As the first pair of brothers to play for Adelaide since the legendary duo of Darren and Andrew Jarman, Brad and Matt Crouch have sizeable shoes to fill.

Individually, the Jarmans forged stellar senior careers, with Andrew winning two Magarey medals and Darren starring in Adelaide's 1997-98 premierships as the club's goal-kicking hero.

After both began their AFL careers in 1991 - Darren with Hawthorn, Andrew at Adelaide - fate brought the pair together for the 1996 season before Andrew was delisted at the end of that year.

No brothers have played for the Crows since.

However, that 17-year streak ended when the club selected 18-year-old Matt Crouch with pick No.23 at the NAB AFL Draft, ensuring he would partner up with older brother Brad.

But while their family ties will heighten the external focus, Brad said the situation wouldn't increase the pressure on either Crouch.

"I haven't really thought about it too much to be honest," Brad said.

"I know it'll be a good thing – there's not many brothers that get the chance to play with each other – but we can't say to each other 'we want to do this' or 'we want to do that'.

"We'll just keep training and working well together and hopefully down the track we can play in a flag together."

Fittingly, Brad – the eldest Crouch – is mentored by Andrew – the eldest Jarman.

Jarman played 110 games for the Crows and, along with Darren, was selected in the club's 'Team of the Decade' (1991-2000).

He told AFL.com.au it was exciting for the Crows to have brothers representing the club but warned they would need to avoid favouring each other on the field.

"Darren and I's attitude was that we made sure we had some fun with it, knowing that we had a responsibility to the team," Jarman said.

"You've got to be mindful of not using each other all the time. As brothers, if you've got the footy, you tend to look for each other and nobody else.

"They'll be good for each other because they can push each other in the pre-season and at end of the day Matt needs to come in with the attitude that he wants to take Brad's spot."

Currently living with Patrick Dangerfield, Matt certainly has the tools and people around him to make the most of his AFL opportunity.

Growing up as the younger brother has made him tough, he said, and having already learned a lot via Brad's two-year stint at West Lakes, he's confident he can make his debut for the club in 2014.

"[Brad's] spoken a lot about how training steps up a lot and the intensity of training steps up. Also just the professionalism of AFL footy and what you need to do to be a good player," Matt said.

"[Growing up together] helped me a fair bit, he was a bit bigger than me when he was younger because he's about 15 months older.

"It helped me a lot going against him and I think it's helped [to get me] where I am today.

"There's no guarantee I'll be playing AFL footy at all. I'll have to work hard to get a game and I think I can do that."

While backyard games together have helped shape the pair into the sort of players they are now, they've been cautioned against any future rough-housing - not by coach Brenton Sanderson, but by their father.

"The old man's strictly told us not to hurt each other anymore," Brad laughed.

"Hopefully we can be professional enough to not touch each other."