Towering Sydney Swans forward Sam Reid hopes to build on a best-on-ground performance that saw him boot a career-high bag of goals on Friday night.
Although Sydney fell seven points short of Collingwood in Marn Grook at the SCG, 2012 premiership hero Reid slotted six goals on his way to collecting the Goodes-O’Loughlin Medal.
The 27-year-old had only ever bagged six goals in a game twice – in Round 15, 2012 and in Round 2, 2017 as he celebrated his 100th match – but it wasn’t just his heroics off the boot that grabbed the attention of the footy world on Friday.
Reid also tallied an equal-Swans-high nine marks and pinch-hit against one of the best ruckmen in the competition in Magpie Brodie Grundy.
The star Swan managed just one AFL match in 2018 due to a spate of quad and Achilles injuries, but he says he’s now determined to build on Friday’s season-best game.
“I've felt pretty good for most of the season. It’s just that results, until tonight, hadn’t really gone my way. I was able to put in a full pre-season so I’m just looking to build on that and, most importantly, keep playing,” Reid told SwansTV post-match.
“It was a positive night for me. I had probably been lacking over the last few weeks, so to get a bit of a result personally tonight and get on the end of a few was pleasing.”
Sydney will be eyeing a return to the winners’ circle in an away clash with the ladder-leading Geelong Cats next Saturday afternoon.
The Swans will head into the Round 11 fixture with three wins and seven losses chalked up.
Despite Friday’s loss, Sydney coach John Longmire said he felt his side hadn’t dipped – and Reid echoed his comments, saying the approach against Geelong would be similar.
“This won’t change too much in terms of our plan against the Cats,” Reid said.
“We’re playing the best teams back-to-back in Collingwood tonight and Geelong next week. We’ve had some pretty special wins down there in the past and the boys will take some confidence out of that, but we know it’s going to be hard work and we’re going to keep that same level of intensity on the man and the ball.”
