In his nearly 30 years of finding footy talent, David Walls has sat down to talk with thousands of young people who dream of becoming professional footballers. He’s watched them play from the sidelines at games and on countless hours of video; reviewed their psychological tests and physical tests; analysed their statistics; met with their coaches, employers, schoolteachers; and spent time in their orbit on training camps – to work out who they are, and who they could become.

But the picture is never complete until he visits them at their family home. “You can’t bullshit in front of Mum or Dad,” says Walls, once a fresh-faced rookie himself…

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