Harley Reid has wowed to start his AFL career and the No. 1 pick played his best game yet in West Coast’s 109-70 win over Richmond on Sunday, earning the Round 5 Rising Star nomination.
Through five games, Reid has shown off his impressive physical traits and he showed that he can also rack up big numbers against the Tigers with tallies of 27 disposals, one goal, eight score involvements and seven clearances.
Having settled into life at the top level so quickly, Kane Cornes asked Nathan Buckley on SEN Breakfast whether the young Eagle was exceeding the expectations fans and the media had for him early in his career.
While the hype around Reid was sky-high in the pre-season, particularly in Perth, Cornes thinks that the teenager is playing even better than he could have predicted at this early stage of 2024.
Buckley has loved what he’s seen from the midfielder but thinks he’s simply meeting expectations given they were so lofty across the summer.
Cornes: “Has the career progression come on a little quicker than we thought?
“I thought it might take him some time with the fitness, playing in a poor side, finding his feet…”
Buckley: “The last three weeks, West Coast have actually played some good footy.
“I thought last week, their effort against the Swans was full of merit.”
Cornes: “So, is he in line with your expectations with what he's delivering? Below or above?”
Buckley: “He’s in line.”
Cornes: “He’s above for mine.”
Buckley: “But the expectations were through the roof. So, I think his performance, if you looked at the back pages is probably 'unders' when you look at what people were thinking … but he was never going to meet that.
“But I reckon he's shown really strong attributes in the contest. His performance on the weekend was stronger again, but once again, the team is performing better.
“If the team wasn’t performing, it would be harder for him to shine the way that he's the way that he is at the moment.”
Cornes: “The thing that has impressed me the most has been his ability to handle the expectations.
“Yesterday he spoke about Dustin Martin after the game and he lauds Dustin Martin.
“I just think the way that he's been able to handle it and carry himself under more pressure than any player has ever been under in their first five games of football, that has also exceeded my expectations.”
Reid and the Eagles next gear up for a Western Derby against Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
