The New Zealand Warriors hooker-turned-halfback hoped he'd done enough for a Kiwis test recall and given coach Ivan Cleary a compelling case to wear the Warriors' No 7 jersey again next year.
The Kiwis part should be a given, with Fien looking a solid bet for Stephen Kearney's 24-man World Cup squad to be named after the NRL grand final.
Queensland-born Fien, 29, at last qualified for the Kiwis through the three-year residency clause, two years after the Grannygate nightmare which cut short his debut season at two Tri-Nations tests in 2006.
Whether he partners Benji Marshall in the halves or is used at hooker is another matter, but Fien was convinced where his best spot was.
"I found a bit more spark at seven, I was sort of going through the motions at hooker at some stages. I've really enjoyed the back half of the year," he said after last night's season-ending 6-32 loss to Manly in the grand final qualifier.
"I've been named in the (Kiwis train-on) squad but that's the furthest thing from my mind, I'm just very disappointed with tonight's performance. Once we put it in perspective it's been a pretty good year overall.
"I'd be happy to play anywhere in that squad. Fingers crossed, there's some great players running around. I'm hopeful, but we'll just have to wait and see what the selectors say."
Fien was shifted from hooker to halfback by Cleary midway through the season as the Warriors embarked on their stirring revival.
Not long after, Cleary told a stunned Fien the club wasn't signing him past the end of next year and allowed him to search for overseas clubs.
At this stage Fien is still a Warrior and is determined to make amends next year.
"Halfback's my natural position and I've grown up playing there all my life. I played 90-odd games there for the Cowboys.
"I feel a bit more at home there. It'll be interesting to see if I get a shot there next year, I'd like to really have a big off-season and put my hand up for it."
Still, last night will take a while to get over, after Fien was clearly outpointed by his opposite Matt Orford.
Fien said the tough sudden death games against the Storm and Roosters finally took their toll on the side. And there was one revered teammate all the Warriors were thinking of.
"I just feel a bit for Ruben (Wiki). We've been riding on a bit of emotion through the back end of the season.
"I was privileged enough to play in his 300th game and we got a win against the Wests Tigers and the roll sort of started from there.
"It would have been great to send him out a winner and also Logan Swann and Wairangi Koopu have been stalwarts of the club.
"All the boys are very disappointed but if you look back to where we were 14 weeks ago, it's turned into a pretty successful one."
