GWS beat Dees with third-quarter blitz

Greater Western Sydney registered their highest-scoring quarter ever to beat Melbourne by 45 points in Canberra on Saturday.

Shane Mumford (C) celebrates with GWS teammates after  scoring a goal

GWS registered their highest-scoring quarter ever to beat Melbourne by 35 points in Canberra. (AAP)

Greater Western Sydney's record second-half blitz to beat Melbourne by 45 points on Saturday is proof the AFL's youngest club is fast becoming a danger team, says coach Leon Cameron.

Down 27 points at halftime, the Giants booted nine goals to none in the third term to win 15.11 (101) to 8.8 (56) at Canberra's Star Track Oval.

It was the club's highest-scoring quarter (56 points) and half (83) ever.

"There's a belief amongst our group that we can outrun the opposition and we've seen that today," said Cameron.

"When we lost our way there for 10 or 15 minutes in the second quarter, our guys didn't panic and that shows a level of maturity.

"To come into the rooms, refocus, knowing what's going ok, knowing what we need to fix, and then go out and display that brand of footy in the second half is exciting."

The victory was their second straight of the season following last week's round-one triumph over St Kilda.

Until now, GWS hadn't won their opening two games since joining the competition in 2012.

"We're a young club that's got a lot to prove and they're on the up," said Cameron.

"People probably wouldn't have thought we would be 2-0 at the start of the season.

"Obviously the fruits came in the second half today, but we hung in there.

"We hung in there in the first half, whereas this time last year we mightn't have and we could've come down eight or nine goals."

Key forward Cam McCarthy and Dylan Shiel had three goals each, while Stephen Coniglio (26 disposals) and Devon Smith collected two apiece.

Ruckman Shane Mumford also nabbed a major in arguably his best performance for the club.

While the Giants were eventual victors, it was the visitors who set the pace early on.

After a scoreless opening 10 minutes, the Demons booted two goals within 90 seconds thanks to some fast ball movement.

They kept their hosts goalless until five minutes into the second quarter, when Shiel broke through for his first.

But it went down hill from there.

GWS strung together 13 unanswered goals before Ben Newton scored for the Demons - their sole major in the second half.

"We had really good effort in the first half, then our effort capitulated in the second," coach Paul Roos said.

"We're not a good enough team at the moment not to (give 100 per cent). If we don't, we just don't have the talent level to go through those patches where we're not giving the effort.

"But that's part of the learning process and part of getting better as a footy team."

The only injury concern from the match was for the Giants, with Adam Tomlinson to be assessed for a sore toe.

GWS face cross-town rivals Sydney at the SCG next Saturday, while the Dees travel to Adelaide to take on the Crows.


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Source: AAP


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