Harley Reid and Andrew McQualter chat during the R19 match between West Coast and Richmond at Optus Stadium on July 19, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

WEST Coast coach Andrew McQualter says his team needs to find more ways to support young star Harley Reid after the second-year gun fought through heavy attention to carry his team in a disappointing 49-point loss to Richmond on Saturday night. 

Reid was a beacon for the Eagles in one of their most deflating losses for the season, winning 20 disposals in the first half and finishing with two goals after moving forward in the last quarter. 

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The Tigers’ decision to use midfielder Jack Ross to tag the powerful youngster after half-time, however, saw him restricted to four disposals in the third quarter as Richmond went on a seven-goal run to break the game open. 

McQualter said the 20-year-old was clearly his team’s best player on Saturday night and the Eagles needed to find more ways to support him as they enter the final five weeks of the season in 18th and with just one win.   

“We are aware that we’ve got a 20-year-old carrying our midfield. It’s not an easy position for him. We need help. We’re going to work hard to give him help,” McQualter said. 

“I thought Harley was by far our best player tonight. I loved the way he went about it. I loved his team-first approach, the way he attacked the ball. He was inspirational to his teammates. 

“It’s a difficult position at the moment, but as a team we have to find more people and players and ways to not rely on one person. 

“There’s no AFL team ever that relies on one player to be good, so we’re going to keep working hard to find and create players that can keep influencing in the game.”

McQualter praised Reid for the impact he made as a forward in the fourth quarter and said the combative youngster was invested in the Eagles and “wanting to do everything to get this club out of this position”. 

He said the club was “sick to death” of losing after missing a chance to win its first game since round 10, with the prospect now that the Eagles could win only one game in a season for the first time in their history.  

“We’re the only people that can make a change. It’s people inside the four walls that can get us out of here and we have to do it together,” McQualter said. 

“You just have to do the work. That’s as simple as it is. We have to keep creating that culture that people want to do the work, they’re invested, they care about each other, they care about the team. 

“No one else can do it for you, that’s all it is. So we’ll just keep doing the work and we’ll keep finding the right people that want to do the work and build.”

McQualter lamented his team’s skill errors and inability to defend the Tigers’ speed, with the Eagles’ ball use and decision making not at AFL standard at times.    

“They’re trying, they’re working hard, but they’re clearly just in such a void of confidence,” he said. 

“We didn’t give up. It wasn’t a sense of giving up, but it was our ability to work through those scenarios – we’re unable to do that at the moment, I think we’re seeing that all year.

“We are aware of the problem. We are working hard to fix and find a solution. It’s not an easy one. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take leadership. It’s going to take an all-in approach to get out of this position that we’re in as a club.”

Richmond coach Adem Yze was proud of his team, which won back-to-back games and kicked 100 points for the first time under his tenure, jumping to 16th after a fifth win this season. 

Impressive forward Seth Campbell entered concussion protocols after friendly fire from Tim Taranto, in the only downside from an impressive performance. 

“We’re really proud of as a footy club. We haven’t won two in a row for a little while and we were on the road with a young squad,” Yze said.  

“We were a little bit sketchy at the start of the game, but we needed some adjustments, and Maurice Rioli’s rundown was the spark that we needed. 

“From that moment, I felt like our game was on really. It was the way we wanted to play.”