Ben Reid’s move to the forward line helping Collingwood become a finals contender
COLLINGWOOD defender-turned-forward Ben Reid is the AFL’s anti-Samson, after shaving his head before Round 1 and helping turn Collingwood into a finals contender.
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BEN Reid had two things on his mind as he clutched the engagement ring in his pocket.
On one hand, he was anxious about what his partner Erin would say when he popped the question during a walk around their Bright property the week before Round 1.
But the Collingwood spearhead was also becoming more mindful that he was becoming a bit thin on top.
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He didn’t want to take drastic action at the barber, until his girlfriend said “yes”.
“I was holding the ring in my pocket in a clenched fist and we went up this little walk up the hill,” Reid said.
“I got down on one knee and said ‘will you marry me?’ and she gave me a big hug and kiss and started crying.
“But I said ‘now you’ve said yes, I’m going to shave my head’, as you do.
“I had been thinking about it, and the wet games kill me.
“You see patches of my scalp when it’s raining and have been thinking, yep, damn, it’s time.
“So we went and had some lunch and celebrated with a glass of champagne and then went straight to my mate’s barber shop in Myrtleford.”
Thankfully, Erin approves of the buzz-cut and beard combination.
And the new-look has accompanied a big change on the field for Reid with a permanent return to the forward line for one of the AFL’s most versatile key position players.
Collingwood is on a roll looking for a fourth-straight win heading into Sunday’s MCG blockbuster against Richmond.
It would be the first time since 2015 the Magpies have chalked up four on the trot and Reid has played a selfless key part in the reshaped forward set-up.
The Murray Bushrangers product has chopped and changed forward and back over his 140-game career but said he was happy to be told at the end of last year he would settle in a key forward position.
“The hardest thing being a swingman going from end to end during games and week to week, it is really hard to get into a routine, a rhythm,” Reid said.
“Bucks said, ‘we probably see you in front of the ball a bit more’, because the last seven games worked pretty well last year.
“I think I am able to get a contest in front of the ball and bring it to ground and allow the little blokes to get to work.
“So I said, ‘good, all right, sweet, but are you going to train me there over the pre-season?’ In the past where I have played forward, I have never had a pre-season as a forward.
“So this is my first pre-season trained as a forward and that’s been great because I have been able to really work on things because the running is completely different (to defence).
“And we have structured up in attack a little bit different to the way we have in the past.”
In a nutshell Reid and Mason Cox have been working higher up the ground, helping create space for more mobile options closer to goal.
Against Adelaide, Reid delivered a selfless role dragging Daniel Talia out of the Crows’ back line, helping create space inside 50m for, on this occasion, Jaidyn Stephenson, who bagged five goals in a breakout performance.
Against Richmond, a similar role may loom as the 196cm Reid prepares to lock horns against superstar Alex Rance. A win would be nice on his 29th birthday.
And he is an unabashed Rance fan.
“Personally I love watching him play. I feel like he put defenders on the map (laughs),” Reid said.
Reid’s form is also building and he remains one the Pies’ most important players.
He has kicked six goals in five games, but his effort in the marking contest is having a profound impact for the rest of the forward line as a whole.
They are sixth in the competition for points scored, without a host of their top players, including Jamie Elliott, Daniel Wells and Alex Fasolo.
“We want to share that scoring load, when you look at Richmond (Jack) Riewoldt kicks a lot of goals but all the others chime in, and we want to operate the same,” he said.
“So it’s about providing that marking contest and bringing the ball to ground and making sure they (defenders) don’t mark the ball either.
“MOKs (marks from opposition kicks) are as big a part of the game as they have ever been.
“And everyone knows if you can mark the ball from half back and rebound it goes a really long way to helping you score in the modern game.
“As a big guy, you want to stop that element of the opposition’s game, bring the ball to ground for your teammates.
“We want to be unpredictable to the opposition, but predictable to each other.”
A free agent at the end of the year, Reid says he wants to re-sign with the Magpies and turn down any rival interest which may emerge this season.
His manager Paul Connors is in talks with the Pies about extending Reid’s contract beyond this season, locking in one of the club’s most important pillars.
“I definitely want to be a one-club player,” Reid told the Sunday Herald Sun.
“You get to finish your career at the club you started and have your name on the locker, so I definitely want to stay here and fingers crossed that happens.
“This is my 12th year, I love it here and it’s my home, but Paul will take care of all that.
“I’m just concentrating on taking care of footy each week and what will be will be.”
After playing an integral role in the 2010 premiership in defence, Reid was hard hit by soft tissue injuries in the middle part of his career, but has overcome those troubles over the past two years with the help of ballet strength and conditioning expert Paula Baird-Colt.
Reid commended some recent key off-field moves the club had made, including bringing back veteran football manager Geoff Walsh and former premiership captain Nick Maxwell to help support coach Nathan Buckley.
Reid said Buckley had seemed more “relaxed” this year after signing a two-year contract extension late last season.
“He (Buckley) hasn’t had much stability around him for a number of years and to be able to get that now I think has helped him as well,” he said.
“He has relaxed a little bit, and it probably feeds on the rest of the group.
“Sometimes I don’t know how he can still stay sane (with the public scrutiny) because I would be sitting there going nuts.”
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Originally published as Ben Reid’s move to the forward line helping Collingwood become a finals contender
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