18-03-2025
Patrick Cripps and Lachie Neale floated for shock AFL move to West Coast to help Harley Reid
Luke Hodge has nominated Scott Pendlebury, Lachie Neale and Patrick Cripps as the type of player the West Coast Eagles need to try and bring in to help mentor young gun Harley Reid. The 19-year-old made unwanted headlines this week after a sub-par performance in the Eagles' loss to the Suns, including an embarrassing moment in which he flopped to try and win a free kick.
The controversy comes amid speculation Reid will look to move back to a Victorian club as soon as possible. Claims have emerged that West Coast don't have the leaders in their squad to help shape Reid and set him on the right track to being successful.
Speaking on Channel 7 program 'Agenda Setters' on Tuesday night, Hawthorn legend Hodge said he was in a similar situation to Reid when he was a teenager, but had great leaders around him. "I've spoken to a few former West Coast players that reckon the leadership hasn't been there," Hodge said.
"It's almost like they're walking around on egg shells because they don't want to annoy don't want to get him off-side because next year he could be gone and they want to keep him around as long as they possibly can. The best way to do that is get people there who he's going to respect and listen to."
When asked who the Eagles need to get, Hodge threw up Pendlebury, Cripps and Neale as the ideal targets. Pendlebury is coming to the end of his career at Collingwood, and could do a similar thing to what Hodge did when he played his final two seasons at Brisbane to help mentor their young stars.
Cripps and Neale are both originally from Perth, but Hodge conceded they're unlikely to leave Carlton and Brisbane for a return to the west. "I had Sam Mitchell, (Shane) Crawford, (Ben) Dixon, (Richie) Vanderburg," Hodge said. "I'm trying to look at someone who could move to West Coast, but there's not a lot of people around.
"They need someone with that aura (like Cripps and Neale) who Harley Reid will listen to and respect. They'd have to have been at the top of their game for 10-15 years, won Brownlows or won premierships. When I went to Brisbane that was my job, to try and teach the younger guys the rights and wrongs."
"I've spoken to a few former West Coast players that reckon the leadership hasn't been there."Do the Eagles need a mentor for Harley Reid?
— 7AFL (@7AFL) March 18, 2025
Fellow panellist Dale Thomas questioned whether Hodge's comments were somewhat "disrespectful" to West Coast's leaders like Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo and Dom Sheed. "Shuey has been a premiership player a couple of times, won a best and fairest," Thomas said. "Are you saying they have to go outside that? In better sides and better systems the younger guys get covered by the veterans, and that's probably more of the issue here."
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Meanwhile, Adelaide Crows champion Rory Sloane expressed similar comments about the Eagles' lack of leadership and said the scrutiny around Reid's first game of the year has been "appalling". Sloane said: "His performance last year was one of the best of any kid throughout the AFL and I really hope he's listening to the voices that matter - the ones inside the footy club. It's important to have those leaders, and he probably doesn't have that at the moment at West Coast."
"I've found it appalling really, the scrutiny that's fallen on him. He's a 19-year-old kid."Rory Sloane can't believe the criticism of Harley Reid in just his second year.#9FootyClassified | Watch on Nine & 9Now 📺
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) March 18, 2025
