“We put as much pressure and stress as we can on him and see how he copes, and try to keep him in the deep end where he’s got bricks on his feet, and he’s struggling to stay afloat,” Zadkovich said.

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“We want him to go to the highest level, and to do that he’s got to work really hard, and be able to handle himself in tough situations.

“He’s definitely on that [Socceroos] trajectory, but I would say there’s a few higher-calibre players like Adam Taggart who are in front of him and won’t give up their jersey very easily.

“Hence the reason why we’re hard on Tommy.”

To help educate Waddingham and his fellow teenagers, Zadkovich called on 2014 World Cup Socceroo Ben Halloran, who returned to Brisbane for the first time in 11 years.

While the 32-year-old stressed Zadkovich’s approach to Waddington was with a “supportive dad” energy, he had seen enough from the youngster to suggest a breakout campaign was imminent, provided he responded to the harsh methods.

“We love getting really excited about a player and say he’s going to be the next Mark Viduka. But I think within this team and environment we have to know to bring him back down to earth,” Halloran said.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He has that No.9 instinct, and as a player to move on to the next level you need a weapon.

“He’s got that ability to have his back to goal, and then just turn onto his left and whip it really quickly – he always knows where the goal is.”