Sharon and her husband Paul are in a unique position, with their boys Kade and Jake, part of a select group of just 21 sets of twins to play football at the highest level.

Kade is plying his trade as a running half-back for Gold Coast, while Jake is a tall defender at Geelong who has the versatility to play on forwards of all sizes.

The distance between both their 20-year-old sons, who played their junior football at Prospect Hawks and the Launceston Football Club, adds another element of excitement to the experience for Sharon and Paul.

‘‘It all does still feel a bit surreal,’’ Mrs Kolodjashnij said.

‘‘Your weeks are made up of seeing whether they are in the team and then looking forward to the games each weekend, and it is hard to explain, but you do wish you were there.

‘‘Obviously it is hard to be in two places at once, so you know that can’t happen, no matter how much you want to be.

‘‘They are living their dream playing AFL, which has its good side and its bad side when they have played a bad game, but you deal with that.’’

It is a life that involves plenty of travel to both Victoria and Queensland, phone calls, channel surfing between matches and recognition from the general public after their distinctive surname is mentioned.

‘‘It does make you feel proud when people come up and ask you about them, because that means that people are taking notice of what they do.’’

Mrs Kolodjashnij was speaking in earshot of her sons on their final day at home last week during this part of the off-season at their parents’ home near Longford.

Geelong and Gold Coast finished their year on Saturday, September 5 as both clubs failed to qualify for the finals.

But it hasn’t been all rest, despite Kade spending some time in Europe, with both spending as more time training than relaxing while home.

‘‘You might have two weeks of doing absolutely nothing, but even then you still do little top-up sessions, not going overboard but still keeping in good nick,’’ Jake said.

‘‘My coaches really want me to improve my agility and explosiveness so I can play on smaller players like Eddie Betts.’’

The brothers both agreed that for that first part of the off-season, switching off from footy was a ‘‘must’’, and they don’t plan to switch back on from that point of view until they are back in their adopted cities.

‘‘You need that mental break, to relax and spend time with family and friends you don’t often see due to footy, as it is pretty full on,’’ Jake said.

‘‘As much as possible you try not to talk about it, even though that can be hard, but mum and dad are really good with that as they know we want to shut it out.’’

For Kade, being on the other side of the world helped with this.

‘‘No one knows AFL over there, so it is good to get away and just relax.

‘‘But as soon as you are back after that couple of weeks, you are back into it and I am already thinking about how I can improve myself for next year.

‘‘It is funny, because while you are over there you have to watch what you eat and not go overboard, and be a professional athlete 24/7, so you can’t slack off, even on your break.

‘‘But it’s always great to to come home to family and friends to the place you grew up with.’’

They have headed off on a short trip to Bali before heading back to their clubs, and will be back home for Christmas.

AFL careers are on the up and up for footy pair

JAKE Kolodjashnij got his first taste of the AFL in round 12, and only missed one more game for the season for Geelong.

"It was a slow start really (in 2015), and I had to work on areas of my game, like team defence to get to that senior level and have the trust of the boys," Jake said.

"But I eventually cracked the senior team, which I was really happy with, even though from a team perspective we didn't finish the way that we wanted to.

"I didn't know how many games I would get, and I was striving to play as many games as possible, but I was happy to get nine.

"But I really want to cement my spot next year, make the 22 and hopefully play the whole year."

The career of Kade continued on its upward trajectory this season.

He played every game, won more of the ball than anyone else at Gold Coast and finishing runner-up in the club's best and fairest in a year in which he announced himself as a leader of their defence.

His simple aims for next year are to continue to grow and improve as a player, however, he isn't shying away from the hard work that this will involve.

"The injuries at the club was a blessing in disguise and allowed me to play a key role down back, and that helped me improve and as the year went on I got more confident and was able to play some consistent footy."

For parents Sharon and Paul, their next challenge will come when the boys come up against each other in a home and away clash for the first time, with the closest this happened occurring in the pre-season this year.

"I think it should be up at the Gold Coast this year (Geelong and Gold Coast played each other in Geelong in 2015) so we will probably be sitting with the Gold Coast mob, but the main thing for us, whether they win or lose, is that they both have good games," Mrs Kolodjashnij said.

The final word from the Kolodjashnij twins on this prospect: "It is one I will want to play in and the first thing I look for in the fixture," Jake said.

"And I might have to get high up the ground and just have a little word to him," Kade laughed.

Brothers are sounding boards for each other

JAKE ON KADE

AS a footballer: "He's got a massive tank, I don't know whether I would want to play on him.

"He does run off hard, he's got good offensive smarts and does some really good running patterns.

"He can play on tall and smalls, he's improved his game heaps this year and his communication and leadership have been a lot better this year.

"We talked about the 'second year blues', but I know Kade puts in a lot of work and I am pretty confident in his ability, so it (his year) didn't surprise me."

As a brother: "We keep in touch pretty regularly, maybe once a week and talk about the game on the weekend and life in general.

"It is great to have that connection and that person to bounce off, if we've had a bad game we can lift each other's spirits and go from there."

KADE ON JAKE

AS a footballer: "His ability to learn and just be a sponge with information is impressive, and he is always looking to improve his game.

"He is a good lock-down player, who has improved his offensive game, and you can relay on him to play his role each week, which is a great trait to him.

"I reckon I was more nervous than he was (when he made his debut) and more nervous when I am when I run out (each week).

As a brother: "He is dedicated and driven, and so am I, so it is good to be able to train with him and he is great to talk to about footy and life.

"It is great to have someone that you are so close to that is going through the same things as you and we do talk a lot."

SHARON ON JAKE AND KADE

"THEY are cheeky and are stirrers and good fun to be around.

"But they are also good-hearted and very humble boys who haven't changed and are quite down to earth.

"They are so dedicated and have so much drive, even on their breaks they are just always at the gym and doing running.

"Kade last year had just two weeks off and then he was back into training himself and that really helped him to get through all the games.

"They are very disciplined and they realise this is there chance, as it is not a long career.

"I'm very proud of them."