FAMILY TIES: Brothers Nathan and Damien Horbury will fly the flag for Redan tomorrow. PICTURE: LACHLAN BENCE.
NOT everybody gets on well with their siblings.
No such problems exist for the Horbury boys, though, who live together and eat together, in addition to playing football together.
Tomorrow Damien Horbury and younger brother Nathan will take the field in the maroon and gold of Redan.
For a club that seems to pride itself as a band of brothers, 24-year-old Damien and 21-year-old Nathan fit the mould quite literally.
"There is a rumour going around the club that we still share a room and have bunk beds but I can assure you that it's not true," Damien says.
"My brother and I are pretty good mates at the club but everyone is pretty well mates with everyone in the senior side at Redan.
"I think the key to the club's success is how tight we are off the field as well as on the field."
The football journey for both began at Mt Clear Junior Football Club.
While Damien did not arrive full time at Redan until 2009 he was on the North Ballarat Rebels list in 2004-2006 and at the North Ballarat Roosters in 2007 and 2008 he had nominated Redan as his home club back in 2005.
"Redan was the only club that rang up and showed a bit of interest in the Mt Clear junior footy club," Damien said.
"There are a lot of Mt Clear boys at Redan now. We've got probably seven or maybe even more guys who come from Mt Clear in the seniors and reserves, as well a heap in the under-18.5s."
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After Damien nominated Redan as his home club in 2004, it was inevitable that Nathan would follow four years later.
"I played in two junior premierships at Mt Clear but they didn't have a senior side. Damo was at Redan so I followed him," Nathan says. "There was no temptation to go somewhere else.
"I went up to the Roosters at the start of this pre-season. It is a great club up there but I missed Redan and my mates so I came back. I might give it another go some time."
The pair have a few things in common.
Apart from both living at their parents' place with mum Liz and dad Peter (at least until the end of the year for Damien), they are both Essendon supporters and share similar interests which, it must be said, often revolve around footy anyway.
"We talk about footy a bit but only really on Thursday and Friday," Nathan says. "My folks are pretty good about us living there. Mum and Dad come every week to the footy. They love it."
But there are differences too.
Damien is at the University of Ballarat studying to be a primary school teacher, while Nathan is a builder.
They also have a different temperament, not to mention a different shape.
"My brother is a pretty cruisy fellow. Nothing seems to bother him," Nathan says.
"I get a bit annoyed and I guess I'm a bit edgier than him."
Damien agrees.
"He got Dad's fire in the belly, while I got Mum's placidness," Damien says.
"He is a bit smaller and lighter than me. Apart from that we have a fair bit in common. A lot of the same interests."
They also disagree a little about their respective on-field roles.
"He thinks I should give him some easy kicks every now and then," Nathan says. "He reckons he gives me some easy stats but I'm not sure if he does. He plays forward and I play the majority in the midfield so when is he ever going to kick to me?"
Damien hits back.
"Of course he should kick it to me. As a midfielder it's kind of his job," he says.
"To be fair he gives me good service, lace out. The fact that we kicked the footy back and forwards in the backyard, I do know how and where he's probably going to kick it.
"I played in the back line a bit this year, so I think I gave him some then."
Tomorrow Damien is aiming to win his fourth premiership at Redan and Nathan his third, at Eastern Oval.
Standing in the road of that happening is arch-rival Sunbury. Which is probably appropriate.
"I still get nervous before a grand final. To be honest I get nervous before every game," Nathan says.
"We usually play a bit of music to relax. A lot of Triple J stuff, like Boy and Bear.
"'Sticks' (Nick Bye) has warned us never to play Eye of the Tiger. The old boys apparently aren't too keen on it.
"It kind of feels that when we play in grand finals it's always against Sunbury.
"They have a lot of good blokes, and they're trying to do the same as us. I enjoy playing them because of that."