SHE would have liked to be accepting the women's tens premiership trophy instead, but Waratahs skipper Holly Stephens completed a bittersweet grand final day by winning the Alicia Quirk Medal as player of the year.
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Stephens claimed her first medal in a tight count over Charles Sturt University's Ellen McIntyre by three votes after picking up maximum votes in the final round.
Although they fell 41-22 to Griffith in the grand final, Stephens said the Waratahs had progressed well after finishing third last year.
"It's really good to win the medal. I appreciate it's named after someone like (Olympic gold medalist) Alicia Quirk," she said.
"Obviously each year we've been stepping up, if anything it was our turn to come second and hopefully next year we'll come first."
Stephens said the introduction of the tens format in place of sevens this year had been a huge boost to the sport.
She said it makes the game more inclusive.
"You get a lot more people involved with different skill levels, and different fitness levels," she said.
"It's more dynamic and diverse, you can get a range of people on the field."
Stephens said Australia's gold medal win at the 2016 Olympics had given the sport a big injection of interest.
"Since the girls won the sevens in Rio it's opened up so many opportunities for us girls," she said.
"Everyone's getting around it and the young girls want to have a go. They're having a go with the boys and their brothers, and definitely outshining some of them too."
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