The Murray league has returned to the WorkSafe Country Championships top 10, after casting aside the Bellarine league in Tocumwal on Saturday.

Murray was a class above the visitors, storming a 21.12 (138) to 10.14 (74) victory and erasing the memories of a disappointing 2012 in the process.

A 100-point loss to Sunraysia in Mildura last year, and a 69-point loss to Hampden the year before, left many in the Murray league searching for answers.

They came in droves on Saturday, as Murray withstood the best Bellarine could throw at them to post a 64-point triumph.

Playing coach Scott Beattie said the performance was the result of months of planning.

"Last year the whole process was a bit of a shambles and a bit of a line in the sand moment in terms of commitment," Beattie said.

"This season we've got great support from the all the clubs and the club coaches, while the league executive has got behind what we're doing."

You play how you train and while we only four trainings – which was less than last year – we made sure they were all at high intensity."

Speedster Ash Morris was awarded best-on-ground honours with his run and carry proving too much for several opponents, while Farran Priest, Tyler Jones and John Lucas all bagged four goals in the win.

Bellarine skipper Tim Clarke kicked a match-high six goals to be one his side's best, and was well supported by the tireless work of Baden Dodd.

Another league to return to the winners list on Saturday was the Maryborough Castlemaine District league, which posted a commanding 69-point win over the Picola and District league's Southeast division.

A narrow loss to the Horsham and District league last year ensured the MCDFL was desperate to slip no further on the WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country rankings.

Ten individual goalkickers was a telling factor in MCDFL victory, led by Adrian Conn (4 goals) and Matt Giri (3).

Article first appeared www.vcfl.com.au Monday, May 27, 2013