Reid it and weep rivals
Ben Horne
Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, August 8
SYDNEY ace Sam Reid has declared he will retire a one-club player, after signing a four-year deal to inject the Swans with the ultimate pre-finals boost.
It’s another victory for the club’s famous Bloods culture that a young star with a brother at Collingwood and all his roots in Victoria would commit so heavily to the harbour side city.
But despite significant interest coming from other Melbourne clubs, Reid says he never considered another option.
After missing all of last season with injury Reid admits he didn’t know where he stood, but in 2017 the imposing swing forward has stood out as one of the Swans best and earned himself a career-shaping new contract.
The 25-year-old, who cut his teeth in the grand final winning side of 2012, has signed on believing Sydney could be warming towards another premiership.
“We’re really confident. The last three months has shown that if we play our best footy we can pretty much match it with every side,” said Reid.
“I was confident coming into pre-season I’d be able to put a good amount of time into training and be able to play this year.
“The Swans have shown faith in me again by signing me up for a decent amount of time and I’m looking to repay that and play as much footy as I can.”
Another key Swan seals long-term deal as players show their loyalty to Sydney
James Buckley
SMH, August 8
He's the latest in an expanding list of talented Swans to commit their long-term future to Sydney, and now forward Sam Reid is hoping to run out his AFL career as a one-club player.
The 25-year-old fended off interest from Melbourne suitors to pen a four-year contract extension on Monday which keeps him at Sydney until at least 2021, and leaves veteran Jarrad McVeigh as the only Swans regular unsigned beyond 2017.
Reid failed to play a single game through injury in 2016 but has proven his worth this season having missed just two matches, and featuring in all but one of Sydney's 11 wins.
He joins the likes of Lance Franklin, Luke Parker, Isaac Heeney, Josh Kennedy and Callum Mills to be contracted with the Swans until next decade.
"I've said from the start that I wanted to stay up here and this year for me was really just about playing footy and being able to stay fit given last year I didn't get a game," Reid said.
"There's no real reason why I would like to leave here. My soon-to-be wife is from up here, she's got a really close-knit family that have been very accepting of me from day one.
"My parents get up here pretty much every second week to watch me as well. I'm not missing out on too much being up here, I've got a few mates down in Melbourne but in terms of the lifestyle, and the weather ... it's really good and I've just grown to love it over the past eight years.
"You don't have to worry about picking up a paper and seeing the footy front and back, and there won't be 45 minutes of AFL on the TV. If you do want to escape from footy for an afternoon it's a lot easier to do [so] living in Sydney."
Family reunion on hold as Swan signs on
Adam Curley
AFL.com.au, August 8
SYDNEY forward Sam Reid has quashed any hope of a family reunion at Collingwood by signing a new four-year deal with the Swans.
Reid was due to come out of his current five-year contract at the end of this season, and with every passing month he went unsigned beyond 2017, talk of him leaving to join older brother Ben at the Magpies, or head back home to another Victorian club, gathered momentum.
But the athletic swingman said the rumours about him departing the Bloods for the Pies were purely a beat-up from the Melbourne footy media.
Reid will marry his long-term partner Kim – a Sydney local – in the off-season, and said his home is in the harbour city, at least until the end of the 2021 season.
"It would be great to play with my brother but the reality is it’s pretty tough to do these days," he said on Monday.
"He loves it in Melbourne and I love it in Sydney, so we might have to wait until we’re 40 and play a local game in the country somewhere.
"My parents get up here pretty much every second week to watch me as well.
"I'm not missing out on too much being up here, the lifestyle and the weather is really good, and I've just grown to love it over the past eight years."
Reid signs four-year AFL deal with Swans
Rob Forsaith
AAP, August 8
Sydney's Sam Reid has rejected the lure of a return to Victoria, signing a four-year contract extension and declaring he wants to finish a one-club AFL player.
The Swans have now locked away the in-demand duo of Reid and Zak Jones, who both attracted interest from rival clubs and could have earned a higher wage elsewhere.
