When Sydney forward Sam Reid cast his mind back to how he was feeling 12 months ago, all he could do was chuckle.

The athletic Swan was recovering from Achilles surgery, just one of the setbacks that caused him to fail to play a senior game in 2016, but remarkably he still hadn't given up on the season.

But while John Longmire's minor premiers prepared for their qualifying final against crosstown rival Greater Western Sydney and Reid worked diligently through his rehabilitation, he knew his chances of playing a part in the Swans' premiership tilt were slim.

The 25-year-old told AFL.com.au that the month of September brought a painful end to a disastrous season.

"I was holding on to some hope that I was going to get back for the big one but didn't quite get there, so it's a nicer feeling this year," he said.

"There was no realistic hope (of getting back), the goal was to be right to go for the off-season, so by the time the year finished I was back to 100 per cent training.

"If we had five guys fall over the week before the Grand Final I might have been a chance, but it was always a long shot."

The positives to come out of Reid's troubles last year were immediately on show when he breezed through pre-season training without any injury worries and he's reaped the benefits, booting 29 goals from 20 games in 2017 to be an important part of Sydney's forward set-up again.

He has proved to be a vital foil for superstar teammate Lance Franklin and is another versatile tall target set to cause headaches for Essendon in Saturday's elimination final at the SCG.

"I think it's a collective thing, when one of us fires we can take the focus off someone else who might be able to get a mismatch," he said.

"We're all pretty versatile in that we can play up the ground or stay a bit deeper, so we can change things up to keep the opposition guessing.

"I think that’s a good strength to have when we're all out there."

Reid and Franklin combined for 30 possessions and 14 marks when the Swans scraped past the Bombers back in round 14, but the pair managed just 1.9 between them and will be hoping to finish off their work with more precision this week.

Franklin is coming off a 10-goal performance against Carlton in round 23 to seal his fourth Coleman Medal and looms as the Bombers' biggest threat and Reid knows exactly what his game plan is if his teammate fires again.

"I've played with him a couple of times when he's kicked around nine or 10 goals, and on those days you can tell pretty early that he's on," he said.

"You know where the ball is going, so you pretty much just have to get out of his way."