The Swans last night announced the contract extension of the elusive, in-demand swing man Sam Reid, signing on for another four years.
It's fantastic news for the football club, who had to stave off interest from Collingwood, as well as the constant media circus surrounding the player in Victoria.
Reid was due to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season, but will now remain with the harbour side team at least until 2021.
The 25-year-old, who hails from Bright in country Victoria, has been in career best form this season, proving a pivotal player in both attack and defence, a role he expects to continue throughout his career.
"That'll probably continue throughout my career, a bit like LRT [Lewis Roberts-Thomson] did for us late," Reid said.
"The idea is I am a forward but with that ability that if one of our bigs goes down, then I'm able to go back and play as a defender, or I'm able to go back as a spare and halt a bit of opposition momentum which is what we did on the weekend.
"Having a bit of flexibility is a handy thing to have."
Tall and quick, the 115 game player who joined the Swans in with pick 38 in the 2009 AFL draft, has kicked 24 goals from 17 games this season.
Tom Harley was understandably rapt with the forward signing on with the Swans.
“Sam is a pivotal player for us and we are extremely happy that he has decided to bypass free agency and sign on for a further four years,” Harley said.
“Key position players are not easy to find so for Sam to see his future with us is a great sign.
“After missing all of last year, Sam has proven his value through his versatility and we look forward to his strong contribution in the future.”
If there was ever any doubt of his commitment to the Swans, he's surely put those to rest, quashing any hope of a family reunion at Collingwood.
The lucrative new contract repays the huge faith shown in him by the team, despite not playing a senior game in 2016 and struggling through hamstring, calf and achilles injuries in recent seasons.
"It was frustrating but I didn't think that my body had too many issues, it was just a bit of an odd injury that we couldn't put a finger on until later in the year," he said.
"I was focused on staying fit and playing footy (this year), and being able to stay on the field was the main thing (that would lead to) getting another contract.
"That's been the case so far, touch wood, and the Swans have shown faith in me again, so I'm looking to repay that and play as much footy as I can."
Reid was due to come out of contract at the end of this season, and the talk of him leaving the Swans to join his brother, was nothing more than hype from the Melbourne media.
"It would be great to play with my brother but the reality is it’s pretty tough to do these days," he said on Monday.
"He loves it in Melbourne and I love it in Sydney, so we might have to wait until we’re 40 and play a local game in the country somewhere.
"My parents get up here pretty much every second week to watch me as well.
"I'm not missing out on too much being up here, the lifestyle and the weather is really good, and I've just grown to love it over the past eight years."
His roots are well and truly set in Sydney, set to marry his long time Sydney partner in the off-season, and said his home is the harbour-side city, until 2021 at least.
"I've said from the start that I wanted to stay up here and this year for me was really just about playing footy and being able to stay fit given last year I didn't get a game," Reid said.
"There's no real reason why I would like to leave here. My soon-to-be wife is from up here, she's got a really close-knit family that have been very accepting of me from day one.
"My parents get up here pretty much every second week to watch me as well. I'm not missing out on too much being up here, I've got a few mates down in Melbourne but in terms of the lifestyle, and the weather ... it's really good and I've just grown to love it over the past eight years.
"You don't have to worry about picking up a paper and seeing the footy front and back, and there won't be 45 minutes of AFL on the TV. If you do want to escape from footy for an afternoon it's a lot easier to do [so] living in Sydney."
Reid made a solid return to the side that emphatically beat Geelong on the weekend, with 16 disposals, seven marks and two goals, despite missing two matches with a groin injury.
Despite the Swans' ladder position, the key forward is looking ahead at the next two months of football, having been forced to watch it all from the sidelines last year.
"We’re really confident (at the moment), the last three months has shown that if we play our best footy we can pretty much match it with every side," he said.
"The last three games are really important and we can’t look too far ahead obviously because it’s been a funny old year, and you pretty much can’t pick a winner.
"Geelong at Geelong is one of the hardest trips in footy, and we follow that up in two weeks with another one of the hardest trips in Adelaide at Adelaide Oval, to go with Fremantle and Carlton at home.
"Carlton knocked us off earlier in the year and Fremantle have been going OK, so we just have to keep showing up and playing our brand of footy to make sure we get the wins."
Reid joins Isaac Heeney, Callum Mills, Will Hayward, Zak Jones, Oliver Florent, Jordan Dawson, Lewis Melican and Darcy Cameron in recommitting to Sydney in 2017.
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