Young Swans centre-half forward Sam Reid enjoyed a successful 2012 season, holding down the team’s key forward post.

Despite missing three matches with injury, Reid was able to notch up 31 goals for the season, including a career-best six-goal haul against the Brisbane Lions in round 15.

The 20-year old, who attracted increased attention from opposition defenders this season, told sydneyswans.com.au that he hoped to make even more improvement in 2013.

How would you describe your season in 2012?

I think my season this year was fair, without being excellent. I certainly learnt a lot and probably copped a bit more attention, which was always really good for me. I’m definitely looking to improve a lot next year.

Are there any areas where you think you’ve made improvements this year?

I think my body size and being able to hold my own in contests was definitely an improvement. I think last year I was pushed under the ball a fair bit and thrown out of the way by some of the bigger defenders, but this year I was able to hold my own and was able to match it with them, if not beat them.

How have you dealt with the increased attention this season?

Being in Sydney means we’re pretty lucky because we’re sheltered from a lot of the spotlight. I haven’t copped too much from the media, which has definitely helped because I haven’t had to read anything about myself, which is good.

Other teams are pretty quick and they know what my strengths are this year and last year I was getting a free jump at the ball, so they were pretty quick to keep me grounded and stop that, but it’s about adding more strings to my bow and being able to fight with my body as well as trying to jump at the ball.

Who were your mentors in 2012?

All the leaders here are always really good. I had Goodsey as a mentor last year and this year I had Ryan O’Keefe as a mentor and he’s been really helpful as well. We go out for dinner twice a week and have a chat just about all of our games, and he’s never short on advice.

What was your best game this year?

It would probably be against Brisbane because I was able to get on the end of a few goals, which was a bonus. I think that game gave me a lot of confidence because I was able to kick straight finally and get my hands on the footy.

There were some other good games as well where I didn’t necessarily kick as many goals but I was able to play my role in the team and they won.

How hard was it to get over the goal-kicking ‘yips’?

Obviously it is a bit of a mind game and I could kick 9/10 goals at training and then go out and only kick 5/10 in a game. There’s a repeated routine I’ve worked on since November when we started training, and I’ve just tried to keep that really consistent all the way through to the last week. It’s just about getting that same routine each time and knowing that it works.

Did you ever think you’d be a premiership player so soon?

Three years ago coming up to (Sydney)  I wouldn’t have thought it, but coming into this year I felt really confident in the group that we had and I knew that we’d do well, and not necessarily win one, but I knew we’d challenge if we played all our cards right and did the team things as well.

It’s a dream come true, and to do it at such a young age is just a bonus.

How did it feel to kick a goal in the Grand Final?

I think I had about 30 metres in front and behind me so I probably could have run it in and made it a bit easier for myself but I found a bit of space and Ryan O’Keefe gave me the handball and it was an amazing feeling just hearing the crowd behind you as soon as it left the boot and knew it was through. I then had to run off but it was an unreal feeling.

What was the memorable moment from the Grand Final for you?

Obviously Nick Malceski’s goal at the end was unbelievable. I was in the goal square at the time and I remember watching it go through, and I looked up to see what he was doing and I could just see about 15 guys chasing him and he was just palming guys off left and right.

You also can’t go past Dan Hannebery’s mark. I was lucky enough to push (David) Hale into him and he took it right in front of me so I thought Hale had marked it, and I was dirty on myself. Then I looked down and saw that (Hannebery) had it in his hands and it was unbelievable.

Where were you when the siren went?

I was down in the backline because as soon as Mal kicked that goal we just needed to get as many guys back as we could to try to make sure (Hawthorn) didn’t have a chance of kicking any goals, but I was down there with LRT and Nick Smith and as soon as it went the feeling was unbelievable and I just thought ‘Oh my God, we’ve just done it’.

What are your plans for the off-season?

I’m heading to Cancun with a few of the other boys, so that should be a good time and then coming back home for a couple of nights, then off to Bali for a little while, so it will be a nice few weeks.