Injuries won't stop dominant Giants in AFL

AFL juggernauts Greater Western Sydney have shown injuries won't be enough to halt their premiership quest.

Greater Western Sydney have reinforced their AFL premiership favouritism, overpowering West Coast while missing almost half their best 22.

On a weekend when fellow heavyweights Adelaide, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs cemented their top-four status, the juggernaut Giants showed injuries weren't enough to halt them.

Coach Leon Cameron hailed Sunday's 14.14 (98) to 14.6 (90) comeback win at Domain Stadium as their best of the season, with Toby Greene slotting two late goals to seal the victory.

Already missing Stephen Coniglio, Ryan Griffen, Steve Johnson, Brett Deledio and Rory Lobb, important midfielder Tom Scully was a late withdrawal for the Giants.

But it mattered little as Greene's 50m final running goal from the boundary delivered their first ever win over West Coast, who lost spearhead Josh Kennedy to a calf injury in the final term.

The result lifted GWS (8-2) to second on the ladder, trailing Adelaide only on percentage.

"I thought it was the best we've played all year," Cameron said.

"In terms of ranking wins, you're always going to have some really good ones but that's right up there (as) a great win for our footy club."

The ladder-leading Crows earned a handy percentage boost with Saturday night's 20.23 (143) to 6.7 (43) thrashing of Fremantle at Adelaide Oval.

Dockers coach Ross Lyon suffered the first 100-point loss of his 250-game AFL coaching career as Eddie Betts, Charlie Cameron and Wayne Milera celebrated indigenous round with three goals apiece.

The annual Sir Doug Nicholls round again proved to be a showpiece of the league's remarkable indigenous talent.

Sydney's Lance Franklin, Melbourne's Jeff Garlett, Hawthorn's Shaun Burgoyne and West Coast's Lewis Jetta all graced the occasion with outstanding performances.

Burgoyne was best-afield for the Hawks during Friday night's six-point win over Sydney but Jarryd Roughead stole the show, his match-winning goal coming just over a year since he was diagnosed with a recurrence of melanoma.

There were plenty of big moments from some of the game's biggest stars.

Brownlow medallist Patrick Dangerfield conjured a late sliver of magic to lift Geelong to a heart-stopping win over Port Adelaide in Thursday night's game.

The gun midfielder booted his third goal for the game with an instinctive, left-footed kick in traffic, sealing a two-point victory at Simonds Stadium.

Western Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer booted five goals as the reigning premiers downed St Kilda by 40 points, with the win soured by a hamstring injury to skipper Bob Murphy.

Off-contract star Dustin Martin was meanwhile best-afield for Richmond as they broke their run of narrow losses with a 15-point win over Essendon in the Dreamtime at the 'G clash.

Melbourne and Collingwood kept their finals hopes alive with timely victories over Gold Coast and Brisbane respectively, while North Melbourne survived a major scare from Carlton in Sunday's game at Etihad Stadium.


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Source: AAP



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