The Western Bulldogs marched to a sixth-straight win to start the AFL season in Canberra on a bruising Friday night which left both sides counting the cost on ANZAC weekend at Manuka.
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Luke Beveridge's Dogs lost Josh Dunkley (shoulder), Tim English (jaw) and Lin Jong (hamstring), while key GWS defender Nick Haynes went down early with a hamstring injury and Xavier O'Halloran copped a painful shoulder knock late on..
A nine-goal burst in the final term overpowered the Giants who had stuck with the visitors for three quarters before falling to a 39-point defeat.
"They scored heavily at centre bounce and they dominated around clearance and contest which is disappointing because we probably tried to drag them down a little but to the level, I thought we were doing it for about three quarters and then they just opened up," Giants coach Leon Cameron said.
"They're very good at it, they're a good side, clearly at six and zero you're doing something right .They've very good at their contest method.
"We probably couldn't control [Jack] Macrae, [Adam] Treloar and Josh [Dunkley] all at once, I thought we had [Marcus] Bontempelli under control for a little bit but then these other guys bobbed up.
"It was a good experience for some of our young guys to play on these elite midfielders but we were really disappointed with our last 15 minutes."
Haynes' injury caused a back-half reshuffle for coach Leon Cameron, and he'd have been proud of how his young defence stood up until the final term.
At the other end Toby Greene surpassed 200 goals in AFL football with four majors but he lacked support in hitting the scoreboard.
"It's probably something we've got to look at, he's always putting himself in great positions, he works so hard to get there, he's a wonderful player," Cameron said.
"You want a forward line with variety and I thought some of our other forwards probably had their first down night that they've probably had for three or four weeks.
"If you're trying to score 12 to 14 goals or 15 goals a game, you want that spread of forwards hitting that scoreboard. We didn't have that tonight.
"Toby will always give everything he's got. I probably look at it the other way, we need to add value in other areas."
Beveridge would've been delighted with how his side closed out the match, but he won't watch back the final term with too much enjoyment.
Midfielder Josh Dunkley appeared to dislocate his shoulder twice, while Tim English was the victim of some friendly fire when Aaron Naughton's knee crashed into his jaw during a marking contest.
"We've been a bit fortunate at the start of the year, we haven't had too many casualties but we've lost a few tonight in a game probably as one on one as you get," Beveridge said.
"The way they're defending at the moment GWS, It's such an enormous effort by the boys to break loose like we did in the last quarter from that."
Canberra junior Josh Bruce finished with two goals during a rare foray in front of family and friends as the Bulldogs finally turned on the afterburners to put away the Giants.
It reduced the Giants to just 2-4 through the first six weeks with a tricky Adelaide trip to face the Crows next on the agenda.
Cameron will likely bring in ex-Melbourne and Fremantle forward Jesse Hogan to bolster his attacking ranks, and offer assistance to Greene who continues to be the major target in the post-Jeremy Cameron era.
Ruckman Shane Mumford will also likely come back in after being rested. Matthew Flynn was brave in his absence against Stefan Martin and English, but it was a huge task.
It was an arm wrestle to three-quarter time with both sides managing just six majors apiece in the opening three stanzas.
Aaron Naughton was a regular target up forward for the away side, and finished with two majors despite a wayward night kicking for goal.
GWS fought valiantly under serious pressure in the third term to stay in the match, but ran out of puff.
Western Bulldogs: 2.3 5.7 6.11 15.14 (104) Goals: Bruce 2, McNeil 2, Liberatore 2, Dale 2, Naughton 2, Hunter, Johannisen, Bontempelli, Treloar, Macrae Best: Liberatore, Bontempelli, Naughton, Hunter, Naughton, MaCrae, Dunkley, Dale
GWS Giants 1.1 4.5 6.8 9.11 (65) Goals: Greene 4, Taranto, Himmelberg, Stone, Hopper, Ward Best: Greene, Ash, Flynn, Taranto, Taylor
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
