West Coast star Harley Reid has changed his Instagram profile picture to an image of Ben Cousins giving the middle finger to a camera as the AFL issued a ‘please explain’ for why he did the same action during Sunday’s loss to Brisbane.

Reid’s on-field behaviour during the loss to the Lions has attracted plenty of attention and criticism but the league opted against reporting him as part of the Match Review Officer’s duties.

They could have issued him with a fine for an obscene gesture, but have instead taken the approach of issuing a ‘please explain’.

That was the same process followed by the league when Richmond’s Marlion Pickett committed the same act against Geelong last season.

But Reid appears to have made his own statement. The youngster, who wears the same number as Cousins and is already living under the same spotlight and expectation, added an image of the former West Coast captain to his Instagram page.

That image was from 2009, when Cousins returned to Perth while playing for Richmond. He walked to a camera in the changerooms and flipped the bird resulting in a fine.

Reid has more than 123,000 followers on Instagram and uses the page to promote the numerous sponsorship deals he has already signed during the early stages of his career.

Having put Cousins’ image as his profile picture on Monday afternoon, the teenager changed the photo back to a picture of himself running at the MCG just minutes later.

There have already been calls today for West Coast to find a way to make their star happy again.

Reid has struggled to play to the same level this season as he did in 2024 after an interrupted pre-season where he struggled to train.

Coach Andrew McQualter backed Reid after the loss to Brisbane, describing his middle finger salute as theatre. Eagles fans will now be hoping he can use the controversy as motivation for this week’s western derby after performing well against Fremantle last season.

Reid played some of the best football of his short career in last year’s two western derbies.

The teenager earned two Brownlow votes for a 19-disposal, three-goal display in his first-ever clash against Fremantle to spearhead an upset win in round six, before notching a career-best 29 touches in the return bout later in the year.