THE EFO has arrived in the AFL.

Across his remarkable junior football career, Harley Reid made the fend-off part of his footballing persona. So much so that AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable coined the phrase 'EFO', or 'Effective Fend-Off', purely to give a name to the No.1 pick's immense ability to ward off would-be tacklers.

Now, that ability has successfully translated to the big time.

Reid enjoyed a breakout game in Gather Round, turning Mount Barker into his own personal playground as he dragged the otherwise hapless West Coast close to an upset win over high-flying Sydney.

The teenager had 18 disposals, four clearances, seven tackles, six score involvements, two goal assists and kicked his maiden AFL goal after shrugging a tackle and snapping truly in a dominant first-half performance.

But the statistic that leapt out to Champion Data was the fact Reid broke seven tackles across the course of the match, coming incredibly close to breaking the all-time record in just his fourth senior appearance.

That record is currently held by Richmond superstar Dustin Martin with eight, a player Reid has long been compared to given their similar styles of play and the frequent number of 'EFOs' they're able to pull off in a match.

North Melbourne's Luke Davies-Uniacke is also joint-holder of the record, alongside Martin with eight.

Reid's seven broken tackles alone against Sydney on Saturday is all the more remarkable given Champion Data notes that AFL teams have averaged eight broken tackles collectively since they started tracking that metric in 2011.

The youngster has now broken 11 tackles in his first four matches, which already leads the entire League.

Premiership winners Jordan De Goey and Christian Petracca are next best on nine, plus both have played one more game than Reid, while Hawthorn's James Worpel has also broken nine tackles.

"I think we're starting to see really good glimpses of Harley," Eagles coach Adam Simpson said afterwards.

"He just wants to be part of the team, he wants to win, he wants to play with his mates, so there's no extra stuff when he kicks a goal. It's just a good play.

"The kids playing well was great for everyone to see, so when we see that I think we all celebrate that. Harley is just part of that."

BROKEN TACKLES IN 2024

11 – Harley Reid (West Coast)
9 – Jordan De Goey (Collingwood)
9 – Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
9 – James Worpel (Hawthorn)

MOST BROKEN TACKLES IN A GAME

8 – Dustin Martin (PF, 2017)
8 – Luke Davies-Uniacke (Rd 23, 2022)
7 – Harley Reid (Rd 4, 2024)
7 – Darcy Fogarty (Rd 20, 2022)
7 – James Worpel (Rd 19, 2021)
7 – Dustin Martin (GF, 2019)
7 – Ben Cunnington (Rd 18, 2018)
7 – Dustin Martin (Rd 15, 2017)
7 – Jarman Impey (Rd 11, 2016)