’t shying away from the high expectations on Harley Reid, tipping the rising star will take his game to a new level in the face of fresh challenges next year.
No.1 draft pick Reid took the AFL by storm under an intense spotlight in his debut season but will be even more heavily scrutinised by rival teams — not to mention fans and the media — in 2025.
It comes as new coach McQualter seeks to bed down a fresh game plan he hopes will lift the Eagles out of the doldrums in his first year at the helm.
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“He’s going to have a huge pre-season learning a new game plan, which is a challenge for someone in their second year,” McQualter said of Reid on Monday, as he took charge of training for the first time.
“There will be no doubt some time to adapt to that but we’ll just look for him to keep doing the fundamentals of the game really well.
“We’ll try to set him up in a role where he can really shine and the expectation of him will be to give back to the group as well.”
McQualter, who spent last year as an assistant to Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin after a successful stint at Richmond, knows Reid faces extra attention from opponents in his second season.
But he expects the physically strong 19-year-old will be up to the task.
“We’ll put things in place but he’ll also learn to deal with it himself,” McQualter said.
“I’m pretty sure he handled himself pretty well for a large part of last year.
“We’ll put some mechanisms around him but we’ll also have high expectations of him to be able to fight through his own battles.”
Reid kicked 10 goals from 20 games last season and showcased his immense talent when he burnt off Melbourne star Christian Petracca to kick what was later voted goal of the year.
He will again spend most of his time in the midfield next season, but McQualter flagged the young gun also featuring in the back half.
“We’ll definitely start with the midfield,” McQualter said.
“He’ll be a midfielder and in terms of secondary position, I’m really quite open to it.
“Whether it’s forward or back, I think he’s got a skill set to play all the lines, so we’ll just see how that evolves over time.”
Reid and the Eagles’ young players were joined at Monday’s training session by a handful of senior stars, including co-captains Liam Duggan and Oscar Allen, Elliot Yeo, Jake Waterman and Jamie Cripps.
Third-year midfielder Reuben Ginbey was an unsurprising winner of the time trial.
In a positive sign for West Coast another third-year midfielder, Elijah Hewett, joined teammates for training after overcoming a foot injury that derailed his 2024 campaign.
Hewett, a first-round draft pick in 2022, played 14 games in a promising debut year before missing all of last season.
“He was pretty excited to do his first session today,” McQualter said.
“There’s quite a bit of personality about Elijah and he was terrific.
“He did the full session today and it’s really exciting.
“He hasn’t played much footy over the last few years but he’s fit and he’s ready to go.”