Eagles back Reid to take game on
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 hitout 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.
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.
“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.”