Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson praises No.1 draftee Harley Reid after building close bond with star teen

Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson says teen sensation Harley Reid is doing things as a footballer that you cannot teach and predicted big things to come from the young Eagle.

Simpson coached Reid in his first 13 games at the Eagles before the 2018 premiership parted ways with the club after more than a decade at the helm.

Despite being together less than a year, Simpson said he’d built a strong connection with Reid as player-coach.

“I get him. I understand what makes him tick and he wants to play footy for his mates and wants to play to win — that’s the two best things to play footy for,” Simpson said in a podcast interview this week.

“He reminds me of my son a little but ... he still hasn’t learnt the lessons of life a lot either. Dealing with the attention, it’s been outstanding how he’s doing it but I don’t think he’s doing it easily.

“The way he plays he doesn’t rely on anyone. If you’re a forward or you’re a back or you’re a winger but when you’re just a hunter he can back it up a little bit. I’ve connected to him with a degree where I just know what makes him tick.

“How he loves his family, how he loves his mates and loves playing footy.

“He’s still got a long way to go which is great, great for us. There’s stuff you can’t teach that he’s doing and if you can polish some of the stuff around him and that, he’s going to be very, very good.”

The Eagles landed Reid after North Melbourne defeated Gold Coast in the final round of the 2023 season, which had the Kangaroos leap West Coast on the ladder into 17th.

It meant the Eagles had the No.1 draft pick for just the third time in their history and first access to Reid, which they used on draft night with club great Nic Naitanui handing him the famed No.9 guernsey.

Simpson said getting Reid was never in his mind during the final rounds of the season as the tussle for the No.1 pick occurred.

“I can only speak for what we do and you’re so desperate for success that it just doesn’t come into your mind,” Simpson said.

“I know it’s ‘how can it not?’ but we beat the (Western) Bulldogs a week before .... that for us is so important.

“The players are so desperate to win and the players are the ones that are out there, so unless you start doing strategic moves like not playing players or early surgeries ... to do it so you lose has never come close to coming into my mind.

“We’re just too competitive to think in that space, but I suppose the threats there, isn’t it? And Harley Reid doesn’t come across your table every year. It’s not what I was thinking going into the Bulldogs game when our backs were against the wall and trying to get the best out of our group and keep the motivation to stay connected.

“Our players would’ve seen straight through it and then you just lose everyone if that happens.”

Simpson was interviewed by former Eagle Will Schofield and co-host Dan Cost on Backchat Podcast.