AS A YOUNGER player the opportunities to play alongside your brother even at a local level of rugby league are tough to come by, let alone at the top level of the sport in your state.
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But for Bathurst brothers Adam, 23, and Brad Fearnley, 21, they'll make a long awaited reunion in the same team when they each line up as part of the Newtown Jets' NSW Cup campaign in 2023.
Adam made the move following a NSW Cup season with the Blacktown Sea Eagles while Brad comes across from the Penrith Panthers' premiership-winning Jersey Flegg season.
The Fearnleys' dreams of an NRL career remain burning bright, since the Jets function as the feeder club for the Cronulla Sharks.
They'll each look to follow the same path that fellow Bathurst talent and current Sharks fullback Will Kennedy took through the Jets' NSW Cup side to reach the NRL.
They've signed up with a quality Newtown Jets squad who finished this year's NSW Cup competition as minor premiers.
Front rower Brad was the first to link up with the new club and has been a part of the Sharks' 14-week training session alongside the first grade squad.
Five-eighth Adam said once his younger brother had made the club switch it made his decision for where to go in 2023 much easier.
"I had an offer from Blacktown to go around with them again but the chance at Newtown popped up, and with my younger brother down there we've always wanted to play together so hopefully we get that chance next year," he said.
"That makes it easier on mum and dad coming down to watch just the one game a week, hopefully," he laughed.
Adam said he'd need to look far back into the early days of their junior rugby league careers to find the last time that the pair played together for an extended amount of time.
"We're really looking forward to this. We haven't played a season together since we were little kids," he said.
"We always took about footy together and we think about it in a similar way so it'll be interesting to see how we go on the field together.
"I've really enjoyed my last five weeks there. It's a good club with a lot of good people. It's a tough time of the year for training but it's been enjoyable and it's nice getting fit over the pre-season."
While Brad Fearnley enjoyed a taste of premiership success it was a tougher time for Adam, whose Sea Eagles squad won just two of their 22 games.
"Results-wise it wasn't the best at Blacktown, but I played every game of NSW Cup and I still enjoyed my time there, and I met a lot of really good people," he said.
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"Now this opportunity with my brother came up, and I've always heard good things about Newtown as a club. I thought this would be the best option for me."
Brad is excited by the prospect of playing alongside his older brother at a high level of senior competition.
"We've never played a full season together, probably just a couple of matches here and there together in under 18s so we're really looking forward to this," he said.
"The offer came about pretty quick and we thought that we may as well try to get a season together while we're younger because each season's different and you never know where you're going to end up."
Fearnley is no stranger to training alongside first grade NRL squads.
He's twice previously trained with Penrith's top class squad and has been making the most of his third time around - this time in different colours.
"Now that I'm out of Jersey Flegg I was looking for another opportunity. There was one offered by Penrith, but I took one with Cronulla, and now I'm doing some pre-season work with their first grade guys over 14 weeks," he said.
"I'll head out to the Jets after all that's finished and I'll be able to play with Ads.
"Because I'd done it twice before I knew what to expect from this first grade training. Coming out to a new environment at the Sharks is great, and it's good to see how different clubs do it. It's good to take that experience out to Cronulla.
"The end goal is to try and make that [NRL] breakthrough. The aim for this year is getting the experience with Newtown ... and playing as much footy as I can with Adam.
"Having that first grade training experience feels like it will give me a good headstart into the season. Hopefully that slingshots me into a great year."
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