Waterman kicks five but Reid steals the show

Eagles forward Jake Waterman kicked five goals and Tim Kelly racked up 30 disposals and eight clearances to lead the Eagles' stats in their 16.9 (105) to 10.10 (70) win on Sunday.

But it was Reid's dazzling manoeuvres that will live long in the memory of the 43,404-strong crowd.

The 19-year-old produced the highlight of the match in the opening quarter when he took the ball from the centre restart and burned off no less a rival than Christian Petracca with three bounces before kicking truly from 45m.

Then, during a magical piece of play in the third quarter, Reid fended off Clayton Oliver with his left hand and then Petracca with his right before clearing the ball forward for Jack Darling to kick a goal.

Reid wasn't done with yet, producing yet another highlight late in the third term when he pushed an opponent away as he collected a ground ball one-handed before sprinting to the goal line for an important major.

The No.1 draft pick finished with 21 disposals, seven clearances, two goals and three score assists in a magical display.

Reid's first-quarter goal sent fans into a meltdown, but Simpson is doing his best to keep things low key.

"It was pretty good. I knew it was going to blow up social media," Simpson said.

"We really want to engage our supporters as much as we can, and Harley obviously is the new toy, (and) he's pretty good to play with."

Melbourne (6-4) would have been third on the ladder had they beaten West Coast.

Instead, they dropped to seventh, and are back in the scrap to stay in the top eight.

Melbourne lost the inside 50m count 56-35 in a stat that highlighted the stark difference between the two sides on the night.

"To only have 35 inside 50s means you're not winning the right battle, and you need to get better in every phase," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.

"So we've got a lot of work to do to get back on track."

The Demons suffered a huge blow just eight minutes into Sunday's match when Jake Lever was concussed after sustaining an accidental leg to the face from Jack Darling as the Eagles forward soccered a goal.

Waterman made a scintillating start to the match, taking two contested marks opposed to Steven May in the opening minute.

The Eagles looked potent every time they went forward, with Reid's spectacular first goal helping build a 27-13 lead by quarter time.

Alarm bells started ringing for Melbourne as the lead blew out to 27 points, but Petracca willed his side back into the match.

His pin-point handballs helped set up goals to Kade Chandler and Shane McAdam.

And when Petracca kicked one himself, the margin was back to 13 at the long break.

West Coast won the inside 50m count 27-15 in the first half, and they were also plus-10 in contested possessions.

Melbourne's inaccuracy proved costly in the third quarter, with the Demons kicking 3.7 to West Coast's 5.0.

Reid's double fend-off sent the crowd crazy, and his second goal had them on their feet again.

But Waterman shouldn't be forgotten, with the key forward taking five contested marks among his 13 grabs.

He is now equal top of the Coleman medal race with 29 goals for the season.

Eagles ruckman Bailey Williams (25 hitouts) also fought valiantly to nullify the advantage of Melbourne big man Max Gawn (27 hitouts).

Australian Associated Press