LAST weekend marked a milestone for the Lonie family when sons Nathan and Ryan became just the fifth set of twins to reach 200 AFL games combined.

Nathan lined up for Port Adelaide in game number 82 while his brother Ryan played his 119th game for Collingwood.

The identical twins joined teammates Darryl and Shane Wakelin (463 games), Steven and Matthew Febey (401 games), Brad and Chris Scott (381 games) and Charlie and Wally Naismith (211 games) in the elite group.

While it’s not a goal the twins had in mind, Nathan said it was an honour to be associated with such great players.

“It’s great. When we started if you had said we would play 200 games between us it’s something we would’ve been proud to hear, so hopefully now I can get to 100 games and that will be another achievement for the family,” Lonie said.

Nathan and Ryan played footy together for all their lives until draft day in 2000 when they were selected by different clubs - Ryan by Collingwood and Nathan by Hawthorn. After five years with the Hawks Nathan was faced with the challenge of leaving his twin brother and family in Victoria behind to pursue his AFL career.

“My dad died when I was 20 so it was more an issue of leaving mum. Ryan and I had been apart for years playing for different clubs when we first got drafted, so it was more a family thing than football. But mum wanted me to go and give it my best shot and so far it’s been great,” Lonie said.

“Ryan and I speak nearly every day so it hasn’t really changed much. We were pretty close when I left and maybe now we make even more of an effort to talk because we are apart.”

Looks aren’t all the Lonie twins have in common. They are almost identical in terms of their football abilities too. Both Nathan and Ryan are raking left-footers, both play in defence and both have the same great aerobic capacity that allows them to burst through the middle and kick the 50m goals for which they are both renowned.

Despite playing in the same arena in similar positions Nathan said the twins had outgrown any sibling rivalry.

“I think we’re just happy for each other no matter what. Obviously, Ryan has played in two grand finals and I haven’t played in any, so I’d definitely like to do that and actually win one. In terms of what he achieves compared to what I achieve, it’s not really a competition. We do our best and when he succeeds I congratulate him and he does likewise for me.”

Of course all that goes out the window when it comes to the "showdown" games between Nathan’s team and Ryan’s team. The boys don’t have to look too far ahead, with Port Adelaide taking on Collingwood in round four.

“We’ve done it a few times now and it’s great, but I think the family gets more excited than we do. For us it’s just another game and we go out there and do our best, but it’s definitely weird when Ryan gets the ball because I look at him and think ‘is that what I look like when I get the ball?' ”

Honest and hardworking on the field the Lonies were no different growing up.

As identical twin boys the world was their oyster in terms of practical jokes but the Lonies were perfect little angels, according to Nathan anyway.

“No, we were good boys, although I’m sure mum would beg to differ,” Lonie joked.

“We didn’t get in to much trouble apart from changing classes every now and then but we kept our noses pretty clean. I think the Wakelin boys were the ones who got into mischief.”

With Darryl Wakelin at Port Adelaide with Nathan and Shane Wakelin playing for Collingwood alongside Ryan, the Lonies see their twin and defensive counterparts as role models for their own careers.

“Darryl and Shane have obviously done really well and Ryan and I both look up to them because they were playing good footy before we started and it’s funny how it worked out with us playing for the same clubs.”