Justin Chadwick
West Coast firebrand Harley Reid is being backed to dish out as good as he gets when he lines up for what’s expected to be a fiery western derby against Fremantle on Friday night.
The 16th-placed Eagles (4-14) have lost nine of the past 10 derbies – including four in a row – and coach Andrew McQualter has already publicly stated his team are keen to take Fremantle’s scalp.
The Dockers (16-2) are almost certain to land this year’s minor premiership and are bracing for a West Coast team that will unleash a nothing-to-lose type approach in their attempt to take down their highly fancied cross-town rivals.
Reid looms as the key to West Coast’s victory hopes.
The 21-year-old was just six games into his AFL career when he produced a three-goal, seven-clearance, 19-disposal game to lead West Coast to a shock 37-point win over Fremantle in 2024.
Reid is on record pace when it comes to giving away free kicks, with teams often trying to ruffle his feathers with roughhouse tactics or cheap blows.
The gun midfielder has been guilty of plenty of ill disciplined acts himself across his 57-match career – an area of his game that is improving but still has a long way to go.
Fremantle are widely expected to heavily target Reid in front of a sellout crowd on Friday night, both with a tag and physical confrontations.
McQualter is backing Reid to handle anything that comes his way – with a little help from the umpires.
“I’m sure the umpires will protect him as they will,” McQualter said on Thursday.
“And he’s a competitor. He’ll be fine. He gets targeted every week, so he’ll handle that.
“He’ll dish it back and we’ll ensure we have some mechanisms to support him as a coaching group and playing group as well.”
West Coast are clinging to a 33-29 head-to-head derby lead but will have to pull off an upset of monumental proportions to come out on top of their arch rivals on Friday night.
Despite there being genuine dislike between the sides, McQualter doesn’t want his players to treat the game any differently.
“I understand the big rivalry there, but I hope we dislike every opposition the same as we dislike Freo,” McQualter said.
“That’s honestly how I think of it and maybe I’m still naive in what this is, but I don’t want our players to think of this game as any bigger than any other one.
“I think if you look too far for extrinsic motivation, it’s not a long-term way to succeed. So we don’t want our players to be more up for this game than they are for any other game.”
The Eagles will be without Liam Baker (suspended), Jack Graham (managed) and Jack Hutchinson (hamstring), while Fremantle are bolstered by the return of Shai Bolton (hand).
AAP
