HOT DRAFT prospects Ben and Max King are poised to reach rarefied air for football twins.
The Sandringham Dragons twin towers are set to become the tallest twins in League history, with 204cm Max and 202cm Ben to edge out fellow youngsters in 201cm Ben McKay (North Melbourne) and his 200cm brother Harry (Carlton).
On Thursday the King brothers also appear destined to become the first twins to be drafted inside the top 10.
Among the eight sets of twins drafted before them, the highest-ranked pair was Melbourne's Febey brothers, Steven (No.3) and Matthew (No.16), who were recruited from Tasmania in the inaugural national draft in 1986.
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Also high on the pecking order were Pie-turned-Saint Nathan Brown (No.10, Collingwood) and his retired brother Mitch (No.16, West Coast) who were drafted in 2006, along with Harry McKay (No.10) and sibling Ben (No.21) in 2015.
And if the ultra-athletic Kings live up to the rave reviews, they might well end up the best twins the game has seen.
They are set to become the 23rd pair of twins to play at the highest level, with the other 22 duos combining to play almost 4000 games in nearly 300 seasons.
Among the 44 siblings, 15 have played at least 100 games, including four members of the 200 Club; and 27 of them have amassed 196 finals between them, including 32 grand finals for 17 flags (divided among 13 premiership players).
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The identical King twins remain a chance to land at the same club, as 13 of their predecessors did.
The most famous set of League twins is Chris and Brad Scott, the aggressive Brisbane Lions defenders. They played in the 2001-02 premierships together and are now long-serving coaches – Brad at North Melbourne since the end of 2009 and Chris with Geelong since late 2010, leading the Cats to a premiership in his first season.
Just two other sets of twins have been premiership teammates. The first was Teddy and George Lockwood, who spent 1899-1901 with Geelong before joining Collingwood where they played in premierships in 1902-03. Teddy Lockwood also twice led the League goalkicking.
The other premiership pair was Geelong duo Alistair and Stewart Lord in 1963. The previous year Alistair won the Brownlow Medal, with a little help from his identical twin. When Alistair was reported for striking, Stewart told the tribunal the umpire had mixed up the brothers. The case was thrown out and Alistair won the Brownlow in a landslide.
Darryl and Shane Wakelin played together at St Kilda. Picture: AFL Photos
In 1998 St Kilda's selection committee under then coach Stan Alves considered using mistaken identity to their advantage in relation to twin defenders Darryl and Shane Wakelin. Darryl had been suspended but the Saints briefly contemplated playing him in place of his injured brother, before sanity prevailed.
The Wakelins are easily the most-capped twins, each tallying more than 250 games. At the other end of the spectrum, Alex and Harold Hanton combined for just three games at Carlton in 1945-46.
Other notables include Carlton's Doug and Dave Gillespie, the former a star full-back who was implicated in a 1910 bribery scandal but was soon exonerated while two teammates received five-year suspensions; and South Melbourne's Frank and Chris Laird, the latter scoring the matchwinning goal in the 1918 grand final.
Along with the McKays, the only other twins currently playing are Geelong's Jake Kolojashnij and his brother Kade, the Sun-turned-Demon.
MOST COMBINED GAMES BY TWINS
Combined games | Players | Career games | Span |
513 | Shane Wakelin (StK/Coll) Darryl Wakelin (StK/PA) | 252 261 | 1994-2008 1995-2007 |
401 | Steven Febey (Melb) Matthew Febey (Melb) | 258 143 | 1988-2001 1992-2000 |
383 | Chris Scott (Bris) Brad Scott (Haw/Bris) | 215 168 | 1994-2007 1997-2006 |
262 | Adam Selwood (WC) Troy Selwood (Bris) | 187 75 | 2003-13 2005-10 |
246 | Mitch Brown (WC) Nathan Brown (Coll/StK) | 94 152 | 2007-16 2008- |
227 | Nathan Lonie (Haw/PA) Ryan Lonie (Coll) | 104 123 | 2001-08 2001-08 |
211 | Charlie Naismith (Fitz) Wally Naismith (Fitz/Melb) | 33 178 | 1902, 1906-07 1902-12 |
196 | Alistair Lord (Geel) Stewart Lord (Geel) | 122 74 | 1959-66 1960-64 |