ACT women's flanker Georgia O'Neill hopes her form at the national championships was strong enough to force her way into the Australian squad despite losing the final to Sydney on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The ACT side couldn't land a blow in a lopsided final at Riverview in Sydney as the home side clinched a national title with a 35-3 triumph.
The loss was a cruel way for the ACT to finish the tournament after winning two of their three pool games to earn a place in the final.
But Wallaroos selection could be the silver lining for several squad members as the women's game gets set for a massive 12 months.
The ARU has flagged its intentions to launch a full-time professional domestic sevens competition for women with teams set to be aligned to universities around the country.
The ANU and University of Canberra could partner with the ACT Brumbies to back a team that will give rugby a way to rival new AFL and NRL female competitions.
It also follows the announcement that the Wallaroos will play two Tests against New Zealand in October, including a Bledisloe Cup curtain-raiser to a Wallabies-All Blacks battle.
Uni-Norths Owls star O'Neill is one of several ACT players pushing for national selection and is out for redemption after injury ruined her hopes last year.
The disappointment inspired O'Neill to focus on her game, and she is confident of being selected in the 40-strong squad once again.
"I've been working really hard on the small things and the fitness," she said. "I have improved since last year so hopefully they can see that.
"It's great to see that people want to take it further and it has grown. Sevens is definitely something I want to play as well."
The ACT team was blown away in the second half of the final against Sydney after the match was delicately poised at 8-3 at half-time.
But Sydney showed its defensive prowess after leaking just eight points in the tournament and unleased its devastating attack after the break.
Sydney No. 8 and player of the championship Victoria Latu continually broke the line forcing the defence on their back foot.
This meant ACT struggled for continuity with the ball, but forward Louise Burrows said the young team were impressive against a more experienced outfit.
"We had to defend for the whole game pretty much, so it's hard to win when you haven't got any possession," Burrows said.
"For us as a team it was about coming here and playing well and taking home the title and unfortunately we didn't."
Sydney captain Ash Hewson said the cohesion in her team allowed the defending champions to withstand a gallant fight from the Brumbies.
"ACT were very physical, especially in the first 10-15 minutes when they had us on the back foot and were playing with very good structure. We were frantic, but managed to compose ourselves, pull it together and come away with the win."
Sydney coach Paul Verrell said the final score didn't reflect the contest, and applauded the opposition for their "passion and effort".
"There will be a lot of Wallaroos selection headaches now. There's some really great young rugby talent in this country. There's a lot of passion and the skill level has jumped in recent years so it's great for Australian women's rugby."
AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday – at St Ignatius College, Riverview:
Final: Sydney 35 (Ash Hewson, Hanna Sio, Evelyn Horomia, Kim Davey, Alexandra Sulusi tries; Hewson 2 cons; 2 pens) bt ACT 3 (Tayla Stanford pen).
Third place: Queensland 16 (Zahara Temara, Kirby Sefo tries; Temara 2 pens) bt Western Australia 7 (Caitlyn Edwards try; Kendra Fell con).
Fifth place: Country NSW 17 (Annika Jamieson, Mele Kava Palu tries; Asleigh Walker 2 cons; pen) bt ADFRU 0.
Seventh place: Victoria 27 (Ashley Masters, Kereni Nabalarua, Anita Brickle, Samantha Treherne 2 tries; Masters con) bt South Australia 5 (Eva Karpani try).
