The talented 17-year-old played an integral role when NSW won the under-18 girls division last year, but it was a different scenario for her and her team 12 months later in Tasmania.

A comprehensive 4-0 defeat at the hands of Queensland in the semi-final relegated them to a bronze-medal play-off against Victoria which they cruised through to the tune of 5-0.

Toohey said the team learned the hard lesson of not performing in the games where they should have which cost them later in the tournament.

"It was disappointing and a hard knock to take to only finish with the bronze," she said.

"But it showed a lot of resilience within the team after a significant loss in the semis to be able to come back and rally and still come out with the bronze and not walk away with nothing.

"Bittersweet would be the best way to describe the result."

NSW only suffered two defeats throughout the tournament, including a 1-0 loss to Victoria which ultimately cost them a first-place finish in their pool.

But it was the result against Queensland that hurt the most.

"Queensland were quite vocal in their 'comeback campaign' as they put it," Toohey said.

"The main thing was our team needed to have composure in those big games and we probably lacked a little bit of that."

Despite the disappointment of not being able to replicate their gold medal success from 12 months previous, the teenager was still satisfied with her overall performance throughout the competition.

"I was really pleased with how I played and how I've evolved as a player from last year," she said.

"There's definitely a lot more composure in my game and a lot more game awareness."

Toohey's Tacking Point Thunder clubmate Paine enjoyed his step up from under-15 representation to the under-18 level.

While his team registered just the two wins throughout the tournament, he played a significant role in their victory over Northern Territory.

"I got a nice double against Northern Territory, so finished on a great high," he said.

"We started off a bit slow, picked it up throughout the tournament and that's where we got our couple of wins."

As well as a win over Northern Territory, Paine's NSW team also proved too good for a combined all-star team made up of players who missed selection in various state sides.

"It was great fun," he said.

"Was good to be in that second team (because you have) a lot more freedom and so you got to play how you wanted to play but still had a role in the team.

"I suppose we were a bit disappointed in the end; we should have pulled out a few more wins, but we gave it a red-hot crack and didn't come away with the results unfortunately."

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