AT the top of the rival rugby codes, the talented heavyweight Douglas siblings, Luke and Kane, will provide the biggest impact of any footballing brothers this season.
This Saturday Cronulla Sharks forward Luke Douglas, 23, will create a unique milestone when he plays his 100th straight NRL game for the Sharks across the Tasman against the New Zealand Warriors at Mount Smart Stadium.
It seems amazing for any player, let alone a prop forward, that despite suffering numerous injuries the 114-kilogram Luke Douglas has not missed a game since his NRL career started with the Sharks in round two, March 18, 2006!
Brother Kane Douglas, 20, has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the Waratahs' failed 2009 Super 14 finals campaign.
Despite not even being chosen in the NSW Waratahs top squad this season, the 201-centimetre tall, 118-kilogram Southern Districts second rower has started in four of the first five Waratahs Super 15 games, including Friday night's record-breaking 73-12 slaughter of
the Lions at Sydney Football Stadium.
The Douglas brothers share a home at Cronulla, only a few kicks of the football from Toyota Stadium, with little brother Jake, 17, recently joining them.
Jake is trying to establish himself in Cronulla Sharks juniors.
Talking to the older brothers, it was quite obvious the quietly-spoken, country-born footballers hold a tremendous respect for each other's abilities.
And they watch each other, live, whenever time allows them.
The boys grew up in Yamba in the NSW northern rivers region.
Luke and Kane both played junior league for Lower Clarence and Kane went on to play rugby for the Yamba Buccaneers.
Luke came to Sydney, initially played in the St George Illawarra Dragons juniors, before joining the Sharks lower grades.
Kane followed him to the Sharks, but rugby's calling proved too strong and selection in the NSW Academy and Southern Districts first grade sides kept him more interested in the 15-man game.
Although Luke Douglas and his Sharks team-mates were "flogged'' in training in the weeks leading up to last weekend's start to the NRL season, he found time to watch his younger brother make his starting debut for NSW in their televised game at the famous Newlands
Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa.
And then, at Sydney Football Stadium on Friday night.
Luke said his brother had already done ``fantastically well'' getting a run-on spot in the Waratahs pack.
"Considering Kane is still pretty young, I've got no doubt he has such a big future ahead of him,'' Luke said.
The hard-tackling Kane has been, and remains, in awe of big brother and his deeds on the rugby league field.
"I just can't imagine any prop forward playing 100 games straight, in either code,'' Kane said before watching Luke score a rare try for the Sharks in their close 14-10 loss to Melbourne on Saturday night.
"It shows just how tough Luke is.''
The boys credit the ``strong support'' they have enjoyed from their parents Chris and Trish, who Luke said was always quick to offer medical "remedies'' for their bumps and bruises.
Now Mrs and Mrs Douglas will take a much closer watch.
The parents have just moved back to Cronulla from the north coast to take up the job of running the Cronulla Sharks boarding house for new Sharks recruits.
Yes, just a few punts away from their sons' home.
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