OVER a quiet beer on Saturday night when the dust has settled following their 250th matches, you can almost guarantee Daine Porter will have a word in Judd’s ear.
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While the Wangaratta brothers have always been close, their teammates say they are equally as competitive.
And Daine knows damn well that he would have beaten his older brother to the milestone if he hadn’t come to his rescue during a brawl against North Albury at Norm Minns Oval in 2008.
Daine flew the family flag in response to an earlier incident and was handed a five-match suspension from several striking charges.
“Judd is the older but, some say, smaller sibling so I needed to keep an eye on him,” Daine, 31, said.
“We felt North Albury had targeted Jon McCormick in the 2007 grand final with his dodgy shoulder and we felt there were many late and high hits.
“So we knew it would be on from the opening bounce in the rematch.
“There was plenty of verbals and banter getting thrown around out there and a lot of pushing and shoving.
“I remember a North Albury player head-butted Judd.
“It’s fair to say it was on after that.
“The result of this fight was a league investigation and about 20 weeks’ worth of suspensions across the two teams.
“Unfortunately, I was on the receiving end of five of those weeks for a couple of separate striking charges.”
Judd, 33, admits it’s hard to dispute the fact.
“Daine has been able to handle himself since about age seven,” Judd said.
“Funnily enough I can’t remember ever being picked on after Daine's infamous uppercut to an opponent that had given me a little head butt.
“That may just be a coincidence - not sure.”
Banter aside, the Porter boys couldn’t be prouder to be running through the same banner against Corowa-Rutherglen on Saturday.
They debuted in 2003 and played their 200th games in 2014.
Daine found out last season the pair were on the same amount of matches.
“It was in the back of my mind and it was only a couple of weeks ago when I got told the 250th was coming up that I twigged we could bring it up on the same day,” he said.
“The thought actually crossed my mind in the last 10 minutes against Wodonga last week.
“Judd and I both sat out those final 10 on the bench, funnily enough our cousin Josh was also on the pine alongside us.”
While the Porters have always shied away from the fuss of personal achievements, Judd said it was something he would look back on with pride.
“It’s probably something you take for granted while you are in the moment, but to step back and reflect on it is a pretty special thing,” he said.
“If we weren’t related it would be easier to talk about how good a player Daine has been but we are so lets just say he has been OK.”
The records say the Porters have been way better than OK.
Only champion Wangaratta defender Brett Keir (264) has played more senior matches than the brothers while Daine and Judd have represented the Ovens and Murray on several occasions.
Judd captained the Magpies to flags in 2007 and 2008 and won a club best and fairest in 2005.
Daine has three best and fairests and, incredibly, has only missed one match throughout his career due to injury.
“I had post season surgery on my knee after the 2007 finals series and it took a while to get right,” he said.
“I had no preseason that year and had to miss the first game of 2008.
“I got to have a mini preseason later on just before finals when I had to serve that five-week suspension.
“That year was the only season I’ve missed any games.”
After starting their careers with Wangaratta Tigers juniors, the pair defied a family trend and joined the Magpies rather than Wangaratta Rovers.
“As a kid I always saw myself wearing the number 10 and playing for the Brown and Gold like Dad and uncle Chris but I must have missed their radar and ended up at Wang with my best mate Jordan Fisher,” he said.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be part of some great sides in my time here and grateful for the opportunities that have come my way.”
It’s a decision that some members of the family are still coming to terms with.
“One of our Nans – Jean (Noel’s mum) – is still coming to terms with all her grandsons playing at Wang,” Judd said.
“We have been really lucky with the support we have had over the years from our family.
"Mum and Dad have missed one game which is fairly impressive support while our other Nan - Nola – would be similar.”
Daine, who has travelled from Melbourne since 2008 to play for Wangaratta, doubts he will get to 300 games while Judd doesn’t like his chances either.
Former coach and teammate Brendan Cairns wishes they could play on forever.
“They are the ultimate blokes,” Cairns said.
“Off the ground they are great family people who enjoy catching up and having a quiet ale and they are probably the opposite on the ground as they are fierce competitors who hate losing.
“Every contest means something to them.
“They are always low key and I think if you spoke to opposition players they would have a lot of respect for Judd and Daine.
“I think that’s always a good sign.”