‘Unfair' new reality facing Harley Reid: ‘Very, very boring'
Reid thrived in the first half of the Eagles' loss to Richmond on Saturday night but was held to just four touches in the third quarter, coinciding with the Tigers kicking out to a 53-point lead.
He pushed forward to kick two goals in the last term before late goals to Richmond pushed the final margin back out to 49 points.
The following day 7NEWS Perth's Ryan Daniels revealed Reid's management had put forward multiple proposals that would keep the 20-year-old at West Coast.
One of the deals could shake out to a $20 million contract over 10 years.
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter praised Reid for being 'super invested' in the club and joked about locking him down as soon as possible.
'I've got a pen in my pocket, I'm heading over there after this,' he told 7NEWS Perth.
West Coast are more hopeful than ever of keeping Reid despite their lack of on-field success, with Caroline Wilson suggesting a divide has opened up.
Reid is not interested in joining a rebuilding Victorian club, she said on The Agenda Setters, while others are baulking at the salary demands. Andrew McQualter admits it's not ideal that a 20-year-old is carrying the Eagles' midfield. Credit: Getty
'The player and his family have made it clear they do not want to go a struggling club,' Wilson said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters.
'They've got no interest in St Kilda and North Melbourne. I'm not sure they've got much interest in Essendon but Essendon certainly have no interest at that sort of money. At that money, yes, they have (ruled themselves out).
'They think Hawthorn are right in there, Hawthorn say there's been no meaningful talks. Others say Richmond and Melbourne are having a crack.
'What happened was I think West Coast also said to the management 'we're not interested in that sort of money either'. It's ridiculous money for an unproven player.
'What has happened in the last 24 hours — I think West Coast have come back to the table and we're talking significantly more than $1.5m a year.'
Craig Hutchison said: 'They're the only ones that can really meaningfully overpay and justify it at the moment, I think.'
Cornes questions whether such a large offer from any club is 'good for him'.
'No criticism to him but are West Coast, with the issues they've had with the behaviour of their biggest stars over the journey — is that setting him up in the best possible way to be the best player he can be?' he asked.
Already seen as the saviour at the Eagles, Cornes worries that Reid will now become bogged down by the tag.
'This is what he's going to get every week,' he said.
'He gets 20 in the first half (against Richmond), he's on track for career-best numbers and they go 'OK we've had enough of this, we're just going to put a tagger on him'.
'If you play West Coast you are stupid if you don't tag Harley Reid, which is so unfair for him in his second year to cop that.
'It is going to get very, very boring for him playing in that side when he cops that treatment and loses every week.'
Reid's Eagles teammate Reuben Ginbey admitted it was 'quite new to us' to see Reid tagged and needing help.
'Harley is a phenomenal player, and he was phenomenal in that first half,' Ginbey said on Monday.
'We've got to learn how to help Harles out to keep him in the game, because he's super important for us.
'But we can't just rely on a few. We've got to rely on the whole team to step up in times like that.'
McQualter acknowledged after the game 'we've got a 20-year-old carrying our midfield'.
'It's not an easy position for him,' he said.
'As a team we have to find more people and players and ways to not rely on one person. I thought Harley was by far our best player tonight.
'I loved his team-first approach, the way he attacked the ball. He was inspirational to his teammates. I love the way he went about it.'
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