Bruce the population of the country area in S.A is not that vast, so as far as the inflate, you could also say your choice of kids through larger population inflates city choices and chances of better teams. W.A only sent one Metro and Country team, as did A.C.T, so with your figuring, they should have also been more advantaged by not having two teams, but didn't get into the top two on either side of the pools. Credit where credit is due I say..
The reason there were plenty of Mav's, Lions and Tigers in the teams I heard, is because they are kids that come from country areas, and play country and metro as well. WELL DONE S.A Country Girls you should all be proud of what you accomplished in Ballerat.