Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
📻 IMPORTANT AUCKLAND UPDATE 📻
Watson: Time for Eagles to deliver “hard truths” to Harley Reid
SEN • July 15th, 2025 11:01 am
Tim Watson believes it’s time that West Coast delivers some “hard truths” to Harley Reid.
The Eagles youngster has played in what some have described as a petulant manner during his time in the AFL system which came to a head against Port Adelaide on Sunday.
His performance against the Power - in which he gave away six free kicks and sledged Jason Horne-Francis - has been widely criticised.
Essendon legend Watson believes now is the time for the Eagles to act before it gets out of hand.
“As a young man we've been a little bit gentle on him and his behaviours out there on the field,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
“He's now given away more free kicks than any other player in the game.
“I think it's time to deliver some hard truths to Harley Reid, and I don't know whether or not they've gone softly because they're fearful that he's going to turn around and want to go home or whatever it might be.
“But I think his behaviours are childish, and they're unprofessional, and they're undisciplined.
“I’m sure they're understanding of this, but they're trying to build a culture under Andrew McQualter.
“He's trying to direct his young players to play in a certain way and then while he's doing that, it appears to all of us that watch the game that he's tolerating this bad behaviour and this undisciplined behaviour from Harley Reid.
“It appears like there's been this soft touch that's been applied to him. I just don't think that you can tolerate the way that he behaves on the footy field any longer.
“Who else in the game is behaving like that as a 20-year-old. You name one player that's behaving like Harley Reid is behaving regularly on the football field in the game right now.
“So why do we tolerate it? We're like, ‘oh, he's young’. Every guy that steps into the game is young, they're 18 or 19-year-olds.”
“I’m understanding of young people making mistakes, but this is just a a pattern of behaviour now that hasn't been modified, hasn't been controlled, and is still hurting his team.
“The behaviours that you walk past are the behaviours you accept in any form of life.
“Do you think that every other player that's playing there at the West Coast Eagles at the moment aren't looking at him sideways and thinking, ‘Hang on a minute, how come this bloke gets away with it? How come we tolerate this? The coach is telling us all this and all of a sudden we've got this other guy here and different rules apply to him’.
“It’s ugly behaviours that he's displaying out there on the football field, and I think it's hurting him and it's hurting the West Coast Eagles as they try to build a young team too.”
Co-host Garry Lyon was also critical of the former no.1 draft pick, wondering if the lack of evident leadership at the Eagles is having an impact.
“This is what happens when you get into an environment that has no great leaders,” Lyon said.
“There's no strong leadership in that football club where you are the main man every single time you go out there.
“Unfortunately for him, all these circumstances have conspired together where he has got away with it.
“He has been able to do this time and time again, whereas imagine if Harley Reid got drafted to Geelong. And the first time you'd cop a warning or two.
“The second and third time, Patrick Dangerfield and Chris Scott and everyone else (pulls Reid in line)… who's doing that at the West Coast Eagles?
“Oscar Allen's not doing it because he's having meetings with the Hawthorn Football Club. So what sort of leadership, where's he learning from the leaders of that football club?
“He’s a product of his environment. I don’t want to let him off the hook either. He’s being a dill.
“If you’re not getting the leadership from your football club there has to be mentor system somewhere out there within that environment. I hope he’s got that person in his corner.
“I don’t know if he has or he hasn’t because he is at this stage a little bit out of control. Within the environment there’s not anyone who can call bulls—- on him but someone else has to.”
Listen to the full discussion below:
