Sam Cunnington remembers the unique training plans he nutted out with older brother Ben on their Princetown farm when they were football-loving teenagers.
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They were the eldest of four siblings who grew up on a property on the south-west coast.
Ben, 28 next month, was three years older and had "a freakish ability in him" when it came to sport.
He was destined to make the elite level and on Sunday the North Melbourne midfielder will play his 200th AFL game - 10 years after the Roos plucked him from Cobden with pick five in the national draft.
"It's quite unique compared to other AFL stories. We were quite isolated and weren't blessed with training facilities," Sam, now 25, told The Standard on Thursday from his new Queensland base.
"We didn't have a bench press so we'd chuck a ute tyre on a steel bar and use it as a bench press and to work on our tackling techniques we'd jump into a pen full of sheep and try and tackle them. We'd make do with what we had."
Sam, who captained Hampden league club Camperdown to the 2018 grand final before joining NEAFL side Redland in the off-season, said Ben was adept at every sport he tried.
"No matter the task, he seems to get the hang of it really quickly," he said.
"A lot of people when we were growing up at school or at sporting clubs would agree.
"He'd rock up to soccer and win the goal-kicking and best and fairest and he'd play basketball and make state teams."
Sam said football was no exception - Ben kicked 10 goals in his Hampden league senior debut aged 15.
"His agility he has in close has been good ever since he was a young kid and he's always had good skills and could mark," he said.
"I guess when he was growing up and playing against men, dad (Alan) said 'if you're playing against men, you need to toughen up a little bit' and he seemed to adjust to that and slowly built that confidence up."
Sam, parents Cheryl and Alan, brother Jack, 22, and sister Maddison, 19, are glad Ben is now getting recognition from the wider AFL community.
The tough inside midfielder, who won the Roos' best and fairest in 2015, is sitting seventh on the league's disposal count this season, averaging 29.2 per game.
"I have a biased opinion - I am his biggest fan," Sam said.
"He's been the biggest influence on my footy hands down, especially coming up here (to Redland).
"We'd be in contact quite frequently but now the standard of football I am playing has picked up, we'd be in contact every day.
"He is a professional in that field and an elite one at that, so I don't think I'd be a senior player if it wasn't for the advice Ben has given me over the years."
Ben will notch his milestone against GWS Giants in Tasmania.
His family, including wife Belinda and young children Xavier and Stella, will be proud onlookers.
"It will be a good moment to reflect on his career," Sam said.
"It was a dream to get drafted and no one, not even Ben himself, expected 200 games."
Sam, who has played eight matches for Redland, will play in the Bombers' Saturday match, coincidentally against GWS Giants' reserves, before jetting to Launceston.
He said he was enjoying the challenge of playing NEAFL, saying "you rock up with a purpose".
"I am loving it. The environment is unreal and the football standard is everything you want it to be," he said.
"It's a very competitive environment - one foot out of place and someone takes your spot.
"You have to be a footballer 24/7."
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Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
