New West Coast coach Andrew McQualter will prioritise putting some “mechanisms” around superstar Harley Reid to help him avoid any second year blues declaring the young gun would be a midfielder first and foremost and be expected to “fight though his own battles” if he’s targeted.
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On his first day in charge, McQualter also confirmed recruit Liam Baker, who won’t join the Eagles for a few weeks after his off-season move from Richmond, would be a backline player confident he could cope with “so much change” after replacing Adam Simpson.
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That change includes all players, including Reid, learning a new game plan and McQualter acknowledged the extra challenge that would pose for the 19-year-old who set the AFL alight in 2024.
Reid, the No.1 draft pick in 2023, was unstoppable in some games and McQualter knows that will bring extra attention in 2025 and the coach is already thinking about ways to ensure Reid can become even more effective in his second season.
But he also declared the teenager would need to do his own work on coping with what’s to come.
“We will put things in place but he’ll also learn to deal with it himself,” McQualter said as West Coast began pre-season.
“I’m pretty sure he handled it himself pretty well for a large part of that last year. We’ll put some mechanisms around him but we’ll also have high expectations of him to be able to fight through his own battles
“He’s going to have a huge pre-season learning a new game plan as well which is a challenge for someone in their second year. There is no doubt there will be time to adapt to that.
“But we’ll look for him to keep doing the fundamentals of the game really well. We’ll try to set him up in a role where he can really shine. The expectation of him will be to give back to the group as well.
“We will definitely start with him in the midfield. He’ll be a midfielder. In terms of a secondary position, I’m really quite open to it. Whether it is forward or back, I think he has the skillset to play all the lines. We’ll just see how that evolves over time.”
After being handed the task of lifting the Eagles out of the doldrums, McQualter said he was excited about what’s in front of him.
“I was a bit nervous this morning to be honest,” he said after day one.
“It felt a bit like the first day of school. But it’s always an exciting time coming back on day one, particularly when there’s so much change. There’s significant change among the coaching group. There will be significant change among the playing group as well. It’s all about opportunity and the excitement that brings.”
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