Harley Reid makes sad admission: ‘It was pretty hard’

Harley Reid says he tried to let his footy do the talking amid inordinate attention squarely focused on him during his first AFL season, but it was still “pretty hard”.

The 2023 No.1 draft pick attracted unprecedented levels of hype and excitement all over the country, but particularly in Western Australia.

And for large parts of the year he lived up to his billing, showing he already has the ability to be an elite midfielder in the competition.

Harley hype hit fever pitch when he kicked what would eventually be crowned as the goal of the year, bursting out of a centre bounce stoppage against Melbourne in Round 10, taking three bounces and kicking the most extraordinary goal — all the while with Christian Petracca hot on his heels.

It seemed he was handling the pressure just fine, but he has admitted underneath it wasn’t that easy.

“It was pretty hard at times, I feel,” Reid said on Wednesday, speaking at an event as a Caulfield Cup Carnival racing ambassador.

“For me, I tried to do all I could with my footy and let my footy do the talking, but it’s pretty hard.

“Ninety-five per cent of it’s mental and I think if you can win the mental game and go out there feeling confident, the best part is, when you’re out there, you’ve got no worry in the world and you’re doing what you love, and you feel that why you’re here is what you’re doing right out there.

“That was kind of what I tried to have in my mind and go out there and have fun.”

In 2024, it’s not just TV, print, online publications and radio media that is talking about Harley Reid — it’s also social media, arguably the biggest of them all.

But the 19-year-old is trying to take it all in his stride.

“I think, my generation, a lot of it’s social media and, these days, it’s all on social media. So, I think that was something that was very hard to control and came with a lot of pros and cons, I guess,” Reid said.

“For me, it was probably more just escaping from that world and staying in reality and staying in the moment.”

So intense has the hysteria around Reid been that even opposition players have got swept up in it.

Former Eagles coach Adam Simpson said last month that rival players were ringing up the club wanting to play alongside Reid.

“He’s generational. He’s just a hunter and he drags teammates with him ... the fans and all that stuff, the No.9 and the euphoria around that, that’s one thing, but the way he plays is infectious and you want to play with him,” Simpson said on SEN in September.

“We had several players, A-grade talent, ringing us ... and the conversations were ‘I want to play with Harley’.

“Conversations like that were happening, but it did dry up a little bit (after some losses).”

SEN hosts Garry Lyon and Tim Watson both agreed “you can’t put a price on that”.

“As a player he is worth this, as a marketing tool he is worth this, as a sponsorship tool he’s worth this and as a potential recruiter he’s worth that, you can’t put a price on that,” Lyon said.

Simpson was impressed with Reid’s ability to handle the extreme pressure placed on him in his first year and hopes that he remains at the club.

“One thing about Harley is his character,” Simpson said.

“In interviews with Harley we asked, ‘Why do you play the game?’ He was like ‘I play to win and I play for my mates’ — and they’re the two best things aren’t they?

“That typifies his attitude towards the game, he keeps it very simple, very relaxed kid, he’ll learn to be a pro in the coming years.

“Had to deal with a lot this year, my son is the same age and he gets a pimple and he’s a bit worried, Harley is on the back page every day for 30 days in a row. So, dealing with expectations, he’s done that as an 18-year-old and he’s done it pretty well.

“He just wants to play footy with his mates and play to win. That should never leave him, that should be his No.1 reason to play.”

When asked if he thinks Reid will stay, Simpson said: “I think he’s loyal. Now that’s not putting any pressure on the kid because he’s going to get a lot of opportunities (from rivals), but he’s pretty loyal.”