The GIANTS sit atop the ladder a game clear of Adelaide after its fourth straight win on Saturday, but they are still not immune to a Leon Cameron spray. 

The coach ripped into his players at quarter-time against Essendon, after they let the visitors kick the last four goals of the opening term, turning a handy lead into a 12-point deficit at the break.

The GIANTS responded with a seven-goal second quarter to seize back control of the match, and eventually went on to hold off the plucky Bombers by 16 points at Spotless Stadium, and while Cameron was unhappy with his side at the first huddle, he was satisfied with the response he got.

"We were really disappointed with that last 7-8 minutes, they scored four goals in red time, and we did the opposite to what we'd done for about 20 minutes," he said.

"We used the ball pretty well in the first 20, but then we turned it over in poor spots and they really punished us.

"I thought at the 20-minute mark we'd done everything right, everyone was contributing, but then you lose your way.

"They use the ball really well and they come through the corridor and are really hard to stop, but I think our players knew that they were the better of the two teams for 70 per cent of the time and quickly lost it, but it's pleasing we fought back."

One man who didn't let the GIANTS down in the opening term, or for the rest of the match, was star midfielder Josh Kelly, who continued his exceptional form with a game-high 38 possessions.

The 22-year-old once again brushed off the speculation over his playing future with another best on ground performance, which included 10 inside 50s and 10 valuable tackles.

"He's a real professional and gets the job done, there's no doubt he had a big influence on the game and like a lot of these really good players, he keeps turning up," Cameron said.

"There's no secret that we rate him that highly.

“Was he going to step up to that midfield spot as much as he has thus far in 2017? It's probably surprised me a little bit, but I knew he was heading in that direction.

"He's always had the appetite to run back the other way and that’s always the hardest thing (to get) with mids, to understand that you've got to play good defence.

"He regularly does it, his off the ball defence is really good as well, and Josh has got that appetite to tackle."

Cameron was rapt with the performance of attacking defender Zac Williams, who enjoyed the freedom of playing through the midfield against Essendon in the absence of injured stars like Stephen Coniglio (ankle) and Ryan Griffen (ankle), and kicked three goals from 25 possessions.

"We thought we needed to inject someone else in there and Zac gives us a bit of an x-factor at times with his ability to get in and out of traffic," he said.

"We really rate him on a half-back flank. If we had had two of him we'd have one in the middle and one back there, but he's really enjoyed that step up in the last two weeks. 

"Where he ends up nobody knows, but it's a really good weapon to have."