COACH William Ryan believes South Coast's historic win on Saturday highlights the growth of Australian football in the region.
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The AFL South Coast men's representative side registered their first ever victory, beating Hunter South Coast by 12.9-81 to 7.6-48 at North Dalton Park.
Sam Wilson booted four goals for the home side, while Michael Coleman was arguably best on ground.
"The boys played really well and I think they bought into the idea of making a little bit of history," Ryan said.
"They were able to put their club-land stuff aside for 24 hours and they were able to play some good and attractive football, which was great.
"The boys really enjoyed being able to play with these guys that they usually come up against every week and cause a headache, but in this instance, they were all able to play together.
"They just like playing at a high standard of football and the game was really free flowing and fast and quick, and just a lot of fun to play and a lot of fun to watch too.
"We've never really been able to compete on that stage, we've just tried to be competitive.
"And to actually go out there and win - and win quite well - it just shows that AFL on the South Coast is growing.
"It is quite a strong competition, it's no longer a bunch of guys who don't want to play rugby league or rugby union anymore.
"These guys are genuine footballers, they play and they train twice a week.
"And they're becoming quite good at playing the sport, not just using it as a weekend break."
South Coast burst out of the blocks on Saturday, booting three goals to nil to open up a 19-point advantage by quarter-time.
However, Hunter Central Coast came storming back in the second stanza to lead by seven points at the main break.
Both teams booted two majors in the third quarter, with the visitors holding on to a slender four-point lead at the final break.
But it was all South Coast in the final term, with the side kicking six unanswered goals to round out the solid win.
Ryan praised South Coast's defence for setting up victory.
"Our backline held really strong under quite a bit of pressure, particularly in the second and third quarter," he said.
"We went small and fast, and they just kept running all day and didn't get a lot of rotations either.
"They were able to really hold on and make sure the score didn't blow out when they were on top.
"Jarrod Falconer was probably our second best on ground and we had James Phillips who is a young guy from Bomaderry, he's only 17 and played really well.
"And we had some of the old hats in Adam Schuback, Michael Coleman and Christian Foster doing some really good work.
"It was quite an interesting mix, I think everyone was from a different team.
"They were able to play really well together considering they hadn't played much together."
Earlier in the day, South Coast's women fell 5.6-36 to 3.4-22 against Hunter Central Coast at North Dalton Park.
It was a gutsy performance from Ben Hyndes' side, who were thrashed by the same opponent in their previous meeting.
"Compared to two years ago, the girls gave it all they had and it was a good effort," Hyndes said.
"Two years ago, I think our most experienced player had played footy for three years, and now we've girls with 100 plus games.
"Their experience has really helped improve the league and those young players coming through.
"I thought we were on top most of the game, but in the end, Hunter's experience got the better of us."