Sam Reid says Matthew Lloyd ‘was probably right’ with his brutal assessment of his form

Sam Reid has made the frank admission that goalkicking great Matthew Lloyd had a point when he hammered him after he delivered the best performance of his career.

Sam Reid has made the frank admission that goalkicking great Matthew Lloyd had a point when he hammered him with the most brutal performance assessment of the season.

The enigmatic Sydney Swans ace kicked six goals in Friday’s stoic loss to Collingwood at the SCG — a career-best game according to coach John Longmire — but Reid wasn’t about to take a chance to stick it up Lloyd, who was up in the stands commentating.

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During the depths of Sydney’s dismal start to the season, one of the game’s most dynamic game-changers went as far as to question whether Reid had ever truly influenced a match during a Swans career that included the 2012 premiership.

Lloyd said the big money $600,000-a-year Reid would have been dumped out of the AFL if he were playing under a fiercer spotlight in Melbourne or Adelaide.

“He just has never influenced the game, hardly at all,” Lloyd said on Channel 9 last month.

“I’d love to know how many times he’s been in the best three players in his career at the Swans.”

Sam Reid marks in front of Collingwood’s Jeremy Howe and teammate Lance Franklin. Picture: Phil Hillyard

It was about as big-a beat down as you could get from an ex-player, but the self-effacing Reid concedes Lloyd wasn’t far from the mark, at least in regards to his early form this season.

“He was probably right to be honest. In my reviews, I’m pretty open about that,” Reid said about influencing matches.

“I know I haven’t been impacting enough in previous weeks. So it was nice to impact the game Friday night.”

Reid’s commanding best-on-ground masterclass against the Magpies deserved to be rewarded with a Swans win, but coach Longmire still claimed “it was as good a game as I’ve seen Sam play.”

The ruck contest between Sam and his elder brother Ben was enthralling.

Longmire defended Reid’s sluggish start to the season by presenting the mitigating factor that he’d missed almost two full years of footy the past three years due to long-term injuries.

Swans forward Sam Reid kicked a career-best six goals against the Magpies. Picture: Phil Hillyard

But Reid isn’t about to take the soft landing, and is demanding more consistency as Sydney’s lieutenant to Lance Franklin in the forward line.

“No, I think that would be cheating a little bit,” Reid said of making an excuse over his body.

“I don’t think that was a reason why I’ve had some slow weeks. There’s just been a few little things in my game I’ve needed to fix up and I still need to work on them going forward.

“I’ve had a few down weeks this year. I’m confident in my body though, which is probably the main thing for me.

“… I have to keep this form rolling.”

Swans co-captain Dane Rampe suffered another costly brain fade when the heat was on against Collingwood, raising further questions about his composure and decision-making under pressure.

Reid celebrates one of his six goals. Picture: Getty Images

But the fact is Rampe could be leading Sydney’s best-and-fairest, and Reid said the side is not about to point the finger at their leader, after he ran over his mark as Collingwood missed a shot at goal — giving them another crack right in front to seal the game at the death.

“I’m sure he would (like to have that over again) but he’s been probably our best player through this entire year,” said Reid.

“It’s a little error that Dane made but I can’t fault him for anything else he’s done for this game and all games leading up to this. He’s been super all year.

“He’s a resilient character. He’s made mistakes but he’s still performing on the footy field and I’d hate to play on him as a forward.”

Longmire said his brave young side hadn’t taken a backward step despite the loss, but the major blow for the Swans was the loss of brilliant captain Josh Kennedy for over a month with a medial injury to his knee.