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West Coast midfielder Reuben Ginbey says the way teammate Harley Reid plays is ‘different’ and something the side wants to reward.
On Monday evening, the AFL announced the number one pick as round five’s rising star nominee after a phenomenal performance against the Tigers.
Reid had 27 possessions, and eight clearances, playing a crucial role in bringing West Coast their first win of the season.
Speaking on Sports Breakfast, Ginbey, who was a rising star nominee last year, had plenty of praise for his teammate.
“He handles it awesomely, you can't really tell what's going on with Harley. He's always the same. He's a great guy to hang around and pretty chill,” he said.
“He's taken it all in his stride and the footy he's playing for us is awesome. He's just building and building and building every week.
“I see a player play like that in their fifth game, I don't know what kind of player he's going to become, but I guess one who just doesn't sit back.”
With each round, Reid has grown more confident and continued to add more highlights to his reel. Most notably his clearance work in which he takes on several opponents and breaks tackles.
West Coast has been consistently strong in clearances all season, including matches in which they lost by large margins.
When asked about Reid's influence, Ginbey says it encourages the team to lift when he does ‘something crazy’.
“The clearances he gets are just different,” Ginbey said.
“His ability to not get tackled, I don't think he's got properly tackled yet, Like if you tackle him, he'll get his hands out and if you wrap him up, you're lucky.
“We're 0-3, me trying to tackle Harley, he's put me on my backside three times. His strength as a young player is crazy.
“It really does lift us. I know the crowd loves him as they should. I know when he does something crazy we really try to reward him because it really does get us up and about.”
Reid’s nomination is another plaudit added to a successful weekend for West Coast. Hours before the bounce, West Coast’s WAFL side finally snapped a 660-day losing streak against reigning premiers East Fremantle by four points.
With the AFL side also entering the Western Derby with a 39-point win and under their belt, Ginbey admits this may be the start of something positive.
“We're not going to get ahead of ourselves,” he said.
“We got one win but I think any kind of win, the confidence that it can give a group, the experience of actually winning a game of footy. A lot of us young fellas don't know that, we're just used to losing.
“That feeling of getting in front by a few goals and being able to hold that and extend that lead, all that experience is going to be great for us.
“I think that can hopefully definitely build something this year and going forward.”
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