The progression of women's football in central Victoria was highlighted by a dominant inter-league performance on Sunday.
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The CVFLW representative squad thumped Northern Country 22.17 (149) to 0.0 (0) at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.
Bendigo Thunder's Meg Williamson and Castlemaine's Meg Ginnivan led the charge, Eaglehawk's Lily Den Houting was superb on her wing, while Castlemaine full-forward Shelby Knoll bagged seven goals and Golden Square's Charlotte Beavan kicked four.
"Our girls were fantastic all day, but I thought the scoreboard didn't reflect the standard of the game,'' CVFLW coach Rick Ladson said.
"I thought the pressure from the opposition was very good, it was just a case that they couldn't get the ball past our backline.
"Our girls were ruthless. The skill on show was some of the best I've seen in women's footy.
"The forwards worked well together and our midfielders were great. It was one-way traffic from a scoreboard point of view, but it was a very good spectacle to watch."
Britney Mueck (three goals), Amanda Carrod and Shae Murphy also performed well in a CVFLW side that didn't have a poor player.
Ladson, an AFL premiership player with Hawthorn, led a star-studded coaching panel.
Bendigo AFLW products Kerryn Harrington (Carlton) and Kodi Jacques (Richmond) coached the backline and midfield respectively, while Melbourne AFLW star Tayla Harris was in charge of the forwards.
"When we started this campaign we wanted to create a positive environment where the players would walk away with an experience they were really happy with,'' Ladson said.
"We reached out to the AFLW players to see if they wanted to be involved and they didn't hesitate, which was just fantastic.
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"The players took out a lot of their time with Kerryn, Kodi and Tayla. It was awesome to have them on board.
"Their buy-in to give back to the game here was second to none. It was great to have them on board to pass on their knowledge."
Ladson said he would like to see the CVFLW play more than one inter-league match each season to enhance player development.
He said the often lopsided results at club level were not a true indication of the talent pool in central Victoria.
"There is a vast drop-off in skill level in club footy because there's clubs that have a lot of players that have never played and are learning the game,'' Ladson said.
"In this game the skills were on show. The ball movement by foot and hand, the marking and the clean hands when the ball was on the ground was great to watch.
"I spoke to people who watched the game and they were impressed with what they saw from both teams in terms of skill.
"It shows our region is getting better and better. The next step is to make sure the clubs that are struggling get help to put things in place to continue the teaching and development of their players."
CVFLW squad that defeated Northern Country:
Castlemaine: Meg Ginnivan, Ella Cochrane, Emily Cooper, Shelby Knoll.
Eaglehawk: Freyja Pearce, Lily Den Houting.
Golden Square: Amanda Carrod, Carly Ladson, Jessica Cox, Bree Heiden, Andrea Wilson, Liz Watkins, Keely Hare, Charlotte Beavan.
Kyneton: Belinda Hately, Ursula Van Dyke, Taylah Moore, Heidi Erasmus.
Thunder: Megan Williamson, Shae Murphy, Phoebe Cutriss, Brit Mueck.
Strathfieldsaye: Britt Tangey.
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