YOUNG Sydney Swans forward Sam Reid had been threatening to grab a game by the scruff of the neck in recent weeks and that scenario unfolded in kind against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday.

Following a quiet start to the year as he dealt with some niggling injuries and a loss of confidence, the 20-year-old had kicked two goals in each of his past five games.

But he took his game to a new level against the Lions, kicking a career-high six goals - double his previous best - to go with 11 possessions and six marks.

Struck with some goalkicking yips earlier in the year, Reid calmly slotted five set shots from a variety of angles and showed the terrific hands with which he is blessed, repeatedly out-marking opponent Niall McKeever.

Irishman McKeever was playing just his 18th game and was finally replaced with Daniel Merrett in the final term, but the damage was done as Reid made a giant leap forward.

"It's just a bit of reward for all the hard work he's been doing," coach John Longmire said afterwards.

"The harder you work the luckier you get, that's a saying that applies to him, he just keeps working and working.

"He set the standard early and really put his stamp on a few contests and things started to go his way."

Reid cut a satisfied figure after the game, but knows there is still plenty of work to be done and some tougher challenges ahead, starting with West Coast next Sunday.

"It was good, my confidence the last few weeks has been really, really high," Reid said.

"I've been able to do full training and work on things and my goalkicking has been consistent.

"The hard work is starting to pay off, but I need to keep going and can't sit back and think I'm going all right after tonight."

Michael Voss admitted afterwards he was disappointed McKeever wasn't able to provide more of a contest.

"I think we've been in good enough form where we've got to expect more from these guys," Voss said.

"We understand that there's isolated development that we need among the group and Niall was that in that particular instance.

"As coach you've got to put the belief in these guys too that they can do the job and they can fight back because that's part of the experience that you get along the way when you become an AFL player who hopefully plays 150-200 games of footy."

James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs