West Coast coach Adam Simpson has described Harley Reid as the "new toy" for Eagles fans, and he has a key piece of advice for the 19-year-old: 'Just go out there and have fun.'
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Reid sent social media into meltdown yet again on Sunday with a series of mesmerising highlights in West Coast's shock 16.9 (105) to 10.10 (70) win over Melbourne.
The No.1 draft pick produced a goal-of-the-year contender when he burned off Christian Petracca at a centre clearance with three bounces before kicking truly from 45m.
Reid sent the crowd wild again in the third quarter when he produced a double fend-off - using his left hand to get rid of Clayton Oliver before utilising his right hand to tame Petracca.
The Rising Star favourite produced another show-stopping moment later in the term when he bumped off his opponent and gathered the bouncing ball with one hand before sprinting forward to kick his second goal.
Reid was labelled a future superstar in the mould of Richmond great Dustin Martin even before he was drafted.
The hype has only continued to grow, but Simpson is doing his best to keep a lid on things.
"He's carrying a heavy weight at the moment," Simpson said.
"I'm really trying to be cautious about how much attention he gets.
"But when he plays like that - it just looked like he had fun tonight, and that's our goal for him - to enjoy being an AFL player.
"When he's enjoying the game for what it is and playing to his strengths, then we're all happy.
"And if he plays well, we'd take that, but if he doesn't, then that's OK too. He's 19."
Reid's arrival has played a huge role in reconnecting West Coast fans with the team after two torrid years.
Simpson can feel the buzz, and other players are feeding off the energy too.
"We're trying to connect with that crowd as much as we can, and I think it's a real advantage," Simpson said.
"Harley obviously is the new toy, he's pretty good to play with."
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was full of praise for Reid too.
"Clearly he's an incredibly exciting player and I can understand why there's so much hype around him," Goodwin said.
"He's so dynamic and he can hit the scoreboard.
"We had some plans in terms of what we wanted to do with him.
"But once you put him in space in a stoppage situation where there's some space, he's incredibly talented, he's quick and he's powerful, and he gets the ball out into space.
"He's someone that we didn't handle well and I'm sure a lot of clubs looking at how they can handle him best."
West Coast are a chance to regain gun midfielder Elliot Yeo for Sunday's clash with the Crows at Adelaide Oval.
Australian Associated Press
