The 2024 season has so far seen a number of exciting young Eagles grow, develop and perform on the big stage.
Second-year midfielder Reuben Ginbey has been in impressive form, finishing with 16 disposals, six intercept possessions and four marks against Essendon on the weekend.
“Reuben’s ability to cover the ground and combine that with his contest work and his toughness, is really important to us,” Assistant Coach Luke Shuey said.
“He’s got the tank that he can compete inside, three-four efforts, but then can cover the ground outside straight afterwards as well which is really hard to do.
“If we need someone to play a bit of a role at times or turn a bit more defensive, we’ve looked to him and since the moment he’s got here, he’s always been ‘team first’ and everything for his mates.
“He’s been really important a couple of times over last few years when we’ve needed someone to do a bit of a shut down or offer us some transition running if we’re not getting it, and he’s sort of been our go-to guy.
“Most weeks he delivers really well, again, really young, but plenty of growth left in him, but what we’ve seen early days is a guy who the players love playing with, and he’ll always do anything for his teammates, so great to see him get some reward on the weekend.”
Shuey also expressed his admiration for rising star Harley Reid and what he brings to the team and his teammates.
“Since day one of pre-season, his (Reid) appetite for the contest and the physical side of the game is unmatched from anyone I’ve seen, whether it’s an 18-year-old or a 30-year-old,” Shuey said.
“He just loves the physicality side of the game, and it holds him in good stead, obviously he’s dominated throughout juniors probably being a bigger kid.
“And so, coming in, you wondered whether he’d still hold his own against the best in the country, but he’s shown that that hasn’t really been an issue for him, and we love that.
“It’s not just what he does in the moment with his physicality and his ability to get inside to outside the contest, but what it does for the team, some of the things he does, the players walk taller when they see that.”
The WAFL Eagles were felled by East Perth by 74 points on Sunday, but 18-year-old midfielder Clay Hall was among West Coast’s best, managing 17 touches, 16 of those were quick and efficient handballs around the contest.
“We were impressed with ‘Hally’ from day one, his contest work and his generous toughness was on another level for a first-year player,” Shuey said.
“He’s really good inside with his hands, that’s his strength and that’s what he’s going to bring to our side over a long period of time which is exciting.
“He’s been working on a few different areas of his game, which we’ve seen some really good growth in, he’s a great with a great appetite to get better and would love to see him get his opportunity at some stage.”
West Coast face Collingwood on Sunday at Marvel Stadium, and Shuey said Magpies star Nick Daicos will be a challenge to keep out of the game.
“I don’t know if he’s taggable to be honest, he can play anywhere on the ground,” Shuey said.
“You want to go with him, but you’ll end up throwing your system out of whack a bit, and trying to stop him from getting the footy is another thing on its own.
“We’ll have match committee on Collingwood tomorrow and figure out what we’re going to do.
“There’s still plenty of other stars running through their midfield and across halfback, but he (Daicos) is definitely one we wouldn’t mind keeping quiet this weekend.”
