IT WAS almost a magical moment - two sisters playing at the elite level together, one passing the ball off to the other to kick a goal - but it wasn't to be.

Cathy Svarc laughed while recollecting the "almost awesome" goal she nearly shared alongside her younger sister, Ruby. 

"We were running and Ruby is fast as so she was right behind me, I thought she was one of the opposition so I thought I had to keep going and then I just missed it," Cathy laughed.

Both sisters recall that same event without being prompted, and concede there will no doubt be more time to refine their sisterly synergy on-field.

The Svarcs both play for Brisbane now, but had never played together until Ruby joined Cathy at the Lions ahead of the 2021 season.

They lived in different states and both picked the sport up separately, serendipitously ending up in the same place, which Cathy said is "so funny."

As two of five Svarc siblings all born within seven years, the sisters grew up on a farm 15 minutes out of Corowa, near Albury, and spent their time tearing around the property as a gang of five playing every sport under the sun.

"It was definitely a loud house but we had heaps of space and all the time in the world, we played so many different sports in the backyard like soccer, cricket, we never played footy which is funny but we were getting up to all sorts of mischief out there," Ruby said.  

Their brother James had a brief foray in the VFL but has since moved to work in a fly-in-fly-out capacity, whereas their two sisters Caroline and Simone never felt the urge to pick up a Sherrin, despite Ruby and Cathy urging that they could infiltrate the AFLW with a Svarc-filled team.  

Cathy started playing footy when she first moved to Brisbane to meet new people, about five years ago, and recalls only one conversation between her and Ruby about the sport prior to that.

"We were watching AFLW just on TV and we were talking about how fun it looked, we looked at each other and said 'we need to give this a go I reckon we'd be alright at this' and then joked about playing in the AFLW together," Cathy said.

Signed to the Lions as a mature age recruit, Cathy was part of the Lions' Premiership side last year while her sister sat on the sidelines, on the list but having not yet debuted.

"Yeah, even though obviously it was difficult to not be part of it, I still loved watching the girls because I've followed Brisbane since my sister started playing so I'd watched every single game," Ruby said.

"When I was drafted myself and on the list but just watching on, it was still just as exciting because they were now all my teammates, they're kind of my biggest inspiration."

Now she's run out alongside them, with her round three debut in 2022 still seeming "pretty unreal."

"Actually being with the team and out there on the field, even warming up, it was just so cool to actually be a part of it and be out there with everyone, I just loved it - I really loved every moment of it," Ruby said.

"It's been really rewarding to be able to play this year and it hasn't changed my attitude in any way. Like I'm always, always pushing myself to get better and looking at what I can do to improve, because I'm pretty new to footy in the scheme of things."

The irony that both sisters wound up playing professionally for a club outside of their home state, in a sport they'd both never played, isn't lost on them.

"I think if we had have had the opportunity in Corowa to play, we both would have probably played a lot of years ago," Cathy said, acknowledging the increased opportunities in the sport now for young girls.

Ruby is a product developer for Coles' head office, while her elder sister is a physio at an Allied health clinic, jobs they both balance with a full AFLW load.

Ruby admits she's had to get better at managing the competing commitments to get the best out of herself in a day job that she loves and the sport she is now playing at the highest level.

"I think it's just taking the pressure off yourself and taking a step back to think about what the big picture is - it's putting things in perspective a little bit, if there's ever a time when I find the pressure might be building, I remind myself that I'm doing this because I love it," Ruby said.

AFLW PRELIMS Get your FREE tickets here

As the sisters dive head first into a finals campaign, the excitement of their family is tangible.

"They're super proud and they're so funny, they get so into it, watching all our games, and then watching all the other games to give us the weekly rundown of how the other teams are looking," Cathy laughed.

"The first game they came to when we both played was against the Saints, and that was pretty special."

Did you head to the footy over the weekend? Tell us your thoughts! Take the survey now