The Canberra team failed to defend its Australian title, losing the semi-final to eventual champion Queensland before beating Western Australia 38-0 in the third-place play-off at the AIS on Sunday.

The tournament gave Australian coach Tim Walsh a chance to cast his eye over more talent as the team aims for a gold medal at the Olympic games in Rio in 2016.

Canberra speedster Nikki Stanley has been invited to a training camp in two weeks and Williams, the ACT and Australian captain, is adamant more players can follow.

''We had quite a few standouts, Nikki Stanley was fantastic,'' Williams said.

''Nikki has definitely improved a lot … she stood out and her speed is a massive asset for her.

''She knows where to go and what she's doing … it was a great chance for [Walsh] to check out the best players in Australia.''

The ACT was on track to retain its title, making it through to the semi-final undefeated in its early-round games.

But after just two days together as a team, Williams said the Canberra players couldn't keep pace with Queensland.

They lost the semi-final 24-10 before bouncing back against Western Australia.

Queensland Red powered on to the title with a 19-0 win over NSW Blue.

''It's not how we planned it, but we only lost one game and that was to the eventual champions,'' Williams said.

''It's a very new team, we only came in a couple of days before the tournament and I reckon one more game under our belt, we would have beaten Queensland Red.

''We're still pretty happy and stoked with third. I said after our loss to Queensland that there was no way we were losing to Western Australia.''

Williams will rejoin the Australian team at its training base in Sydney for the next world series event in China.