Central West coach Greg Horton has this year selected a 22-strong women’s squad, from which he will take a sevens team and an open women’s 15-a-side outfit to separate country championship campaigns.

The holistic approach to the women’s game in Central West has Horton excited, but most importantly it’s got the playing group buzzing ahead of a bumper 2018.

“The ones that are in are very keen. We’ve had good numbers to training, which is nice,” he said.

“And those numbers are from all over the zone, too. It’s a real mixed bag. No one club dominates.”

Last year’s Blowes Clothing Cup women’s champions Bathurst has six players named in Horton’s Central West squad – two-try hero Edwina Ulberg and player of the grand final Marita Shoulders headline the Bulldogs’ contingent.

Experienced representative Mel Waterford, Mandy Scott, Alyza Doulas and Tegan Miller have also been named.

Top tier clubs Orange Emus, Orange City and Cowra each have representatives while Mudgee and GrainCorp Cup clubs Cootamundra, West Wyalong and Temora also supply players to this year’s representative program.

West Wyalong, especially, helped Central West claim last year’s country championship sevens crown, with Sharnah Stevens named player of the tournament.

Stevens is back in 2018 for Central West and Horton said a lot of those girls will lead the zone’s championship defence.

“It’s a bit of a different team this year, but the overall quality of the squad is a lot stronger this year,” Horton enthused about his side’s sevens defence.

Central West has already trialed once this season, a five-tries-to-none result against a bumper ACT side - many of those players being members of the Brumbies Super W team – pointing towards strong campaigns in both sevens and 15s championships.

The sevens country championship is at Warren this year while the 15s will be staged at Campbelltown.