Greater Western Sydney has shrugged off the early loss of two defenders to outclass the Western Bulldogs by 25 points at Spotless Stadium on Sunday.
Led brilliantly by hard-nosed co-captain Callan Ward, defender Heath Shaw and star forward Jeremy Cameron, who kicked five goals, the 15.8 (98) to 10.13 (73) victory consolidated the GIANTS' spot in the top four.
The home side lost Matt Buntine (concussion) and Tim Mohr (hamstring) in the opening term, with Bulldogs midfielder Lin Jong likely to come under scrutiny from the Match Review Panel for his bump on Buntine.
But it mattered little as Ward, Stephen Coniglio, Tom Scully and Dylan Shiel capitalised on the dominance of ruckman Shane Mumford to set up the comfortable win.
Shaw continued his stellar season to finish the game with an incredible game-high 38 possessions – 36 of them kicks, which were all effective - while the returning Toby Greene kicked three goals to go with his 22 possessions.
Coach Leon Cameron was pleased with the gutsy performance from his side.
"Losing players early always makes it a bit tougher," he said.
"We seem to have a knack of losing key defenders in the last couple of years and it is disappointing, but the guys had to dig in and play a bit smarter.
"It is what it is, that's what happens, everyone puts up with injuries."
Marcus Bontempelli, Luke Dahlhaus and veteran backman Dale Morris tried hard for the visitors but the Bulldogs failed to have any clear winners on a bad day for the club in Sydney.
Coach Luke Beveridge said the Dogs tried a few different things in an effort to stop the GIANTS' momentum but nothing seemed to work.
"We just at no stage could get any momentum on the scoreboard ourselves to really threaten," he said.
"I didn't feel like there was a point in the game where we couldn't and even with six minutes to go there was only four goals in it and I still felt like we were a chance.
"All in all we were a bit messy with the ball and their sort of star quality forwards, particularly Jeremy Cameron, got the better of us.
"We were a bit disappointed in all of that."
The GIANTS piled on three quick goals to start the game and led by 20 points when Cameron kicked his second, but the Bulldogs midfield worked hard to regain the ascendancy and they booted three of the next four goals to trail by just five points at the first break.
A questionable free kick helped Jake Stringer get the visitors on the board first after quarter-time, but Cameron's fourth triggered a five-goal burst in just eight minutes and GWS threatened to blow the game open in the second term.
With Ward inspirational at the contest and Dylan Shiel and Tom Scully powerful on the spread the GIANTS' lead jumped to 29 points, but a long bomb from ruckman Tom Campbell and another for Mitch Wallis halted the home side's momentum again, and reduced the GWS lead to 17 points at half-time.
Despite being two men down, it was the GIANTS who surged in the third term, with the Bulldogs' disposal by foot constantly handing the footy back to their opposition, who ran harder and wanted to win the one-on-one contests more than the visitors.
Four goals to one for GWS – including two pieces of individual brilliance from Steve Johnson – virtually ended any hope of a Bulldogs comeback, with Coniglio, Ward, Shiel and Shaw rampant for the leaders.
MEDICAL ROOM
Greater Western Sydney: The GIANTS will be sweating on Matt Buntine's availability next week after he left the ground and failed to return from a head knock in the first term. Luckless key defender Tim Mohr (hamstring) also missed most of the match.
Western Bulldogs: The Dogs appear to have emerged unscathed.
NEXT UP
The GIANTS head to Adelaide for a big clash with the Crows on Saturday night, while the Bulldogs get an eight-day break before they take on Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 4.3 9.5 13.7 15. 8 (98)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.4 6.6 7.9 10.13 (73)
GOALS
Greater Western Sydney: Cameron 5, Greene 3, Johnson 2, Coniglio, Shiel, Whitfield, Palmer, Scully
Western Bulldogs: Jong 2, Dickson 2, McLean 2, Wallis, Hunter, Stringer, Campbell
BEST
Greater Western Sydney: Ward, Shaw, Coniglio, Scully, Greene, Cameron, Williams
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Dahlhaus, Picken, Hunter, Macrae
INJURIES
Greater Western Sydney: Buntine (concussion), Mohr (hamstring), Haynes (concussion)
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Lin Jong (Bulldogs) for forceful front-on contact on Matt Buntine (GIANTS) in the first quarter.
Umpires: Stevic, Kamolins, Meredith
Official crowd: 9,612 at Spotless Stadium
