Sydney key forward Sam Reid has been battling great expectations since his breakout AFL season last year, but now he’s doing it pain-free.

Reid won plenty of plaudits for his contested marking in 2011 – best reflected in the fact he was re-signed on a five-year deal by the Swans.

The 20-year-old has played every game this season, but in the early stages battled a series of niggling injuries that curtailed his training regime.

He regularly missed sessions, with coach John Longmire looking to ensure he was right for matches.

Reid suggested it was a frustrating setback that dented his confidence, but that he’s now approaching full capacity.

“I’m over a lot of my niggles and I’m feeling fit and being able to train fully, which is really good and doing wonders for my confidence,” he said on Thursday.

“Not being able to train probably hindered me a bit. When you train you get your confidence up, you go into a game feeling really good.

“Personally it probably frustrated me a little bit.”

Reid struggled with his goalkicking last year, returning an inaccurate haul of 22.26, but felt the hardwork he put in over the pre-season was starting to pay dividends.

“We noticed last year that what I was doing at training was slightly different to games, and it was a matter of transferring it into games,” he said.

“I’ve been able to do that for most of this year and it’s definitely helped.”

Buoyed by the boost in fitness, Reid has rediscovered his finesse recently – kicking two goals in each of the Swans’ past four games.

However Longmire’s a noted fan of his ability to crash packs as much as anything – valuing the way he generates goals for others.

Sydney are expected to make it a 10-3 start to the season with a win over Greater Western Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

Reid said his teammates were keen to stamp Sydney as “our place”, but paid the Giants a major compliment through comparison.

“They all really hit in and all really have a crack. There’s a couple of really hard guys as well,” he said.

“So I suppose there is a little bit of Swans about them, but we’ll be going out there to show them who’s boss.”