SYDNEY Swans coach John Longmire has revealed how close he came to rolling the dice and including Sam Reid for his first game for the season in last year's AFL Grand Final.

The 25-year-old had missed the entire season because of ongoing calf and Achilles problems but the Swans gave serious consideration to taking the selection gamble.

In the end the question marks over the skipper Jarrad McVeigh, first-year player Callum Mills, midfielder Luke Parker, who suffered a PCL injury in the preliminary final, and key forward Lance Franklin, who was carrying a shoulder injury late in the season, meant Reid was left out.

"He wasn't named as an emergency but he was on the plane. He had not played a game for the entire season and he was a strong consideration to play," Longmire told AFL.com.au.

"If the situation was a bit different we might have played him, but the reality was there were a chunk of other [players] with question marks that we had to be mindful of."

Way back in 1985, Hawthorn veteran David O'Halloran was a shock inclusion for the Grand Final against Essendon in his first game for the season, but such gambles are rare in the modern era.

What difference, if any, Reid would have made in the decider won by the Western Bulldogs will never be known.

What is known, however, is that the talented Reid is on track to play in this year's JLT Community Series after his first uninterrupted pre-season for many years.

Longmire has him pencilled in to resume at centre half-forward as a pivotal player inside 50 for the Swans.

"Generally his role has been at centre half-forward and that is where we will play him when he gets back and plays," Longmire said.

"We see Sam at centre half-forward and Franklin and those boys working around him."

Longmire said Franklin was tracking well after a post-season shoulder operation and he expected him to be available to play at least one of the first two games in the JLT Community Series.

Franklin, who kicked 81 goals in an outstanding season, is not far from becoming more involved in competitive work as he fine-tunes his body for his 13th AFL season.  

Sydney opens its campaign against North Melbourne in Coffs Harbour on February 19 before playing Greater Western Sydney in Blacktown.