Abbi Church scored four tries as powerhouse Australia rallied to beat a gutsy Fiji 30-14 on Sunday and set up a women's Rugby League World Cup final against New Zealand as they chase a fourth successive title.
Despite being overwhelming favourites, the Jillaroos were under the pump in the first-half and went to the break drawing 8-8 in chilly Sydney.
But they fired up on their return to seize control and there was no way back for the Fijians.
"We were always so excited to come up against Fiji, we knew it would be a really good test for us," said Australia captain Isabelle Kelly.
"But we know we need to be a lot better if we want to take home that trophy next week. So go back to Brisbane and I guess reflect on where we can be."
Australia have won the last three World Cups after New Zealand took the honours at the first three from 2000-2008.
The Kiwi Ferns punched their ticket to the November 15 decider in Brisbane by surging past Samoa 32-0 in Newcastle on Saturday.
Despite scoring 242 and conceding just six points in the group stage, Australia found themselves under immense early pressure and Fiji's Luisa Yaranamua kicked a penalty on 11 minutes to give them a shock lead.
It was the first time since the 2013 World Cup final that the Jillaroos had not scored the opening points in any international.
Incredibly, Fiji bagged a try with Yaranauma throwing a dummy before barging over, then she added the extras to put them 8-0 in front.
Australia responded with two tries in four minutes, the first through Church in the corner then from Tamika Upton exploiting a gap.
Both conversions were missed and they went to the break level-pegging before a much better second-half.
Church's darting run earned her a second try and Jaime Chapman added another and this time Jocelyn Kelleher converted both for a 20-8 advantage.
Church collected a high kick to complete her hat-trick then sealed the game with a weaving long-distance run.
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