The Northern Country Women’s League’s best showed just how far the competition has come in 12 months with a 16-point victory over the Central Victoria Football League Women, after falling by 13 points in 2018.
And McInnes — who co-coached the NCWL team alongside Shepparton’s John Wilson — says the standard at club level was a big factor in the 6.4 (40) to 3.6 (24) victory.
‘‘The talent pool in the competition is continuing to grow on an annual basis,’’ he said. ‘‘Having worked with some of the girls previously, you can just see how far they’ve come.
‘‘The standard of the game was certainly much better than last year despite the howling wind to one end of the ground. Footy across the region is an exciting place moving forward.’’
While Shepparton star Ashlee Thorneycroft was named best afield, Echuca’s Tayla Stewart won special praise from McInnes for a strong performance in the middle of the ground.
‘‘On another day, Tayla could have quite easily taken home the medal,’’ he said.
‘‘Both girls were important in helping to create opportunities for our forwards. It’s really exciting to watch players at the peak of their powers in a game where there was lots of talent on display.
‘‘Hopefully Tayla and the other Echuca girls can carry on their form for the rest of the club season.’’
In tough conditions, the team who won the contested ball was going to come away with the victory.
And McInnes said his players excelled when the ball was in dispute.
‘‘Our attack on the ball was ferocious from the first bounce,’’ he said.
‘‘Not one of the girls took a backwards step when the ball was there to be won. But it was even more pleasing to see how hard we spread from the contest.
‘‘In these types of games, it can become all about the individual but I thought everyone worked well as a team. It is another big tick for the interleague program.’’
McInnes and his six interleague representatives will now turn their attention back to club footy, where they will travel to take on Tatura on Saturday night.
The Murray Bombers will be hopeful of taking to the field after the Bulldogs forfeited their clash earlier in the year.
‘‘We can only hope they have enough numbers because we haven’t played in a few weeks,’’ McInnes said.
‘‘With finals coming quickly we need games to work on areas where we can still improve.’’
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