YOUNG Swans centre half-forward Sam Reid says Saturday night’s encounter with Collingwood was a strange experience, with the majority of his game spent trying to beat older brother Ben to the ball.

Sam, 19, and Ben, 21, grew up in the Victorian country town of Bright, vying with each other in the backyard.

For a short period they played on the same junior team but with nearly three years age difference, they were generally on different teams.

While they crossed paths in a NAB Cup game earlier this year, Saturday night at ANZ Stadium was the first time the pair had been pitted against each other in a competitive game.

Speaking to sydneyswans.com.au, Sam said it was surreal playing at the same level as Ben after spending his entire life looking up to him.

“It was a little bit hard to get used to mentally,” Sam said about having Ben as a direct opponent.

“(I grew up) looking up at him as always being so much bigger and stronger than myself, and now that we’re a little bit more evenly matched and around the same height, it was tough to get used to.”

Sam said he tried to use his leap and pace as often as he could to stretch Ben, rather than getting stuck in a one-on-one situation that would favour the Collingwood defence.

“Every time I could, I would try and lead off him,” he said.

“Straight away (Ben) knew that my strength over him would be my leap, so every time the ball was coming in he would try and find some body.

“There were times when I was that option down the line - the bailout - and the ball was kicked up, and he’d have time to get some body on me and stop me running and jumping.”

Sam said he also learnt a great deal in the small time during the game that Collingwood rotated All Australian defender Chris Tarrant on him.

“I figured out that I still definitely need to put on some bulk and some strength,” Sam said.

“Tarrant’s 30 (years old) and he’s really strong and been around for ages. Playing on him, and putting body on him, I found out how hard it was to beat him in a one-on-one.’’

Ben and Sam, and their parents, caught up in Sydney on Sunday morning, and while there was much discussion over the breakfast table, Sam says there wasn’t much banter between the two during the game.

“I expected there to be a bit, but he was actually really quiet. He didn’t say anything except for ‘good grab’ (when he took a mark in the second term) and that was about it.

“At one stage I heard (one of the Collingwood players) say ‘are you as smart as your brother?’, but it was all pretty light-hearted,” Sam joked.