THE pain of last year's defeat to Charles Sturt University set up an Ua Ravu-inspired Griffith's women's tens grand final win over Waratahs on Saturday.
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Down 17-12 at halftime, the Blacks dominated the second half 29-5 to win 41-22, with diminutive speedster Ravu scoring four tries to avenge last year's loss in the decider.
The Blacks were guilty of allowing the Waratahs to play their fast-paced game in the first half, with Suze Waia grabbing three tries of her own.
But a rev-up at the break spurred Griffith into action, who piled on three tries in six minutes after the break to set up the win.
Ravu was unstoppable out wide, capitalising on the work of Griffith's big forward pack.
The Blacks won the first tens title, after it was introduced in place of the sevens format this year, the hard way after finishing fourth in the regular season.
"Having struggled all year and to come back the way we did, I think we really deserved it," Ravu said.
"Last year was pretty heartbreaking and it was our goal to get here again, and to win it was a bonus.
"Last year's grand final was pretty close, it came down to a couple of close calls but we worked hard on that and got where we want to be.
"We got a bit of a yelling from our coach (at halftime) for being asleep, but we're a good second half team."
Griffith skipper Mele Lolotonga said a focus on playing their own game reaped dividends in the second half, where they scored five tries to one.
"Last year's loss was a huge motivation to keep us pushing," she said.
"We just got our heads back in at halftime and began playing our game instead of their fast-paced game."
"The second half we wanted to play at our pace instead of swinging it both ways, and our forwards played a big part in that.
"We were all going into the rucks instead of staying on our players."
The Blacks won despite Eliza Baddock being sent to the sin bin for a high shot in the first half, where the Waratahs scored immediately after.
Lolotonga said the tens format is more suitable for the Blacks, which enjoyed a size advantage over the Waratahs.
"It's a lot better for the size of our girls, we're more ten -based than sevens," she said.
Waratahs captain Holly Stephens, who was awarded the Alicia Quirk medal as player of the year, said they didn't adjust quickly enough to the threat posed by 22-year-old Ravu.
"It definitely changed the game for Griffith. Unfortunately she did run around us and we didn't click on that and let her get two steps ahead of us a few times," she said.
Ravu was an obvious choice as the player of the match.
GRIFFITH BLACKS 41 (Ua Ravu 4, Amelia Lolotonga, Veronica Seukeni, Lele Katoa tries; Katoa 3 conv) def WAGGA WARATAHS 22 (Suze Waia 3, Holly Stephens tries; Sophia Kirkby conv).
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