Essendon Bombers great Matthew Lloyd has called for calm around Eagles prodigy Harley Reid after his disappointing performance against the Suns.
West Coast were flogged at home by 87 points with Reid coming under fire for certain antics, namely going down easily after slight contact from Charlie Ballard.
Reid also shared words with his Suns rivals during the match. AFL great David King later claimed Reid was more focused on fighting than playing footy.
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Harley Reid flops to the ground after contact from Charlie Ballard. Fox Footy
The 2023 No.1 pick has also been subject to rampant contract talk with speculation he could one day become the first $2 million player.
Lloyd believes there needs to be more patience with the 19-year-old.
“He was very disappointing … but I give him an out,” he said on Nine’s Footy Classified.
“The expectations are that high on Harley Reid and people want to mention (Collingwood young gun) Nick Daicos… for every Nick Daicos, it doesn’t matter if you’re drafted one to 10, they struggle.
“Most guys are still struggling in their first game of their (second) year. His attitude, yes, does have to improve.
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Matthew Lloyd has sympathised with Harley Reid after a poor round one. Getty/Nine
Lloyd continued by making the point that Reid needs support from the senior players around him, but did commend Oscar Allen for removing him from a heated situation at half time where he mouthed off to his rivals.
“I’m more empathetic to the fact that, say for example Dustin Martin’s first game of his second year… was still not a great player and making mistakes at that time so that’s where the senior leadership is critical. He’ll become a great player,” he said.
“Say Jamarra Ugle-Hagan doesn’t make it, (the Bulldogs) can say ‘we gave you everything, we gave you Marcus Bontempelli as your mentor for a period of time, if you can’t make something of that, well you’re never going to make it anywhere’, that’s my opinion on a guy like Jamarra.
“Whereas with Harley Reid, I’m sure they’re surrounding him with great things but sometimes it can just click two or three years later, no matter how good you are.”
