Will and Andy Saunders: Brothers will play for Quirindi against Walcha on Saturday

And on Saturday at Quirindi Rugby Park - a ground where the crowd noise once wafted over their farm and their childhood - the Saunders duo will play in the same side for the first time since they were kids, when the Lions host the Rams in a second-round clash.

It will be Andy's first game of football since he ended his decade-long pursuit of an NRL career - his reward: one NRL appearance, for Canterbury in 2017; his toil: more than 100 reserve-grade games.

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The siblings are expected to play in the centres on Saturday. They last played together in Quirindi's under-17 side in 2010.

Two years later, and one day after graduating from Farrer, Andy travelled to Penrith to play for the Panthers.

The former rugby league prop, 27, remarked that he and his 30-year-old sibling had long wanted to "play a couple of games together" before finishing their careers.

"It's really exciting to be back playing with my older brother and just being amongst it," he said.

The siblings' father, Charlie, will be at Saturday's clash. He played for the Lions and was instrumental in the construction of the proud club's original clubhouse.

The Lions meant "a lot" to the Saunders family, Andy said, adding: "There's a lot of history there."

"There's a lot of meaning behind why we're going back and playing," he also said of he and Will.

As kids, the brothers were inseparable. They rode motorbikes, fished and hunted together. "Anything you can think of on the farm, that's what we done," Andy said.

"We had a really, really good childhood," he continued. "We're very close. We're best mates. So, it's great to come back and finish off [my footy career] playing with Will."

He added: "Being away for so long, it's just so nice to be back close to my family and to my brother ... I missed out on a lot of things being down in Sydney ... birthdays, christenings - a lot of things."

The brothers live in Tamworth. Andy is a national livestock representative at The Land, while Will is a crane operator at Humes.

Andy returned to the region in November, and brought with him his fiancee, Tamworth-raised Tayla Phillis, a rookie cop. The couple are looking for a wedding venue, although a wedding date hasn't been set.

Andy has no rugby league regrets. "I left no stone unturned down there [Sydney]. I gave myself the best opportunity I possibly could. I applied myself and I trained hard."

"As I said, unfortunately reserve-grade games weren't first-grade games. But I was always amongst it," he added.

Because of work commitments, Andy said he and Will were a week-to-week playing proposition this year.

"I'll just try and get a couple of games out with my brother, and after that I'll probably call it quits," said Andy, who has had five knee operations.

Will - a married father of one - said that playing with Andy was always "very special".

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