ON THE way to make his debut in East Fremantle's under-18 side two years ago, Jordan Snadden sat in the front seat of his dad's car and didn't say much.

In the back seat, his older brother Curtis was quiet too. In a strange coincidence, he was making his under-18 debut in the same game, but as an umpire.  

"It was fairly quiet on that drive," Jordan recalled this week. "We were both a bit nervous and dad was just as nervous for both of us."

Jordan, a ball-winning midfielder and member of the NAB AFL Academy, played well that day as a skinny 15-year-old, even if he did have an eye occasionally on how his brother was going. And Curtis, too, was able to start his climb into umpiring.

It's likely to be a theme for the Snadden brothers this year, with Jordan eligible for the draft and Curtis also pursuing his dream of becoming an AFL umpire (last year he was named the West Australian under-18 umpire of the year).

They are over the early strangeness that came with both being involved in the same game, and last year Curtis umpired four of Jordan's WAFL reserves games after being promoted from the colts competition.

"It's not too weird. He's a fair umpire and he's not biased at all. When you're out there you see each other and say hello, but you don't really take it any further," Jordan told AFL.com.au in Florida, where the Academy is in training at a high-performance camp.

"He's given me a few free kicks every now and then, which is good, but he doesn't get in my way and I don't get in his."

Although their aims are different, Jordan has watched his older brother's preparation between games, has seen him develop a fitness plan, knows his routine on game days, and feels having someone so close also striving for the top level is a bonus.

"I've probably become more 'routined' because of him as the years have gone on, and he's very professional," Jordan said.

"He doesn't take a backward step from the players in matches and he's very stern with how he umpires."

An ankle injury ruled Snadden out of representing Western Australia at last year's under-18 championships, but he was still able to win selection into the academy program, which has seen the squad travel for a high-intensity training camp in Tampa.

On it, the 188cm midfielder and teammates have been put through a testing running regime, strong contested training, and been exposed to the world class facilities at the IMG Academy and Gatorade's Sports Science Institute. 

Snadden can find the ball at stoppages, feed it out quickly and likes to tackle, and his midfield education stepped up a gear as a 16-year-old when he followed the every move of fellow East Fremantle players Patrick Cripps and Jarrad Jansen.

The big-bodied pair went on to be drafted in 2013 – Cripps to Carlton and Jansen to Geelong.

Jordan Snadden training in Melbourne before the US trip. Picture: AFL Media

"I couldn't have had many better people to learn from," Snadden said.

While the academy's tour of Florida has had a pre-season focus to it, there are daily reminders for the players about what lies ahead.

Recruiters from 14 clubs have joined the trip to observe and interact with the squad, and through that they know the standards that will be expected this season. 

"It's hard not to think of the big picture but I'm really set on just thinking about the near future. For me at the moment, I really want to finish pre-season injury-free and starting the year really well," Snadden said.

"You want to do your best but you want to continue to improve your game as well. There's no room to plateau."