A bigger, better Sam
Sam Reid is benefiting from an injury-free pre-season so far and is focused on his size and strength heading into next month's NAB Cup
Reid, who turned 21 in late December last year, is yet to miss a session of the Swans pre-season and is reaping the benefits of an injury-free start to the year.
“It’s been really good. I haven’t missed a session yet, which has been really good compared to last year where I missed a few with some little niggles,” Reid told SwansTV.
“I’ve taken a lot of confidence out of that and I’m feeling good.
“The conditioning staff managed (the niggles) really well and we’ve been managing it all through the whole pre-season and so far I haven’t missed a session.”
Reid’s pre-season has also been bolstered by the arrival of Swans recruit Kurt Tippett, who he will play alongside in the forward line in 2013.
Reid said he hopes to learn from the former Crow, who played a pivotal role in Adelaide’s forward structure.
“Kurt’s been eased into it a little bit, but he obviously is a bit of a presence out there and I’ve done a few drills with him and it’s been great to train alongside him,” Reid said.
“He’s got a fair bit of knowledge himself so it’s going to be nice to have another big target down there to take some of the heat off me and I look forward to playing with him.
“There are parts of his game that I’d like to bring into my own game, which is that big, dominant key power forward and there is no doubt he is one of them.”
Reid hopes to match Tippett in size and strength, and said he is working hard in both the gym and on the track this year.
“Kurt’s 100+ kilos and he’s a monster of a man but he’s still pretty athletic so there are some parts of his game I’d like to emulate,” he said.
“I have more of an on-going aim that I’ve been doing every year, which has been to put on body size, and strength, which means hitting the gym pretty hard in the pre-season and trying to add a few kilos, but at the same time not losing any of my running ability.”
Tippett is not the only new Swan Reid has been impressed with during the Swans pre-season, with draftees Dean Towers and Tim Membrey also catching his attention.
Reid said the Swans young players have merged into the Swans group with ease and are already showing positive signs during pre-season.
“A lot of the younger guys are really quick,” he said.
“Dean Towers has shown a bit. He’s a really dashing half-back and has shown a lot of pace - he’s also really hard to get a hold of.
“They’ve all come in and shown a bit including Tim Membrey who is a big fella for a young kid so, it’s exciting times.”