West Coast star Harley Reid shares his advice for how new Eagles can land on their feet

West Coast star Harley Reid has backed the bumper new crop of draftees to settle in quick and have an instant impact at the Eagles.

The club welcomed six new faces to the club in Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler, Josh Lindsay, Sam Allen, Tylah Williams and Fred Rodriguez in the national and rookie drafts last week.

Reid was at Marvel Stadium to hand fellow No.1 pick Willem Duursma his West Coast jumper, two years after he was taken by the Eagles with the top selection and presented the No.9 by Nic Naitanui.

“It’s a pretty surreal time in your AFL journey,” Reid said, reflecting on his own draft night in 2023.

“This is what you play for, to be able to reach the highest level, there’s a lot of nerves anxiety but also a lot of excitement.

“All the hard work and patience you put in have paid off but once you come off that you have to start again and go from zero.”

The Vic Country product shared his advice on how to settle into a new state, with all but two of the new draftees joining West Coast from over east.

Despite unprecedented hype upon his arrival to the club, Reid lived up to sky-high expectations to claim the AFLPA’s Best First Year Player award and won Goal of the Year.

“Be patient, know that you’ve done the grind and done the work, and I guess be yourself,” he said.

“That’s the one thing I’ve found coming to West Coast is everyone who comes across are able to find their feet very early and be themselves from day dot.

“That’s something that we as a group try to utilise and get out of every player that comes across and that’s something I hold very strong.”

As West Coast look to rebuild from a one-win season, Reid is confident the club has made the right moves to start building for success.

“I think it’s super exciting, this year wasn’t the year we expected and we’ve seen a lot of growth on and off the field,” he said.

“New staff members, new coaches and new players, we went hard at the trade period and the new group is going to be awesome.

“I think there’s a very exciting future ahead of ourselves at the west.”