FRIDAY night's NAB Cup clash between Collingwood and the Sydney Swans will have a little extra spice for the Reid family, with brothers Ben and Sam to face off against each other for the first time at the elite level.

With a premiership and 29 games under his belt, the Magpies' Ben has the edge on younger brother Sam who made his AFL debut with the Swans in round 22 of last season.

Given the difference in their ages - Ben is the elder at 21, with Sam nearly two years his junior - the pair has never played in the same team or against each other competitively and both are looking forward to the opportunity.

"It will be a bit of fun. Hopefully we'll run past each other at some stage and match up on each other," Ben said.

"We'll probably give each other a bit of stick once we're out there. As soon as we cross the white line we're against each other, so it should be fun.

"Sam's been playing forward and I'm playing down back, so there is a chance we'll run past each other and match up on each other at some stage."

Ben reckons he had his little brother covered in their numerous backyard skirmishes over the years and Sam admitted their own personal duel had forced a tough decision on their parents.

"Mum was a bit unsure what to wear [to the game], but I think they'll just barrack for us and not the teams," he said.

"I was saying to [Ben] before that there probably shouldn't be a tribunal hearing if you [only] hit your brother."

Sam admitted to learning a lot from his brother, who broke through for 21 games in 2010 including both grand finals against St Kilda, and hopes to emulate that feat this year with the Swans.

Ben's fellow premiership defender Nathan Brown will miss the coming season after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament and Reid said his loss would test the Pies' renowned depth.

"Browny going down does put a bit more responsibility on the back line," he said.

"He had a great grand final series against Nick Riewoldt and I think we'll all have to really pick up a bit more slack now to try and fill his spot.

"Being the other key back I have to pick up a bit more responsibility and we've also got Chris Tarrant who's come in who'll be great as well. We've also got Lachlan Keeffe who can come in and play on a tall if needed.

"We pride ourselves on having a lot of depth in the team and I think you could see that last year. There was Presti, Browny and myself and whoever came in just had to play their role, and I'm sure this year will be the same."

Ben Reid is a $237,200 defender in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition

Sam Reid is a $209,300 defender in the Toyota AFL Dream Team competition