For almost as long as Matthew, Justin and eldest brother Leigh can remember, Saturday – the best day of the week – was dedicated to footy.
In the mornings the trio would line up for their own teams in the under-age competition and in the afternoon they would follow father Danny around the Barossa Light/Gawler District as he pursued a lengthy career with the Tanunda Magpies.
"It's pretty much all we did throughout our childhood," Matt Westhoff said with a smile.
"It was footy on Saturdays and training on Tuesday and Thursday nights. I guess, now, it was meant to be."
As the brothers got older and more skilled the Saturday venue, but not the activity, changed. The threesome would make the journey down to Elizabeth to play with SANFL club Central Districts and all three, at different stages, pushed their way into the highly successful league side.
In November 2006, middle child Justin became the first of the Westhoff clan to reach AFL ranks when he was picked up by Port Adelaide at number 71 in the NAB AFL Draft.
He enjoyed a superb start to his career, with a grand final berth and a NAB Rising Star nomination, and his performance got Matthew thinking about his own future in the game.
"I nominated for the draft a couple of years ago and always wanted to play AFL, but I just had to wait and see what happened," he said.
"Last year I never thought I would be drafted and I guess Justin helped a little bit. Growing up, I always looked up to my older brothers, so it probably gave me a boost watching him do well last year."
The youngest Westhoff brother joined the Power at pick 33 in the 2007 NAB AFL draft and the club's development coaches suggested the then 19-year-old was a full year behind Justin in terms of his readiness to play AFL football.
But in round 20 Matthew, who missed 10 weeks earlier in the season with stress fractures in his feet, made his AFL debut alongside Justin.
"I didn't really expect to play AFL this year to be honest," Westhoff said.
"In that game I started on Daryl Wakelin who was playing his 250th, so it was a pretty good learning curve. I learned a lot about just how hard it is to get off your defender compared to in the SANFL."
The lanky Justin lookalike kicked 1.2 in his first outing, including a behind with his first kick in AFL. Ironically, Westhoff, who coach Mark Williams rates as 'a great kick', also kicked a behind with his first kick in SANFL league football.
"I think the two shots were from a similar spots as well," Westhoff said with a laugh.
"I didn't really think about it at the time, but now that I do it was pretty much from exactly the same spot. So maybe I need some practise from there."
Matthew and Justin have inherited some great footballing qualities from their father and fellow key forward Danny, but the softly spoken duo has also been left with some of his off-field characteristics.
Last year, Justin earned the nickname 'Humphrey' from his teammates because of his quiet nature and Matthew conceded he was no different.
"Dad's nickname is 'Rowdy' because he's pretty quiet," Westhoff said.
"I think he's passed that trait on to us kids as well. We cop it a fair bit, but it's just how we are I suppose."
