Wollongong youngster Noah Fien is looking forward to using his impressive performance at the recent Australian Primary School Touch Football Championships as a stepping stone for future success.
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The 12-year-old co-captained the NSW boys side to victory at the competition, the team completing an undefeated tournament with a 7-5 win over Queensland in the final.
A standout performer at the event in Canberra, Fien was named NSW players' player upon conclusion of the championships.
Now he's back home, Fien is looking forward to helping Wollongong achieve a successful result at next year's State Cup.
"It was a really good feeling to win an Australian title," Fien said. "To play with all those great boys, it was just amazing. It was a good enjoyable week and nice to meet all those other boys from the other states,
"I thought I played pretty good, but there's always room for some improvement there. Next I'll be playing in the State Cup for Wollongong, so I hope to do well there and then we'll see what happens."
Fien was joined in Canberra by fellow Illawarra youngster Morgan Millard, who played a key role in the NSW girls victory at the tournament.
The girls also took on Queensland in the final, prevailing 7-2.
Fien's success on the touch football field has translated to the traditional tackle rugby league game, with the Thirroul student also co-captaining South Coast to victory in the NSW PSSA Rugby League Championships in June.
While he likes rugby league, he said it's touch football that he enjoys the most.
"I'm liking touch better at the moment. You have to be a lot faster and fitter, it's not just big kids who run over the top of you.
"Touch definitely helps me for rugby league, it gets you a lot fitter, touch is a real fast game, so it helps a lot."
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