HARLEY Reid's two-game suspension earlier this year hasn't just cost the gun West Coast youngster the Telstra AFL Rising Star this year. It is also likely to see him fall just short of breaking a competition record.

Reid's ability to execute an EFO (effective fend-off) had already been well renowned as a feature of his game before he reached the AFL and he has brought it immediately into his arsenal at the top level.

The Eagles' No.1 pick was on track to break the AFL record for the most broken tackles in a season, which has been held by Richmond superstar Dustin Martin in 2017, when he broke 68 tackles in the home and away season.

It is the most by any player in a season since Champion Data started recording the statistic and Reid was on track to comfortably eclipse it earlier this year.

However his one-game rest and then two-game suspension is now likely to see him fall short, with Reid registering 50 from 16 matches so far this season, at an average of 3.1 a game. It sees him ranked second in total broken tackles in the competition this year, behind Sydney's Chad Warner who has broken three more tackles but played three more games.

If Reid keeps up his average in the final four games he will just be pipped by Martin's 2017 numbers in his all-time Brownlow Medal, premiership and North Smith Medal campaign that saw the Tigers break their 37-year flag drought.

The 19-year-old Reid and Warner sit well and truly as the EFO specialists in the League this season, with a big gap between them and the players next on the broken tackle count: North Melbourne's Luke Davies-Uniacke (33), Hawthorn's James Worpel (30) and Brisbane's Cam Rayner (29). 

Reid was suspended for two games for his tackle on St Kilda's Darcy Wilson in round two, ruling him out of Rising Star eligibility.