They grew up sitting side-by-side in high chairs, sharing favourite television shows and, like all siblings, having the occasional wrestle in the lounge room.
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Now the sisterly bond between Nakira, 15, and Ruby Riley-Brown, 14, is playing a crucial role in the girls' hugely successful AFL careers. At just 11 months apart, the Indigenous sisters say they have a sixth sense on the footy field.
![Sisters Ruby and Nakira Riley-Brown draw their on-field inspiration from mum Natalie. Photo: Rohan Thomson Sisters Ruby and Nakira Riley-Brown draw their on-field inspiration from mum Natalie. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/9512ab86-fc5d-4181-bf1b-368c6616a414/r0_0_2000_1334_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Being on the field in the actual game, there's just something different," Nakira said.
"I just know where she is, she doesn't even need to call - I just know.
![The sisters are physical on the field and with each other. 'Our coach got sick of breaking us up,' Nakira said. Photo: Rohan Thomson The sisters are physical on the field and with each other. 'Our coach got sick of breaking us up,' Nakira said. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/663a766c-c423-492b-ab2f-24179fc54504/r0_0_2000_1334_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"[Ruby] plays in the forwards and when I played in mids, I'd just give it straight to her without even thinking about it.
"It's also that trust that I have - if I'm running hard and I have the ball, I know that she's going to have my back the way only a sister can."
The Riley-Brown sisters said they tried "basically every footy code" before landing on AFL in 2014. A shortage of Ainslie players across each age group meant while they initially joined the U15 team, they'd also then back-up in the U18 game immediately after.
"We basically grew up across the road from the Ainslie oval - you can see it from our lounge room," Nakira said.
"And you can hear the refs and the whistles, and that awful siren that goes off at nine o'clock at night," Ruby said.
In 2016, both Nakira and Ruby were selected for the NSW/ACT team to compete in the Indigenous National Championships. Last Saturday, they returned home from a week in Perth, where they represented the ACT in the National U15 Youth Championships.
The girls are the daughters of Canberra entrepreneur Natalie Brown, owner of Black Magic Coffee and breast cancer survivor. They attribute their tenacity on the field to their mother's own fierce determination.
"Mum's been sick since I was nine," Nakira said.
"And I think that's what makes her competitive as well," Ruby added.
"She was a really really good surfer back in the day, she'd never admit it but she was a really good ice skater, and a swimmer - she always pushes herself.
"Even when she was sick she pushed it and we get that from her - we just push it and it works."
The sisters have inspired a number of Indigenous girls in their networks to try AFL and can't believe how much the sport has grown since they started playing two years ago.
Ainslie Football Club's Junior Football Manager, Simon Holt, said female registrations had tripled year-on-year.
"We went from about 25 players last year to more than 90 this year," he said.
"We've found that once the girls get a taste for it they're referring their friends ... it's an outlet for them.
"Some of the girls like the physicality of the contest. We're getting a lot of netballers who play on Saturday and then make some serious head-on tackles on a Sunday."
It's a good thing the Riley-Brown sisters aspire to play for the same womens' team - the Western Bulldogs - because their sixth sense on the field also works the other way: they intimately know each other's weaknesses.
"We'd have to play for the same team because versing my sister would be hard - we both know where each other's weak points are," Nakira said.
"We're not allowed to touch each other anymore, we're not allowed to go one-on-one at training - the coach got sick of breaking us up."
"We push each other hard and I think that's what makes us better players."