While forward Sam Reid’s soaring mark on the last line of defence saved the Sydney Swans from defeat against Fremantle last Saturday night, coach John Longmire said there are no plans to develop the 21-year-old into a full-time defender.

Longmire said Reid had the ability to become a talented defender, but the Swans need him in the forward line this season.

“We know he can play down back because he’s done it as a kid and his brother is actually not bad at it,” Longmire told reporters on Monday afternoon.

“Given he’s as tall as what he is and he’s quick as what he is, then he’s a hard match to beat.

“We’ve had Teddy Richards and Heath Grundy down there who have done pretty good jobs for us over the period of time, but if we need him down back he’s certainly capable of doing it.

“I don’t think there are any issues with that, but we need him up forward at the moment.”

With under 10 seconds remaining, Reid ensured the Swans came away with two points when he rose up in front of the Fremantle goal and prevented the Dockers from scoring a match-winning point at the SCG.

In what was a disappointing final 10 minutes for the Swans, Longmire said Reid’s composure and decision making in the dying seconds deserved to be applauded.

“It was a good mark,” he said.

“It was a smart decision from a young kid to not allow the ball to be punched through and to go for the mark and have the composure to take the grab.

“While it was disappointing to make a few poor decisions in that last ten minutes, that was a really smart decision and a really composed decision from a young player.”

The coach added that he was also pleased with Reid’s overall performance on Saturday night, despite the fact that the young forward didn’t register a goal for the match.

“I think … he ran really well and presented well for us and took 11 marks and really made an impact up the ground,” Longmire said.

“That’s maybe what Tommy Walsh helped him to do to move around and get up the ground and use his athleticism because he’s really quick and he runs really well.

“It’s not always going to be a dominating performance from a 21-year-old centre half forward, but as long as he’s got the inclination to improve, which he has done over the last few weeks, that’s what we’re after.”

Looking ahead to Friday night’s blockbuster clash with Collingwood at the MCG, Longmire said it was likely the Swans would again be without defender Rhyce Shaw as the 31-year-old continues to recover from an abdominal strain.

“(Shaw) is unlikely for this week,” Longmire said.

“He hasn’t done any training with the group yet so I don’t expect that he’ll play this week, but hopefully we’ll be able to train him on the weekend and look towards next week.

“He’s been running but he hasn’t been doing the training drills with the boys yet, so hopefully he steps into that on the weekend.”

Marty Mattner will face a test after being a late withdrawal from Saturday’s clash with the Dockers with hip soreness.

“We’re not sure whether Marty Mattner will be back in this weekend for instance, but we’re hoping that he will be OK, but he’s not a certainty,” Longmire said.

“He needs to train on Wednesday, so he’s one we’d like to get back in but it’s just the natural  attrition of AFL football and you need to get used to it because it’s not only happening to us.”