Just days after the club secured the services of four-time All-Australian forward Lance Franklin, Longmire said Reid was a required player at the Swans in 2014 and beyond.
“No, not at all,” Longmire told SEN’s The Run Home program when asked whether Reid would be leaving Sydney in the off-season.
“He’s a 20-year-old premiership centre-half forward and there are not many of those blokes running around.
“He might be (playing centre-half forward) and he might play in different roles.
“As we see now with positions, they’ve got to be pretty interchangeable and there is certainly a position for him in our forward line.
“He’s 6’5’’, he’s lightening quick and that’s the prerequisite I guess. It doesn’t matter how tall you are as long as you’ve got some speed, and he’s got plenty of speed.”
With Franklin added to the club’s already well-stocked forward line, which includes the likes of Kurt Tippett and Adam Goodes, Longmire said Reid’s versatility could see him play at either end of the ground next season.
“He can certainly play up the ground,” he said.
“I even discussed with him this year when he was coming back from injury, because we had a lot of injuries to our back six, that there was the possibility of playing in our back half because I’m certain he could do that as well, so I’m sure he’ll be flexible.”
Longmire also confirmed that premiership winning midfielder Luke Parker, who signed a three-year deal in August, will remain at the club.
The coach said the 20-year-old, who recently took out the club’s Most Improved Award at the annual Sydney Swans Club Champion Dinner, was one of the Swans’ brightest young talents.
“Luke Parker is not going anywhere,” he said.
“We rate Luke extremely highly and we re-signed him through the course of the year for three years.
“We think he’s a fantastic young player.”
Longmire said the club was still unsure about the fate of uncontracted utility Andrejs Everitt, who played 20 games for the Swans this season, including all three finals.
“Andrejs Everitt is out of contract at the moment so I guess we’ve got to see what happens in the trade period.”
