This was published 9 months ago
West Coast’s Allen urges No.1 pick to continue shining
By Steve Larkin
West Coast’s prized recruit Harley Reid is being encouraged to continue showing the flair that made him the No.1 draft pick.
The 18-year-old produced a dynamic display in match simulation training on Wednesday which caught the eye of co-captain Oscar Allen.
West Coast’s Harley Reid.Credit: Justin McManus
“That’s just Harley,” Allen told reporters.
“He’s a good player and he still has a lot of development left in his game around structures and stuff.
“But he just brings an instinctual flair to the game. As an 18-year-old young man, he doesn’t know any different, and we want to keep bringing that out of him.
“He goes pick No.1 for a reason.”
Reid arrived at West Coast last November as among the most highly rated draftees in recent years.
But another player at the opposite end of the spectrum, 192-gamer Elliot Yeo, has also impressed Allen.
Yeo endured a rugged last season when groin, calf and hip injuries restricted him to just 10 games.
But Allen said Yeo was tracking well entering his 13th AFL season.
“Yeoy has worked his backside off all off-season and pre-season,” Allen said.
“He’s someone who has really wanted to do everything he can for the footy club on-field and off-field.
“The way he’s handled himself the last six months has been nothing short of exceptional, he was in here all the time in the off-season working as hard as he can and that’s why he’s one of the best on-field leaders we have.
“He’s a great footballer, everybody knows that.
“But the intangibles he can bring to the group is probably something we have missed.
“He looks really good, fit, and strong and his aggression is unbelievable and that’s something he brings that not many people can replicate.”
West Coast won just three games last season when finishing last, a year after a two-win season and 17th place.
Allen said while the Eagles would not set a target of wins for the looming season, he was confident of improvement.
“We’re not going in saying we want to win ‘X’ amount of games because that puts a ceiling on what you can achieve,” he said.
“We just want to win as many games as we can and be as competitive as much as possible - it sounds very broad but that’s how we’re heading into it.”
AAP