Christian tackles school work and rugby

Harvey’s Christian Huey will do his home town and rugby-loving family proud this week when he jets off to the Gold Coast to play the sport.

The 12-year-old will join 21 other players in representing the West Australian Beasts Rugby Academy in the Under 13s Rugby Exchange Tournament.

Coached by Dean Woodham, the Beasts are about creating a strong club culture and growing junior rugby in WA.

Held from October 3 to 8, the competition will see the WA team take on the best teams from New South Wales, Brisbane, Queensland, Tonga and the Gold Coast.

The teams will play four games over two days and then a final game on the fifth day.

Having played rugby since the age of 5, Christian enjoys the physicality of the game.

“There’s a lot of set and rehearsed play in rugby, so constantly thinking of game play whilst playing the game can be difficult at times, but I really enjoy tackling,” Christian said.

“I played for the Bunbury Barbarians about seven years ago. My brother and my dad played it, so I wanted to play too.”

Leading up to competitions, Christian can train up to four times a week while also juggling school commitments.

“We have found that with Christian moving to high school, fitting in a social life can be a bit of a challenge,” his dad Matt Huey said.

“He has had to sacrifice social things for rugby, so we try to find a balance where we can.”

Although he has a strong liking for rugby, Christian has dabbled in other sports.

“I played a season of football, but I found the tackling rules a bit hard to follow.”

Having recently competed in the Armidale School Junior Rugby Tournament, Christian is confident ahead of the Rugby Exchange Tournament.

“I’m actually quite excited for this tournament because now I have an idea of what it will be like,” he said.