AFL: Tom Liberatore ruptures ACL as GWS Giants thrash Western Bulldogs

Bulldogs star Tom Liberatore's season is in tatters after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the opening quarter of his side's 20.13 (133) to 7.9 (51) loss to the Giants in front of 10454 at Manuka Oval on Sunday.

Jeremy Cameron continued his love affair with the capital as he booted six goals in a starring role for the Giants, while Toby Greene nailed four as they kicked off their search for a breakthrough premiership triumph with an 82-point win.

Liberatore was helped from the field in the first quarter after his right knee buckled in nasty fashion. It is a cruel blow for the 25-year-old, who missed the entire 2015 season following a left knee reconstruction.

It was the pre-cursor for what was to come in an ugly afternoon for the Bulldogs as the Giants exposed a gaping gulf between the two clubs that has quickly emerged in the wake of what was a burgeoning rivalry.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says "almost the whole [game] went wrong" and is adamant the club will remain faithful to the off-contract Liberatore.

"It's going to be a grind again, it's a tough time to recuperate from an ACL injury and Tom had a tough time of it last time so we'll need to support him through it," Beveridge said.

"The last thing that he's probably thinking about and I hadn't given it much thought is his medium to long-term future. He'll have the repair work done and we'll move on from there.

"You'd like to think it doesn't have an 80-odd point effect on them, it may have had some. We still had three on the interchange so we should be able to cope a lot better than we did."

The Giants resembled the Chautauqua of old that won $8.8 million in prize money. The Bulldogs looked like the Chatauqua that refused to leave the gates in his last barrier trial.

There was a difference of just two in the inside 50 count at half-time but the Harlem Globetrotter-like Giants were seven goals clear of the ill-disciplined visitors in a sign of the gaping hole between the two sides.

There were orange jumpers free everywhere and the floundering Bulldogs simply had no answers when it came to stopping the GWS juggernaut.

"Our forward pressure was no doubt probably the highlight, and our contested possession against a team that we really rate in terms of contested ball, I thought that was really pleasing," Giants coach Leon Cameron said.

"Jeremy's pressure goes underestimated. [Jeremy] and Harry Himmelberg, those two boys really do apply a lot of pressure for 6'2 players. Everyone buys into that.

"There's no doubt when you turn the ball over and you can punch back through an opposition you're always going to have forwards that are really keen to get on their bike. We made the most of it."

While the forwards stole the show, the Giants outclassed their opposition at both ends of the park.

How the Giants would replicate the run off halfback they lost in Nathan Wilson (traded to Fremantle) and Zac Williams (Achilles injury) had been a hot topic in the lead up to round one.

But Cameron didn't have to search too hard for answers with Lachie Whitfield looking like he had brought his own ball to Manuka Oval and Adam Tomlinson surging into the forward 50 at will.

A goal from debutant Zac Langdon was the exclamation mark on a scintillating outing for the Giants, one they hope will be a sign of things to come.

GWS GIANTS 4.2 11.4 17.4 20.13 (133)

WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 4.4 5.6 7.9 (51)

GWS goals: J Cameron 6, T Greene 4, J Patton 2, S Coniglio 2, J Kelly 2, H Himmelberg, D Shiel, Z Langdon, A Tomlinson

Bulldogs goals: M Suckling, B Gowers, J Dunkley, J Roughead 2, B Dale, M Honeychurch

GWS best: J Cameron, T Greene, S Coniglio, L Whitfield, J Kelly, T Taranto

Bulldogs best: L Hunter, J Macrae, L Dahlhaus, J Dunkley, T English, B Dale