PORT Adelaide recruit Danny Butcher has set his sights on playing alongside his big brother John for the first time since under-12s after being taken as the club's second rookie on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old entered the NAB AFL Rookie Draft unsure of what would happen, and had even started to scout VFL clubs and a place to live in Melbourne for 2012 in the weeks leading up to it. 

But after receiving "a few hints" from the club regarding his chances of joining his brother at Alberton, the Power called his name at pick No.21 and gave the boys the opportunity to play together for the first time since they ran out for Maffra under-12s eight years ago. 

"I'd been meeting up with a few clubs and I was all about thinking I'd be playing VFL next year," Butcher told AFL.com.au this week.

"Then it got closer to the rookie draft and I still had hope I'd go and then Port rang up and said there was a chance they'd take me.

"It's taken awhile to sink it, and it probably still is a bit, but it did a bit more in the first training run."

Butcher said he knew there was "plenty of water to go under the bridge" before he faced the chance of playing senior football alongside his promising four-game brother, but after a year where he had to work extra hard just to get his rookie opportunity, is more than prepared to do whatever it takes.

The inside midfielder started his season in the TAC Cup playing for Gippsland Power with no pre-season behind him, having developed groin soreness over the break.

With a few young guns picking up the dreaded complaint of osteitis pubis in the previous season, the Power were cautious and dramatically cut his training load.

Then, he was cut from the Vic Country squad on the eve of the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships after his lack of fitness started to catch up.

His father Wayne said the decision to take him out of the national carnival instigated the turning point of his season.

"It wasn't a real shock to him to be cut from that squad because of his form at the time but he didn't let it get him down," Wayne said.

"It actually made him more determined and he played really well after that.

"He trained that hard this year, nearly every night of the week, and that's all he wanted to do. He didn't go out, he doesn't drink or anything like that.

"He just wanted to train and play AFL footy, and now he's got his chance."

The exclusion from the state squad came around the same time that Butcher was given the all clear to ramp up his training levels.

As he boosted his fitness, he also grew an awareness there was an opportunity for him to stand out at Power as one of their oldest players while some of his teammates were away representing Vic Country.

"I realised I had to step up and try and lead the team a bit," he said.

"In the end, it wasn't too bad [being cut] because there were a lot of boys who played in the nationals and didn't get picked up.

"Getting cut made me realise I had to step up and work harder to get onto an AFL list or rookie list."

Butcher said he had always been close to 20-year-old John, and Wayne recalled the pair had kicked the footy together in the backyard "basically since they could walk", and grew up sharing an interest in all things sport.

In the under-12s, they started to grow apart as far as their playing styles were concerned, as John was "always one of the biggest kids on the field" and Danny "the skinny little one running around on the wing".

But they remained close as brothers, with the younger sibling keen to shadow his brother when he broke into the TAC Cup system.

"The last year John was at Gippsland, Danny trained as a 16-year-old, so he has sort of always been around," Wayne said.

"Danny's been to most of John's games that he could possibly go to and John's been to most of Danny's games he could get to.

"They've always been around footy clubs together."

The boys will live together until Christmas, when they'll fly to Melbourne and then drive three and a half hours to Maffra - and the family home they grew up in with Wayne, mother Susan and older sister Katie - before Butcher moves in with the same host family John has had for the past two years.

Even though Butcher is the last of the children to leave the nest, Wayne said the family couldn't be happier he was off to Alberton, given the knowledge base they have built because of John's involvement there.

When John was drafted in 2009, Danny went to his introduction to the club and has since been back "about five times" and attended functions with him.

"To have them both there - and to have them together - is good for them and good for us as parents," Wayne said.

"It makes it easier for them. We've been around Port Adelaide for the last couple of years so Danny knows most of the guys and how the club works already.

"He's a step ahead of where he would have been had he gone somewhere where he wouldn't have known what was happening."

Butcher knows how hard he'll have to work as a rookie, given there are no guarantees regarding senior opportunities, and is aware he'll need to fast-track his learning and development more so than the other draftees.

But simply being on an AFL list after it looked like playing in the VFL was likely - and facing the prospect of reuniting with his big brother on the footy field, who burst onto the AFL scene himself in round 21 this year - is enough to ensure he'll give that his best shot.

"John's been a big influence on me. I didn't miss any of his games up until he left under-18s, and we've always been kicking in the backyard and stuff," he said.

"Watching him get drafted, the brother I've been out in the backyard kicking the footy with and all of a sudden, he's chasing down Buddy Franklin or Luke Hodge, I realised it wasn't as far away as it seemed.

"It definitely made me work harder and I definitely want to be up with him.

"I've just got to learn and develop and try and make my way and get a spot on the senior list, and hopefully fingers crossed, we'll get to play together again."