West Coast home crowd buzz driving Harley Reid ahead of first WA derby

One thing is for certain, Fremantle wouldn’t want to bet on age being what beats him in a western derby match up this weekend that has suddenly taken on added interest in light of the Eagles win over Richmond on Sunday.

Reid, who turns 19 on Wednesday, clearly isn’t too old for this caper and the evidence of the first five weeks of the season is that he isn’t too young either.

He has grown rapidly into the role of inside contested ball winning mid and his stunning 27-disposal, seven clearance game against the Tigers suggests that he might have a bit more upside yet in 2024.

It earned him the round five Rising Star nomination. Reid thinks his body is quickly adjusting to the tempo and ferocity of AFL football.

And he was built for the roar of the crowd.

“You sit back and watch on TV and you think geez that would be pretty cool to be a part of,” he said.

“It is pretty daunting at first and obviously for the first game there is so much going on – you walk out into this huge stadium with fans all around. Hearing the roar it is kind of like ‘damn, this is real’. Playing the home crowd – it doesn’t get much better than that.”

“I think on the weekend I just felt I had a lot more in the tank to give and leading into the first three weeks I think I was still trying to find my feet. It was so much different to the game fitness and the game times I was playing.”

“In the Sydney game I was able to express myself and play with a bit of confidence and built into the week for the Richmond game and I felt I cold express myself a lot more.”

“The licence that Simmo and the boys give me to go out there and be myself and play to my strengths it is a pretty cool license to have at 18 years of age.”

What many would find surreal is the chance of playing against childhood heroes back to back. Last week he gave Dustin Martin a ‘don’t argue’ which he reckons wasn’t even one of his best ones.

“The ball was out and I just grabbed it and went looking for one and he was lucky enough to be on the end of it. It wasn’t one of me best ones,” he laughed.

This week he will be in the same midfield battle as Nat Fyfe.

“It is pretty cool to run out alongside him and obviously I did that in that first praccy match (against Fremantle) ,” Reid said.

“They are obviously in good form and have been a bit stiff in the last couple of weeks but I think after the momentum build we have had the last couple of weeks I think it is going to be a good game.”

Reid said the Eagles had been able to sustain the brand of football they are aiming to play for longer with each outing.

“I think on the weekend was a great example. The first half of the first quarter was a bit how you going with the way we started but I think the way we turned it around in the first quarter showed we were actually here to play and there are so many exciting things we have got in the group. After that I think we showed we know how to play and the way we went on and sustained that high intensity footy was pretty cool to be part of and if we get used to winning – a pretty cool surreal moment,” he said.

“We have been building towards that since the start of the season and after that game against Sydney we were able to capitalise against Richmond on the weekend and we actually played a good brand of footy for four quarters and we could sustain it for a long period of time.”

He admitted that the public attention he has drawn since his arrival could be challenging at times and credited former skipper Luke Shuey, now an assistant coach, with helping to shift his mind from football.

“At the start it (the attention) was pretty cool and then sometimes it gets to a point where you just want to go on with your day,” he said.

“But we wouldn’t be in the situation we are without our fans and without our supporters and the love and support they show for not just us players but the whole club. It’s pretty good.”

Reid said Shuey was “such a down to earth bloke”.
“He loves a laugh,” he said.

“On the footy field at quarter time or half time he is always there hugging me and giving me a bit of motivation – telling me what I can do and telling me to just go out there and be you.

“He is always putting a smile on my face sending me videos of his kids running around in the backyard and stiff arming and stuff.”