Marli was selected captain of the State boys’ team for his age group last year and trained hard with them for the Championships, held in Melbourne over five days in early January this year.
“We had two games per day,” said Marli.
“Melbourne had a heat wave and playing in hot conditions was difficult. I pushed through the heat and was able to play each game to the my best to my ability.
“We had four hard games.”
Queensland was considered the top team and NSW lost in their initial game with them. Another big challenger was Melbourne.
“Queensland was favourite to win as they finished first on the table.
“I was in a good mindset from the whistle and my aim was to defend and not let Queensland score.
“We scored the first 4 goals before halftime.”
In the final half, players were hot and exhausted, and Queensland was able to fight back, but NSW “went into overtime and scored another 2 goals to win”.
We’re proud of you, Marli!