Harley Reid under fire after Eagles’ 46-point loss to Geelong
The Eagles didn’t just lose on Sunday at Norwood Oval—they lost momentum, and quickly. While West Coast matched Geelong early, the Cats simply went up a gear and ran away, finishing with a comfortable 46-point win.
And in the middle of it all? Harley Reid, West Coast’s young gun, with a performance that was solid… but not clean. Reid’s temper and discipline concerns have now cost him time on the bench, with Eagles coach Andrew McQualter making it very clear that the issue isn’t his talent—it’s his decision-making.
“Harley let himself down in that area today and he knows that,” McQualter said. “That was not the way we want Harley to play. “But I also thought he had parts of his game that were strong. “We want to make sure his discipline doesn’t tip over.”
Honestly, that’s the part Eagles fans will be watching most. Because when the game gets physical and contested, discipline stops being a footnote—it becomes the difference between staying in the contest and gifting momentum to the opposition. And Geelong didn’t have to work too hard once the Eagles started handing them free shots.
McQualter also pointed to a broader discipline problem, with the Eagles giving away two 50m penalties that directly contributed to Geelong goals. “We let ourselves down today in that part of the game. That was disappointing,” he said. “We can’t afford to be undisciplined.”
That’s also why the chatter online was sharp, even if the headline numbers were brutal. After all, Reid is the No. 1 draft pick—people expect star-level composure, not avoidable moments that flip the scoreboard.
When Geelong took control, McQualter said West Coast struggled to live with the Cats at the contested ball. “Pretty much every contest metric you look at, they got a hold of us as the game went on,” he said. “It just overwhelmed us today by the end, a little bit – a great lesson for our guys to go through.”
Still, it wasn’t all doom. Jobe Shanahan starred with four goals, and ruckman Bailey Williams made a promising first senior appearance for the season, recording seven clearances. But the key takeaway for West Coast is loud and simple: in AFL, discipline isn’t optional. And Harley Reid’s next step has to be staying on the field—and staying locked in.