Eichorn was part of the NSW side that won the National U18 indoor title at Perth on the weekend with a 5-nil final defeat of the home state.

It was his second indoor national title success and second in Perth after winning an U15 outdoor title a couple of years back.

He has been to two previous indoor nationals – as an U14 and U16.

“The side this year was a pretty young side, mostly U17s,” he said.

That said, they were tagged as one of the favourites.

“We were expected to win so we had a bit of pressure but we played pretty well,” Eichorn said.

They were undefeated for the championships, accumulating some big scores along the way.

There were a couple of tight games among them as well, such as their round game against Victoria, who Western Australia surprisingly knocked out in the semi-final, and their own semi-final against Queensland.

The Blues had some struggles but prevailed 3-2.

“We beat Queensland 7-nil in a pool game. In the semi they played really hard, analysed us,” Eichorn said.

“They were up for most of the game.

“It was only the second half we started to get on top of them.”

They didn’t make the same mistake in the final, scoring in the first few minutes.

“It was good to get in and score the first goal to silence the crowd,” Eichorn said.

He contributed around half-a-dozen goals to the Blues’ tally and was fairly happy with his tournament.

“I played pretty well. We had a leadership group and I was in that,” he said.

“In the final, I was given the captain’s role.”

He’s hoping his performances might help him into an Australian uniform.

“They’re picking an Australian team from that (championships),” he said.

The side hasn’t been named yet but will tour Europe and Asia in what will be a new event on the hockey calendar.

Eichorn is also hoping he will be doubling up on U18 State outdoor duties this year.

He’s in the squad for the side to contest the national championships in Canberra in April.

“We trial for them in a couple of weeks,” he said.

“It’d be great to make it. Make it a good start to the year.”

Heading into his HSC year, it could also make for a busy year for Eichorn, who has for the past couple of seasons been travelling down to Tamworth of a weekend to play for South United, juggling hockey and study commitments.