Living in the shadows or indeed following in the footsteps of a sibling who just happens to be an AFL super star can either be difficult or a walk in the park.
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For Jamie Grant, 42, who reached legend status at Hepburn and is two years older than his famous brother, Chris, there was no resentment or rivalry, just family pride, passion and admiration to give their careers their best shot.
Jamie had all the potential of reaching the standard set by Chris, an 18-season player with Footscray/Western Bulldogs before two serious injuries (ankle and knee) curtailed his burgeoning career.
Now a partner with former Daylesford and Hepburn player and Fells Electrical owner Brian Purtell, Jamie has taken the role of messiah to inject a production line of future seniors players from the Hepburn junior ranks.
Chris works in the hospitality industry in Melbourne, and Jamie with wife, Tanya (Leonard), and three children live in Glenlyon.
The two boys Jordan, 13, and Zac, 11, are already showing their talent in the Hepburn juniors.
The Leonards, Des and Denise, are one of the most respected and established couples in the district with four generations of families in the area.
Des, a fanatical Sydney fan, was seen proudly wearing a Swans scarf to church after the 10-point win against Hawthorn in last year’s grand final while son Damien is a serious North Melbourne supporter.
Both Grant brothers have affiliations with the two standout CHFL clubs, Daylesford and Hepburn.
Chris was recruited as a 15-year-old from Daylesford in 1988 and played his first senior games for Footscray, two years later going on to play 341 games and booting 554 goals.
He went on to finish with top points in the Brownlow Medal count in 1997 but was ineligible after a one game suspension. The honour went to the great St Kilda champion Robert Harvey.
While Chris, who captained the Dogs over five seasons, also picked up two best and fairest awards, represented the Big V, was named in three All Australian teams and last year was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame, Jamie was establishing his own career as a journeyman and with success.
Besides five seasons with Daylesford , Jamie played five senior games with Footscray in 1991 before returning home and to be picked up by Sydney in the 1993 mid-season draft.
Only an ankle injury stopped his promising career from senior games.
He came back home before a stint with North Ballarat and then joined Hepburn where he has stayed for 13 seasons with distinction as a coach, captain, four best and fairest awards and two premiership medals.
Their father, David, who is a former teacher and DFC secretary, put his boys through Daylesford primary and secondary schools.
The boys parents and grand mother are all living in Daylesford.
The Daylesford Bulldogs have an outstanding junior player program under the guidance of under-18 coach Steven Cowan and development manager Stephen Walsh, who nurture the clubs local teenage talent into senior players.
The results speak for themselves, with the Dogs reaching six consecutive grand finals and winning three premierships since moving from the Ballarat Football League to the CHFL in 2006.
Hepburn is overloaded with recruits, which dampens the enthusiasm and prospects of local juniors reaching senior level.
Jamie, who still looks mean, lean and fit enough to play, is hoping to replicate this envious Bulldog’s record with his young Burras.
“Our senior players will have mentoring roles with the juniors,” he said.
“We plan to be very strong in that area to bring through not only talented footballers, but also good people to keep our club strong and vibrant for many years.”
Already the production line “down the road” has successfully started with Jamie coaching his undefeated under 12s to a Lightning premiership.
Now he has taken the next step as Hepburn’s under-18’s coach.
“Jamie was more outgoing and Chris was the quieter of the two,” Mr Grant said.
“He (Jamie) was so proud of Chris’s achievements and obviously would have liked to have reached his standard.
“While Chris played a specialist role, Jamie didn’t have the same chance to crack it (seniors) because of a glut of ruck /rover types compared to key position players.
“Even when they played juniors football with Daylesford, a lot of people were saying both them had terrific talent to make it in the big time (VFL/AFL).
“They loved their sport and we carted them around to basketball, cricket as well as football.
“I still go to both Daylesford and Hepburn matches and take a keen interest in the two boys (Jordan and Zac) playing in the juniors.”
