Sydney Swans coach John Longmire is confident young Swans Sam Reid and Lewis Jetta will find their best form as the season rolls on.

Following the duo’s impressive performances up forward in 2012, which saw Reid and Jetta combine for 76 goals for the year, the pair has had a quieter start to the 2013 season inside the forward 50.

Despite their slower start to the year, Longmire said he expected to see both players work their way back into their best form in weeks to come.

“We know that their best is really good for us and if they’re able to play that sort of footy soon then that would really help us,” he said.

“That’s the real challenge to make sure you get the weight in numbers right every week and have the majority of players playing well every week and that usually leads to a win.”

Longmire said both Reid and Jetta have developed into important players for the Swans, despite still being in their early twenties.

“They haven’t just come into our team over the past year or two and have just been given games, these are two young players who have played such big roles for our team,” he said.

“These blokes have been key members of our team, so we expect them to be back at the pointy end of their form really shortly and Jetts’ form was certainly better this weekend and hopefully he can keep building on that.

“Lewis Jetta is only a young player and we know his best is absolutely top notch for us and we’re really keen to get him back to that best form that we know he can play.”

While marks and goals are a regular measure of success in AFL football, the coach stressed that the young Swans’ direct influence on the scoreboard was not all that mattered.

In particular, Longmire said Reid’s defensive pressure over the past five weeks has been crucial to the team’s success up forward.

“He’s a 21-year-old key position forward who still does a lot right defensively and his defensive work has been really good,” he said.

“That’s something that the opposition will definitely identify, but there are not too many in the public who will sit down and appreciate that, but we understand that he needs to get better at taking some of those marks and he needs to get better at taking those opportunities when they get presented to him.

“We think what Sam has been able to do for our structures has been really important and his defensive work has been outstanding.”

Reid’s best form was on show the last time the Swans met the Lions at the SCG, when the then 20-year-old forward booted a career best six goals.

Longmire said the coaching staff had been working closely with the young forward to help him recapture some of the form he showed in 2012.

“I think Sam has been getting his hands to the ball, he’s just been dropping a few marks so we’ve been working on his marking,” he said.

“It certainly makes a difference to the team when he’s able to clunk a couple and go back and kick some goals and he’s been getting his hands to them but just hasn’t been taking them, so that’s what we’ve been working on.”