Impassioned West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has labelled the abuse young star Harley Reid is forced to take from fans a “joke”, and called on the AFL to do more to protect young players.

It comes as McQualter backed embattled veteran Tim Kelly to remain an Eagle beyond 2025, despite being shuffled out of midfield in the heartbreaking two-point defeat to Richmond.

Reid has suffered a bout of second-year blues after an interrupted pre-season, but has shown glimpses of his match-turning best across the last two weeks.

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With the game on the line against the Tigers, the 20-year-old slotted a monster goal on the run from outside 50 to reduce the margin to single digits.

However, it was an incident in the dying stages that stripped the gloss off the moment as Reid gestured in frustration and appeared to interact with the MCG crowd animatedly.

It’s not the first time the former No.1 pick has kicked up at a fan, Reid being fined for giving a Brisbane fan who offered him a packet of tissues the finger in Brisbane.

There have been many critics of Reid’s on-field behaviour, but McQualter staunchly backed his rising star on Monday night.

“It’s just the amount of abuse that Harley cops all the time. It’s a bit of a joke, really,” he told 7NEWS.

“He’s a 20-year-old kid, and every time he goes near the boundary line, he gets abused by people.

“I’m not sure people should be paying their money to go to the footy just to abuse young kids. I understand it’s a bit of the landscape we are in, but I think you saw it took its toll, and Harley reacted to it.

“We’ll continue to support him. I absolutely do (think the AFL need to crack down on the behaviour from fans). The live abuse from the ground is one thing, but the online abuse is a bit of a disgrace.”

McQualter also praised Reid for taking responsibility and attempting to lift his winless side to a breakthrough victory in the final quarter against Richmond.

“I thought all game, but particularly in the last 10 minutes of the game, he tried to take the team on his back and win, which is exactly what we expect from Harley, and he’s trending in the right direction,” he said.

Kelly’s role in Sunday’s loss looked a little different; the midfielder moved to half forward to help boost West Coast’s scoring.

The 151-gamer has struggled for form in 2025 and was dropped to the WAFL earlier this year.

Kelly also openly admitted during the off-season he was struggling to recapture his love of footy amid club-worst on-field results.

However, McQualter emphatically backed the out-of-contract 30-year-old to remain at the Eagles beyond this year and said he hoped he would be an important part of growing the struggling engine room group.

“We are really confident Tim will stay here, and we look forward to him helping our midfield and our team grow in the future,” he said.

“We tried Tim in a new position yesterday, and I think it worked to some really great effect. We were looking to him to help us score, and he was able to have nine score involvements, which was pleasing for us, so we’ll keep exploring that.

“There are parts of Tim’s game we know we’re going to keep working on as well, and we’re working on our midfield mix.”

McQualter also said he expected both co-captain Oscar Allen and vital key defender Jeremy McGovern to return this week.

Allen was a late out with a knee complaint just before the bounce on Sunday, while McGovern is working through concussion protocols after a head knock against Melbourne.

- With The West Australian