Puma black out back page of The Sunday Times ahead of Harley Reid’s West Coast Eagles debut

As Harley Reid gets set to take his first steps as an AFL footballer, one of his sponsors has taken the extraordinary step of blacking out the back page of The Sunday Times.

Puma has purchased space on the back page to leave their star sponsee a simple message ahead of his debut clash against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.

The back page will be black with the words “A back page without the pressure... Good luck mate” and their logo.

Western Australia’s largest newspaper has published a long string of back pages featuring West Coast’s teenage sensation since he was drafted with the No.1 overall pick in November.

During pre-season, he featured on the back 11 days in a row, dominating headlines and garnering interest country-wide in the build towards the 2024 season.

The Eagles locked in Reid’s debut on Thursday as the fallen giants start the long road back to the top after just five wins in two seasons, including claiming their second wooden spoon in 2023.

Plenty of fans from the 18-year-old’s hometown of Tongala are expected to travel to the game, with Reid stating in an interview on the Eagles website after his selection was confirmed, that he thought he would need “at least 50” tickets.

President of Reid’s hometown Tongala, Daniel Cox, said the town was abuzz ahead of Reid’s debut and were ready to cheer him on when he runs through the banner on Sunday.

“It’s similar to draft night and it’s great that he’s going to be debuting in the first game of the season,” Cox told The West Australian on Saturday.

“He’s got a lot of family in this small town, where everyone knows everyone and while the build-ups backed off from that of the draft it’s been good.

“He was back a few weeks ago and caught up with family and a few mates before he shot back to WA.”