As a towering centre back, it's rather fitting that Western Sydney Wanderers defender Michael Thwaite's game has its roots in a brick wall.
Growing up in rural Queensland with his three sisters, the now 34-year-old had no-one to play football with growing up so his dad decided to build him a brick wall as a makeshift playing partner.
While a seemingly inadequate fill in, the decision has ultimately paid dividends with the brick wall ensuring Thwaite focused on developing technique rather than just kicking a ball.
"I grew up with three sisters and didn’t really have a partner to play with," Thwaite told Goal.
"My dad was working at the time and he built me a brick wall and just the concept of playing with the ball at your feet has paid off.
"As I said when you go through different growth phases, different selction processes and not getting picked for teams, I guess that technical ability always shines through to a professional level."
A special guest at a Football Starts At Home roadshow on Wednesday night hosted by renowned youth football development expert Tom Byer, Thwaite really bought into Byer's emphasis on introducing basic football skills to children at a very young age.
Having ensured his own two children learnt how to control and not just kick a ball from the age of two, Byer demonstrated the importance of building a basic level of skill before anything else.
"It opened my eyes about that grassroots level, I never thought about it at that age bracket of between two and six," Thwaite said.
"I fully agree with the concept of learning at home and the parent’s taking responsibility.
"I definitely always have a ball at my feet even as a 34-year-old and I’ve been like that since I was knee high to a grasshopper."
Getty
Thwaite, who played at U20 and U23 level for Australia, also supported Byer's suggestion that nations need to be focusing on success at these junior levels and not solely the senior arena.
"I don’t see why we can’t start that and get another team playing the final of the U17 World Cup," Thwaite said.
"I had experience at an early age in the U20 World Cup marking Dani Alves as a left defender and I’ll never forget those moments.
"They (Brazil) actually won the tournament and we beat them 3-2 so that’s probably one of my fondest memories in football.
"There’s no reason why we can’t set that as a goal to win the U17 World Cup."
