Blore brothers line up for opposite national teams

The Blore brothers grew up under the same roof, but it’s taken a transtasman test for them to finally play each other on the footy field.

Shawn, 18, and Dean, 20, have risen through the Penrith ranks together and each has ticked off their fair share of representative honours at state and international level.

They played the Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Final together last month for the Panthers; Shawn led from the front in the forwards while Dean steered the side around from five-eighth.

Never have they lined up against each other on the field.

That is until this afternoon, but it’s no neighbourhood park game which seems likely given they’ve lived in each other’s pockets since the turn of the millennium.

The brothers will play each other in the Junior Kangaroos versus Junior Kiwis game, with Shawn representing Australia and Dean representing New Zealand in a curtainraiser to the Kiwis-Kangaroos test

The brothers qualify for both national teams because one parent is Australian, one a New Zealander and they are dual citizens.

“I’m more nervous than anything, more so because of my brother,” Shawn said. “If he throws a dummy on me or tries to whack me I’ll be pretty upset about it and I’ll try not to let that happen.

“I’ve only ever played with him and that makes it even more nerve-racking because we know each other’s games so well. We’ll see what happens on the weekend.”

The biggest question is which country the extended Blore family are going to support. As the news of Dean’s selection had the family ready to settle in and support the elder sibling, Shawn was informed of his selection.

The foundations of the metaphorical fence will need to be strong considering the Blore family — like any good family — will be sitting on it. “We both went home [and] asked our parents straight away who they were cheering for. They’re . . . hoping for a draw. [It’s the] bestcase scenario.”