This weekend's clash between Geelong and North Melbourne at Skilled Stadium will showcase the first instance of twins coaching against each other in an AFL/VFL match.
It hasn't been a long time coming for the Scott siblings - North's Brad and Geelong's Chris - especially as they faced off at the same venue in the modified opening round of the NAB Cup in February, but nothing will detract from the fact it is a momentous occasion.
They will become just the third set of brothers to coach against each other, behind the famous Smiths and Roses, the most recent being when Bob (Footscray) and Kevin Rose (Fitzroy) clashed in June 1975, almost a year before the Scotts were born.
The Scotts turned 35 this week (on May 3), but don't expect many pleasantries to have passed between the pair other than the obligatory "Happy birthday" and perhaps an insincere "good luck".
Incidentally, it will be the second Cats-Kangaroos match at Geelong to hold special significance in recent times.
Their clash in round five, 2007, supplied a shock North win that many believed could have resulted in the sacking of then Geelong coach Mark Thompson, whose tenure had been heavily scrutinised just months earlier during a highly publicised internal review.
Of course, that loss sparked the Cats to invincibility.
Geelong, under C. Scott's direction, appears to have regained some of the aura that made it one of the most dominant teams of all time. The new Cat coach has certainly landed on his feet.
Entering round seven, he is yet to lose a game, sitting 5-0 to be one of only two undefeated teams (with reigning premier Collingwood).
Meanwhile, his brother - who, in his second season is the relative old hand among them when it comes to the coaching caper - is at the other end of the spectrum, and the ladder.
Since Chris was appointed Geelong coach last October, fans have joked about whether the identical twins could switch teams without anyone noticing. The latest version of that gag has Brad begging his brother to make the swap, but Chris refusing to budge for obvious reasons.
Despite the fact the Scotts emerged from the same womb just moments apart, and spent much of their playing careers working together in the same area of the field as part of the successful Brisbane Lions environment, it's worth retracing their steps because they have trod vastly different paths as players and coaches.
Courage is in their DNA. Their father Colin was a Vietnam War hero, receiving a Distinguished Flying Cross after going behind enemy lines to rescue American soldiers while under heavy fire.
Scott senior died from severe asthma when the twins (the third and fourth-born of five Scott children) were just eight.
They played for Eastern Ranges in the TAC Cup under-18 competition. Chris, who was more advanced, was drafted as a 17-year-old at pick 12 by the then Brisbane Bears in the 1993 National AFL Draft.
Brad had to wait another year before being taken by Hawthorn at No. 60, by which stage Chris had already played a full season for the ‘bad news Bears' and won the AFL Rising Star award from a quality field that included Corey McKernan, Chris Johnson and Sean Wellman.
Brad was restricted by illness early and was delisted by Hawthorn before he had even played a game, but after winning the reserves best and fairest as a supplementary list player in 1996, the Hawks redrafted him, at pick 85. Brad finally made his AFL debut in 1997, playing every game and finishing ninth in the best and fairest.
Brad was reunited with his brother in 1998 when he was traded to the Brisbane Lions in exchange for John Barker and Nathan Chapman.
Chris (182cm/90kg) made his name in defence, playing tall and small on a variety of players, while his similarly proportioned brother (181cm/87kg) eventually found his niche as a run-with player on superstars such as James Hird, Nathan Buckley and Shane Crawford.
The Scotts were better skilled than many gave them credit for. They had to be, to counter the champions they opposed each week. And they won plenty of their own ball - a must in any side coached by Leigh Matthews.
They were two of the toughest hombres in a tough side, and were utterly ruthless and intimidating yet their merciless on-field personas were totally at odds with their off-field demeanour. As they have shown in their brief coaching careers, they are honest, forthright and don't suffer fools, yet are always polite and approachable.
Although Chris showed the way as a player, Brad made the first inroads as a coach (albeit, by virtue of retiring a year earlier), spending three seasons as an assistant at Collingwood before landing the top job at North.
Chris also did a three-year apprenticeship, at Fremantle, before being appointed Geelong coach. He had big shoes to fill, those of dual premiership coach Thompson, and also lost Gary Ablett to the Gold Coast Suns, but has tweaked the game-plan, given youngsters more of a go, and reinvigorated the club's more experienced players.
As a player, Chris didn't let an opponent stand in his way, and that will not change this weekend, even when that opponent is his under-siege brother.
