Tasmania coach Ken Hinkley says West Coast should make Harley Reid captain now

Tasmania coach Ken Hinkley says Harley Reid should captain West Coast from next season.

The former No.1 draft pick is three years into his AFL career and is building towards becoming one of the premier midfielders in the competition.

But the 21-year-old is far from the finished product and still has some minor discipline issues; he regularly gives away silly free kicks and was this week suspended for two matches for a sling tackle on Hawthorn’s Jai Newcombe.

The maturing he has left to do will be fast-tracked though, Hinkley thinks, if the Eagles make him captain now.

“I really like West Coast’s youth, I think they’re really promising,” he told SEN.

“I think Harley’s just scratching the surface, I think he could be anything.

“I know he’s got a two-week suspension, I think he was a bit reckless with some of the stuff he gets about, but he’ll learn and he’ll grow.

“I think he’s a captain-in-waiting. I reference the players that I understand and I know and I’ve coached: Jason Horne-Francis was a young hot-head, but his year this year has been first-class, and I think that’s where Harley’s heading, into that type of territory.

“Honestly, just make him captain. I reckon that could be the absolute best way to calm him down in some ways because he knows he has to set an amazing example for everyone then, not just for himself.”

Reid has drawn comparisons to GWS skipper Toby Greene, who himself begun as a precocious kid with a mean streak and some discipline chinks in his armour.

Greene still plays footy on the edge and remains prone to scrutiny from the match review officer, but his transformation since taking the captaincy is a model that Hinkley thinks Reid could follow.

“He still has his moments where he gets a bit hot under the collar, but you love that part about them, don’t you? You love that energy that they bring.

“I think sometimes you’ve got to wear a couple to get through and become the player you want him to be.”