No. 1 AFL Draft pick Harley Reid encouraged to keep taking the game on, despite mixed bag for Eagles against Dockers

West Coast’s No. 1 draft pick Harley Reid showed he is still very much a teenager, especially up against the best, but there was enough to see in the pre-season derby to show that the 18-year-old shouldn’t hesitate, writes MARK DUFFIELD.

In his first competitive contest as an AFL player, Harley Reid had a mixed bag against the Dockers. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images

West Coast assistant Luke Webster says the Eagles will encourage Harley Reid to continue to take the game on despite a mixed bag of outcomes in his first hit out in West Coast colours at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday.

It was a tough first up match for Reid who had some nice moments but also some tough ones. He got a baptism of fire in the first half when he was frequently Nat Fyfe’s direct opponent at stoppages.

“It wasn’t an absolute plan from us but what an opportunity for the kid to learn from an absolute star of the game. There would have been some really good learning for Harley and he will take those learnings to put into his game going forward,” Webster said.

“I think he showed some good signs. I liked the fact he was trying to take the game on and that is what we want to see from him. The reason why we wanted to bring him into our team is that he takes the game on and he expresses himself all of the time. We saw some elements of that tonight and there are going to be some really good learnings for him as well.”

It was another tough night for West Coast on the injury front. They lost ruckman Matt Flynn to a hamstring tendon injury on the eve of the game. Reuben Ginbey copped a heavy knock in a head clash with Luke Jackson and Brady Hough appeared to receive treatment on a leg on the boundary line late in the fourth period.

Brady Hough assisted off the field during the practice match against Fremantle. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images

Reid also sent a scare through the camp when he clutched at a leg in the fourth period but it was later confirmed as cramp.

Webster was hopeful that Hough’s concern was also just cramp.

“From what I have been told it was just cramp and obviously Reuben will go into the concussion protocols,” he said.

He was optimistic despite a 52-point deficit on the scoreboard.

“I thought there were some good performances across the board from what we saw today,” he said.

“I thought we saw elements of the game we want to play. We are going really hard after our contest and our pressure and we are trying to play the game in our front half. I think we had 21 shots from 31 inside fifties so the looks we got off the back of the brand we want to play was pleasing. We probably didn’t finish our work in front of goals. I think we kicked 16 points so a little bit of goalkicking this week might be on the cards.”

“We saw some stuff we really want to go after. After the second quarter some skill errors cost us some opportunities to really hurt them.”

“They (Fremantle) were pretty clean in the contest and got from inside to out pretty well but I think we had some opportunities missed in that space for us where we could have hurt them the other way.”

Originally published as No. 1 AFL Draft pick Harley Reid encouraged to keep taking the game on, despite mixed bag for Eagles against Dockers