Speculation swirled throughout this season about Reid potentially shifting south. Big brother Ben, part of Collingwood's 2010 premiership side, wanted him to become a teammate at the Magpies.
But the 25-year-old, who has helped drive the Swans' resurgence this year with his contested marks and capacity to play at either end of the ground, never seriously contemplated it.
"I think so. There's no real reason why I would like to leave here," Reid said, when asked if he will finish a one-club player.
"There may have been intrest but the goal was always to stay here.
"My soon to be wife is from up here, she's got a really close-knit family that have been very accepting of me.
"It would be great to play with my brother but the reality is it's pretty tough to do these days. He loves it in Melbourne and I love it in Sydney, so we might have to wait until we're 40 and play a local game in the country somewhere."
Melbourne set to be bereft of AFL finals games in first week
Greg Denham
The Australian, August 8
Melbourne could be without a finals match in the first week of the series for the first time if the top six ladder positions remain the same at the end of the home-and-away season.
In an unprecedented scenario, all four finals — two qualifying finals and two elimination finals — would be played in either Adelaide and Sydney.
A desolate traditional heartland to start the finals — with no games at the MCG — will become reality should Adelaide take out the minor premiership, Greater Western Sydney remain second, and Port Adelaide hold onto fifth position, one place ahead of the Swans.
If that is the finishing order of the non-Victorian clubs currently in the top eight, the Crows will host Geelong (fourth) at Adelaide Oval in a qualifying final and the Giants will host Richmond (third) at Spotless Stadium.
The Power will host Essendon (eighth) at Adelaide Oval and the Swans will host the seventh-placed Western Bulldogs at the SCG in the elimination finals.
The MCG will also be barren for both preliminary finals should Adelaide and GWS win their qualifying finals in the first weekend of the series.
The closest Melbourne has been without a final in the first week of the four-week series came last year when just the second qualifying final — between Geelong and Hawthorn — was played at the MCG, with other finals at Domain Stadium, ANZ Stadium and Adelaide Oval.
The AFL yesterday confirmed to The Australian that Greater Western Sydney would play all their finals at Spotless Stadium even if the Swans were their opposition, and that Sydney would host their finals at the SCG should they qualify.
AFL wildcard round gets tossed out
Caroline Wilson
The Age, August 8
The AFL has abandoned plans to introduce a pre-finals wildcard round in 2018 as it heads towards a record-breaking season of attendances with the final eight unlikely to be decided until round 23.
With strong evidence that head office policy has created a more even competition and that audiences are responding accordingly, the AFL has set aside plans to radically reform the home-and-away fixture for the short term.
However, the internal fixture review team head by league executive Travis Auld will continue to work to perfect a formula with the intent to kick start the competition during the season should the close finishes and tight conclusion to the 2017 season prove to be a one-off.
Two days of talks this week involving the 18 club chiefs will see the AFL reveal it will retain a watching brief on the on-field results of its equalisation strategies. After 20 rounds of football 11 teams remain strongly in contention for September while even Hawthorn and Collingwood – sitting 12th and 13th on the ladder – remain mathematical possibilities to play finals.
Having struggled to find a better system than the current 22 rounds over 23 weeks, the fixture reform working group also including Sydney chief Andrew Ireland and Brisbane football boss David Noble, has not met since May and is unlikely to be called together until after the conclusion of finals and potentially not until next year.
The meeting of the 18 clubs this week will also examine a radical new ticketing system to maximise attendances in which club members can on-sell reserved seats. This is a recognition that too many clubs are recording big membership increases but failing to fill premium seats.
Gillon McLachlan, recently forced to let go two key executives following revelations of in-house affairs, and his executive Tanya Hosch will also unveil key details of the revamped Respect and Responsibility Policy alongside former Victorian Police chief Ken Lay, Australian Human Rights Commissioner Kate Jenkins and Our Watch CEO Mary Barry.
AFL chief McLachlan has been a prime mover behind fixture reform and shortly before the mid-point of the season said there was a strong appetite among club bosses for a wildcard round before the finals in which potentially four teams would play for seventh and eighth spot.
