John Longmire will consider switching Sam Reid back to defence

Sam Reid is under pressure to lift for Sydney after AFL great Matthew Lloyd said he would have already been dumped to reserve grade at a Melbourne or Adelaide club.

Sam Reid is under pressure to keep his spot in Sydney’s team. Picture: AAP Images

Premiership star Sam Reid has been put on notice by the Sydney Swans following damning criticism he would already be languishing in reserve grade at other clubs.

The Swans moved quickly to lock Reid away two seasons ago on a deal reported to be worth $600,000 as they believed he could play a vital role as Lance Franklin’s double-act in the forward line.

But in his comeback from a full year injured on the sidelines, Sydney’s second banana is slipping.

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Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd lashed Reid in a scathing attack where he questioned whether the 27-year-old has ever really influenced a match during his entire Swans career, which included the 2012 grand final triumph.

Lloyd said at a Melbourne or Adelaide club, Reid would have already been axed, and declared Sydney should be immediately demoting him to the backline.

Sydney coach John Longmire indicated he would be keeping the faith with Reid up forward but admits major improvements are needed as Sydney’s season goes on the line against GWS.

“A couple of weeks ago against Carlton he played really well but since then it’d be fair to say he hasn’t been up to his own standards,” said Longmire.

“On the weekend (against Richmond) he was reasonable in the last quarter but up until then he just dropped some easy marks.

“He got his hands to a number of them and just dropped some easy marks. He’s working to get better at that and we’d like him to be able to take pressure off in our front half then be able to take those marks and turn around. And when we need that bail out, to be able to grab it and go around and hit the scoreboard.

“He’s working at his game trying to get it better all the time and that’s what we expect.

“As far as our defence goes, with (Jarrad) McVeigh, (Heath) Grundy and (Nick) Smith we’ve lost those players out of our defence and we’d like to be able to have a consistent group down there and that’s something that we can look at with selection obviously.”

Swans coach John Longmire with Sam Reid at training. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Reid’s only match in 2018 was against this week’s opponents GWS, and he starred on that night with two goals in a Swans victory.

But despite his time out of the game, Lloyd wasn’t holding back on Reid as he joined the throng of doomsayers declaring the Swans current premiership window closed.

“Just on Sam Reid. If he played in Adelaide or he played in Melbourne, he'd be under siege for his lack of performance,” Lloyd told Footy Classified.

“I look at his stats. Twelve disposals, less than a goal a game. This was the weekend [against Richmond], just dropping so many marks.

“He just has never influenced the game, hardly at all. I'd love to know how many times he's been in the best three players in his career at the Swans.

“Big contract. If he was in Adelaide, (like) Josh Jenkins, he'd be getting dropped. But I think he's out of sight, out of mind a little bit at Sydney.”

Sydney are strongly considering a recall for Lewis Melican to match-up on the Giants’ tall forward line.

Like Reid, key defender Melican missed virtually all of last season and has dropped back to reserves in recent weeks in a bid to find form.

Draft rookie Nick Blakey could also earn an immediate recall after being sent back to reserves for a spell last weekend.

Kieren Jack didn’t do much training after injuring his hip against Richmond and could be in doubt.