Sydney Swans tagger James Jordon opened up on shutdown role on West Coast Eagles young gun Harley Reid

Sydney tagger James Jordon has opened up on his shutdown role on West Coast young gun Harley Reid, revealing why the Swans chose him as a target.

Reid was restricted to a season-low 17 disposals and managed only one clearance under heavy attention as the Eagles were dealt a brutal reality check in a 128-point drubbing at Optus Stadium on Saturday.

And while Jordon was able to successfully put the clamps on Reid, he had nothing but praise for the 20-year-old.

“He’s a competitive person and he really, really wants to win,” Jordon said on Tuesday.

“I felt like I did a pretty good job on the weekend. He’s an extremely talented player and can break the game open, who you’ve got to be pretty diligent all game.

“I felt like I was able to do that for most of the game.”

Jordon added Reid to a list of famous scalps that includes Fremantle ball-winner Caleb Serong and Brisbane dual Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale, among a host of other high-profile victims.

The former Melbourne midfielder said he relishes the challenge of taking on the opposition’s best player.

“I’m a pretty competitive person, and I enjoy that challenge every week. If that’s my role for the team, I’m more than happy to do it, and if it can contribute to us winning games of footy, I’m more than happy to do it,” he said.

“(You have) definitely got to watch a lot of vision. I’m often going up against their No.1 player as well. If you give them a split second, they can just break the game open like that.

“(Watch plenty of vision, sit down (with the coaches) and try put a plan in place.”

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter conceded the Eagles did not do enough to protect their star midfielder, adding it won’t be the last time Reid gets tagged.

That could come as soon as this weekend in Gather Round, with Geelong tagger Oisin Mullin likely to attempt to curb Reid’s influence at Norwood Oval on Sunday.

“Jordon is one of the best taggers in the competition, and I think (Harley) is not the first, and he won’t be the last player that he does that to. He’s just so good at it,” McQualter said.

“(But) we didn’t help Harley enough. We had some plans in place, but it’s going to be part of what we do going forward because I imagine it’s not the last time that he’ll get tagged.

“We need Harley playing great footy for us. I think that’s what is needed, so his teammates have got to help him do that.

“We tried quite a few different things and we moved him positionally a few times. It wasn’t quite the level he’s been at the last few weeks, but that’s what you get from a 20-year-old.