How things would be different for Harley Reid if North Melbourne lost its final game in 2023

Suspension meant Harley Reid was not on the field for the Roos’ breakthrough win of 2024 over the Eagles. But should the young gun be wearing the blue and white stripes instead?

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 01: Elliot Yeo of the Eagles and Harley Reid celebrate a denied goal during the 2024 AFL Round 12 match between the West Coast Eagles and the St Kilda Saints at Optus Stadium on June 01, 2024 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Had North Melbourne dropped its final game of 2023, one of the biggest changes might have been to the look of junior footy training in Tongala.

It’s no surprise the youngsters in the Victorian country town wear the No. 9 on their backs and Kayo streams of West Coast games have gone through the roof in the hometown of Harley Reid.

Harley Reid’s footy fate was thrown around in the final weeks of 2023. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

A two-game suspension meant Reid was not out there when his side faced the Roos for the first time since the two clubs became forever linked in the lead-up to last year’s draft.

With Reid locked in as the top pick all year, West Coast sat on the bottom of the ladder for 13 straight weeks until round 23 when they upset the Western Bulldogs.

Alastair Clarkson’s Roos then won their first game in 20 rounds six days later to jump back off the bottom, avoid the wooden spoon and give up the rights to Reid.

Winning that very losable game against Gold Coast in round 24 is a sliding doors moment for a club that let similarly talented No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis slip through its fingers 12 months prior.

The No. 1 pick with his West Coast No. 9 predecessor. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

But the back and forth wouldn’t have impacted Reid’s mindset, according to Tongala footy manager Paul Cox, who saw the teen rise from his junior days a the club.

“I remember that day and we were all sort of watching it and there were a few chats going around at the time,” he said.

“At one stage there he probably thought he was heading to North and that’s how soon things can change.

“There were rumours going around left, right and centre that Melbourne were making a pitch for him (through a trade with West Coast) but I don’t think it would have played with him too much, he was prepared to go anywhere.”

Reid has transformed West Coast, dragging he Eagles from their lowest ebb to showing signs of a team on the rise through his magnetic presence – plus his pulling power that lands him on the back page of the local paper seemingly every day.

The manchild in No. 9 has benefited with playing alongside veterans such as Tim Kelly, Elliot Yeo and even Dom Sheed in West Coast’s midfield, where he would have been part of a much younger group at the Roos.

Elliot Yeo and Harley Reid have bonded in the west. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos

Some in the industry question whether he would be the same Harley if thrown into the flailing Roos side.

But the Eagles were similarly bogged in losses before his arrival and Cox has no doubt he would be doing similar things in the North Melbourne jumper, even if he was earning less headlines.

“I don’t think anything would change much in Harley’s space, the only thing is we might have been seeing a bit more than what we are at the moment,” he said.

A Tongala troupe flew down the highway in round 10 to watch West Coast lose to Collingwood in a rare Victorian appearance.

Reid would obviously have been able to spend more time back home had he been drafted to Arden St instead of Perth, but an offer from the rising star’s parents to shift west was never taken up.

THE WORST WIN EVER?

Even one of the hardest nosed coaches of all time, Denis Pagan, wanted his Roos to lose that round 24 clash to the Suns.

Goalkicking legend Matthew Lloyd has said it has changed his thinking as to whether tanking is a viable option.

And even super competitor Nathan Buckley believes it was a game that probably should have been let slip.

“How do you win one game in 27 weeks by defeating Gold Coast in the last game of 2023?,” Pagan said this year.

“I look at that kid Harley Reid. He’ll be controlling the league in 12 months. The law of averages says every game you lose means you’re closer to your next win but, geez, I wished they had got beaten by a point.”

Led by Nick Larkey’s super nine-goal haul, the 36-point win over Gold Coast in front of just 4378 fans in Hobart could become the worst win of all time.

Nick Larkey bagged nine goals in the win over Gold Coast. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

Yet if you only flip that one result, North Melbourne would be in the midst of a 32-game losing streak.

Clarkson essentially scoffed at the notion of throwing that game post-match, drawing on the history of No. 1 picks not winning flags – even if he coached first-pick Luke Hodge to four flags.

“For me dropping down a slot in terms of the draft board is nowhere near as important as the integrity of the way that you play and the great feeling that you get of having a win and for your morale. That is much more important than a draft position,” he said.

“Stats say, No. 1 picks are good players, you can’t doubt that. But if they don’t help you win premierships, and that seems to be the case over a long period of time, then maybe pick two, pick three, pick five are still going to be good picks and good players. So we will just take what we can get.”

Alastair Clarkson is all smiles after what remains his most recent victory. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Having been handed the No. 3 pick as compensation for Ben McKay jumping ship to Essendon as a free agent, the Roos were well equipped to offer picks two and three – and maybe something else – to West Coast for the rights to Reid before draft night.

Then Eagles list boss, Rohan O’Brien told reporters on draft night North Melbourne’s best offer was pick two and “a couple picks in the teens” – the Roos held picks 15, 17 and 18 before draft night.

Melbourne’s offer of picks six, 11 and a future first was the best West Coast fielded, but there was little interest in letting Reid slip away.

“Really, we were set early on and it was going to take something extraordinary to get the pick from us,” O’Brien said in November.

“They were really good offers, for a lot of players you probably have to really consider them, and we did consider them.”

Colby McKercher has shown good signs for the Roos. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

North Melbourne took smooth left-footer Colby McKercher at pick two and forward Zane Duursma one slot later.

McKercher has shown strong signs as a silky midfielder to come and Duursma has had some understandable growing pains in his first season.

Most clubs would swap both for Reid in a heartbeat.

A Carlton fan, Cox has found himself leaning into watching the Eagles whenever he has the chance and the local kids have all printed No. 9 on their backs for Reid – he would have had to wear a different number at the Roos given star Luke Davies-Uniacke carries the No.9.

“We would obviously see around town kids wearing North Melbourne jumpers a bit more,” Cox said.

And the club shop at Arden St would be seeing jumpers in whatever number he would have worn fly off the shelves, particularly to those visiting from Tongala.

Originally published as How things would be different for Harley Reid if North Melbourne lost its final game in 2023