An Alyce Parker masterclass has propelled the GIANTS into the top three of Conference A and extended West Coast's losing run.
The GIANTS matched their three-goal tally from the opening fortnight by half-time on their way to an emphatic 6.6 (42) to 2.2 (14) victory at Blacktown International Sportspark.
Luke Dwyer's Eagles struggled to score until late in the game despite a strong performance from their biggest star, Dana Hooker, who amassed a game-high 23 possessions.
West Coast was scoreless until Mikayla Bowen's close-range miss early in the final term and barely minutes later she also fortuitously bounced through a goal.
Parker (22 disposals) did the bulk of the grunt work as her impressive season continued, but it was returning forward Jacinda Barclay who broke the game open.
Barclay missed the first two rounds with an ankle injury and wasted no time illustrating what GIANTS had missed.
She firstly won a heavily contested groundball to begin the scoring chain that led to Cora Staunton's breakaway first goal of the game.
The softball convert then ensured the GIANTS' dominance started to be reflected on the scoreboard when she kicked a great goal herself after some nifty work from Aimee Schmidt.
The GIANTS never looked back from there, with Rebecca Privitelli – in just her ninth game – capitalising on her teammates' upfield work to finish with three goals.
Parker was at the forefront of those efforts, continually burrowing into backs and often clearing the ball from defence, but she had willing allies in Rebecca Beeson (18), Alicia Eva (14) and Annalyse Lister (13).
GIANTS defender Elle Bennetts also proved mostly impenetrable with a number of intercept marks across the afternoon.
Imahra Cameron was the most dangerous Eagle in attack for much of the match and was finally rewarded with a successful set shot from long range in the final minute.
Painful blow
Dana Hooker did everything she could to keep West Coast competitive but her day ended in brutal fashion. GIANTS tall Ingrid Nielsen was engaged in a boundary throw-in and, when the ball wasn't cleared, she threw her right boot out to kick the Sherrin away. Nielsen not only succeeded in that but also – accidentally – struck Hooker in the throat. Trainers helped a distressed Hooker from the field.
The disallowed skyscraper
Rebecca Privitelli was an aerial force in her breakout AFLW performance, kicking a career-high three goals to terrorise West Coast's defence. Two of those majors came in the third term, but it was one moment a quarter earlier that caught the attention. The ex-Blue soared across a pack to clutch a clean mark, only for a free kick to be paid away from the contest. That non-mark would arguably have been the game's biggest highlight.
Bittersweet feeling
Emma Swanson and Maddy Collier both started their AFLW career and spent three seasons with the GIANTS before crossing to West Coast this year. Swanson is the Eagles' inaugural captain. They would undoubtedly be pleased to see their GIANTS teammates doing well but, perhaps, not so much at the Eagles' expense. Swanson was a typically strong performer on Sunday, while Collier gathered four disposals and laid three tackles.
Paying respect
West Coast players wore black armbands in Sunday's game in honour of former WNBL player Chantella Perera's late mother, who died last week. Perera was one of the Eagles' top contributors in defence.
Say what?
"We were pretty disappointed off the back of last week – we came up against a very strong North Melbourne – so we knew this week we had another level to go up and right from the start I thought we really carried ourselves and probably played more as a team this week." – GIANTS star Alyce Parker
"I'm very pleased. We had a strong focus going in; we just wanted to change up how we were moving the ball and hit the scoreboard, and we did that today. I think our tackle numbers were pretty good, too." – GIANTS captain Alicia Eva
What's next
West Coast's search for a maiden AFLW win continues at Leederville Oval on Saturday night against the Western Bulldogs. The GAINTS could go a long way to solidifying a top-three spot in Conference A if they can topple unbeaten Brisbane next Sunday.
GIANTS 1.1 3.2 5.4 6.6 (42)
WEST COAST EAGLES 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2 (14)
GOALS
GIANTS: Privitelli 3, Staunton, Barclay, Zreika
West Coast: Bowen, Cameron
BEST
GIANTS: Parker, Beeson, Privitelli, Bennetts, Barclay, Eva, Staunton
West Coast: Hooker, Cameron, Swanson, Bowen, Perera
INJURIES
GIANTS: Nil
West Coast: Hooker (head)
LATE CHANGES
GIANTS: Nil
West Coast: Nil
Reports: Nil
Crowd: 1,981 at Blacktown International Sportspark
